ABSTRACT
While Chapters 4 to 7 foregrounded the perceptions of violence among local Colombian and Guatemalan community members, this penultimate chapter comes full circle by re-introducing an analytical perspective, in this case of the relationship between violence, trust and social institutions. Violence and fear not only affect the ability of individuals and households to function, they also influence the nature of social relations within communities themselves. To analyze the impact of violence on social institutions, this chapter utilizes the concept of social capital. From the extensive literature on social capital, it introduces two interrelated categories that are particularly relevant for the analysis of violence. First, the distinction between structural and cognitive social capital, and second, between productive and perverse social capital.
