ABSTRACT
In recent years, gangs have become increasingly real in many regions of the world as a major problem contributing to crime and violence. e perceived relationship between gangs and violence has led major international organizations like the World Health Organization, the Pan-American Health Organization, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to explore potential solutions to the problem. While gang research has a long and rich history in the United States and has recently begun to ourish in Europe, gangs have not been the focus of sustained empirical research elsewhere, including parts of Central and South America. Scholars have lamented the paucity of research on the contributions of gangs to violence in both North and South America.
