Abstract

FEIXA, Carles; ARAMAYONA, Begoña; BALLESTE, Eduard  and  PAEZ DE LA TORRE, Sonia. GANGS IN, GANGS OUT. (DE)SECURITIZATION AND PUNITIVISM OF YOUTH STREET ORGANIZATIONS IN SPAIN, ECUADOR, AND EL SALVADOR. anal.polit. [online]. 2021, vol.34, n.102, pp.150-174.  Epub Feb 06, 2022. ISSN 0121-4705.  https://doi.org/10.15446/anpol.v34n102.99939.

The so-called “gangs” or “pandillas” appear as the main target of inclusive or segregating public policies in different cities of the Ibero-American context: experiences of mediation and social integration versus sounding the media alarm and constructing police and criminal punitivism. This article aims to analyze this phenomenon by exploring the possible effects of constituting associations and truce attempts with youth street groups. Based on a comparison of experiences in Spain, El Salvador, and Ecuador in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the paper highlights positive and deficient aspects of such processes, pointing out the benefits, limitations, and perils of both criminalizing/punitivist and mediation/pacification strategies with urban subaltern youth in these regions.

Keywords : Gangs; (de)securitization; punitivism; Spain; Ecuador; El Salvador..

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