ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates heavily on social disorganisation theory, which argues that social stresses, such as high levels of poverty and social marginalisation, produce higher levels of crime. It explores comparative research in three large urban areas: Bogota, capital of Colombia; Lima, capital of Peru; and Santiago, capital of Chile. Bogota and Lima suffer markedly higher levels of violent crime than Santiago. The chapter focuses particularly on the Collective Efficacy (CE) hypothesis, developed by Robert Sampson and his colleagues, which shows that local social ties and norms can help to control crime. CE theory argues that socially and economically disadvantaged areas have higher levels of social disorganisation—of which violent behaviours is merely one indicator. Even in Latin America's most impoverished neighbourhoods, at the time of their settlement the inhabitants themselves organised and managed the housing construction and solved problems such as access to water, sanitation, and electricity.
