Violence in a Post-Conflict Context : Urban Poor Perceptions from Guatemala

This study is part of the World Bank Urban Peace Program initiative within the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Department, Latin America and the Caribbean Region. It documents how people living in poor, urban communities in Guatemala perceive violence. Specifically, it identifies the categories of violence affecting poor communities, the costs of different types of violence on social capital, the interventions employed by people to deal with violence and the causes and effects of social exclusion. The study uses participatory urban appraisal methodology, which emphasises local knowledge and enables local people to make their own analysis of the problems they face and to identify their own solutions. Violence related problems emerged as the single most important type of problem facing the urban poor. Most people responded to violence by keeping silent out of powerlessness or fear of retribution. Local level recommendations for reducing violence are: rebuild trust in the police and judicial system; attack the problem of alcoholism; reduce society's tolerance for violence within the family; prevent the spread of drug consumption; transform gangs into useful social organisations; develop mechanisms to build sustainable community based membership organisations.