Academic and policy analysts have identified Mexican street gangs as a potential looming security threat as Mexico continues its struggle against large drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). However, interviews for this project indicated that a security-centric lens on “gangs” only exacerbates youth involvement in gangs, while “social integration” and/or human rights approaches are more effective and less costly.
There is a surprising dearth of scholarly literature on youth gangs in Mexico, particularly in the English language. The Mexican government has released few reports on the issue and has little in the way of descriptive statistics on the gang phenomenon in Mexico because it fails to gather systematic information. Like the early iterations of the Merida Initiative, the Mexican government’s response to gangs has been security-centric. However, research in Mexico for this report indicated that the gang phenomenon in Mexico is incredibly diverse, not easily categorized and would be more cost-effectively addressed through a “social policy” approach. Indeed, even the word gang or “pandilla” brings with it connotations that lead to false understandings and counterproductive policies. This lack of information about this diverse youth gang phenomenon makes further analysis on this issue all the more necessary.
This report seeks to (1) understand and define the gang issue in Mexico, (2) establish the regional histories and sociologies of what is known about these gangs, (3) understand the causes of youth gang involvement, (4) briefly describe U.S.-Mexico bilateral efforts on youth gang prevention via the Merida Initiative, (5) identify a sampling of existing civil society groups and programs geared specifically toward addressing youth gangs in Mexico and Central America, and (6) provide policy recommendations for the U.S. and Mexican governments on how to best support civil society and strengthen relevant state institutions.
There are numerous programs and non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) in Mexico that are addressing youth gang involvement. This report profiles three government supported NGOs operating in Mexico with strong indications of success, Youth Work: Mexico (International Youth Foundation), Circo Volador and Cauce Ciudadano. To manage youth gang involvement, the Mexican government’s primary goal should be to “scale up” these types of programs and address areas of weak governance that allow gangs to flourish.
Read the full paper at Wilson Center.
