Urban pariahs. On the violence infanto-youth in Latin America.

Martha Melo, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

This research was conducted during the years 2007 and 2008 in two countries of Central America and Argentina. Even considering the historical and cultural differences in each of these countries we can chart certain social conditions that give each region individual meanings, which have marked and influenced the collective and individual biographies of urban actors. We discuss issues such as the emergence of gangs, personal situation of young people, etc. In fact, the youth is part of society and the problems affecting this generation are articulated with greater or lesser dependence on the set of problems of the social environment, the economic structure and the political situation, where these young people are immersed. This research tries to establish some factors that surround the young and that determine the entry into crime in Argentina and into the gangs in Central America, without denying by this, the importance of structural factors.