NCJ Number
142418
Date Published
1992
Length
29 pages
Annotation
Concepts associated with criminological research in Latin America are reviewed that focus on marginality, transnational crime, and institutional violence.
Abstract
The relatively limited exchange of information and ideas between criminologists in the United States and Latin America largely involves the export of concepts to Latin America. Further, the intellectual character and orientation of Latin American criminology differ markedly from criminology in the United States. Many books and papers on crime and delinquency in Latin America during the 1970's and 1980's reference the concept of marginality. Marginality is considered to be present when citizens are not actively or even passively involved in society, and it may be reflected in a lack of organizing structures and institutions among marginal population sectors. More importantly, marginality and the absence of organization may be caused by social barriers to participation. Transnational corporations have been studied in terms of economic development, politics, business, and the environment, and crimes committed by these organizations have been explored by Latin American criminologists since the late 1970's. There are different ways in which transnational activity can be considered crime and in which crime can be considered transnational. For example, some transnational activities, such as coca cultivation for export, are crimes because they violate the laws of one or more countries in which they occur. Other transnational activities, such as pharmaceutical dumping, are considered to be crimes because they are intentionally injurious even though they may not break any laws. The concept of transnational crime can be viewed in relation to the comparative character of national legal systems within a broader global system of geographic mobility for goods, people, and organizations. Institutional violence refers to acts of violence undertaken by agents of a state, and many researchers argue that institutional violence cannot be understood without considering other forms of violence, such as individual, structural, and guerrilla violence. Explanations of institutional violence have largely incorporated variables characterizing the political system. Political scientists have been interested primarily in repression and state terrorism, particularly that perpetrated by the military in defense of a given regime, and Latin America is replete with examples of institutional violence. 87 references