By María Andrea Araya Carvajal; Patricia Soley Alfaro and Jennifer González Zamora

Over the past decade, youth gangs have come to constitute a serious problem for public security in Central America. The situation has generated increasing levels of fear among the general population and has become a theme of great concern also within government circles. This has been the case in particular for the countries located in the region’s northern triangle – El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. However, also Nicaragua and Costa Rica have, to some extent, experienced a similar development concerning the growth of violent and criminal youth gangs. While the existence of criminal youth gangs is not at all new in Central America, the systematic use of violence and the brutality shown by the new type of gangs is no doubt unprecedented – something which today is embodied in the very concept of the maras. Although it would be incorrect to make the maras the main culprits for the rapid increase of violence during recent times in Central America, they clearly do represent a major and very real problem which deserves greater attention in order to improve both the security situation for the citizens and future prospects for the region’s youth. History as well as social sciences show that youth delinquency is primarily a group phenomenon refl ecting complex social and economic situations. Consequently, for the design and carrying out of effective and successful action programs profound, specifi c and updated knowledge is required. It is in this context that the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) – with support also from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) – decided to fi nance a regional and multi-disciplinary study on the maras and other violent youth gangs, an applied study with a solid empirical base and characterized by a contextual approach focusing not only on the gangs but bringing into the picture also the neighbours, the local community and the police. The objective of the present publication – which constitutes a condensed version of the study carried out by a team of researchers from the company Demoscopía S.A. – is to facilitate a more comprehensive as well as constructive and action-oriented public discussion, concerning both the need to immediately address the current situation and to develop policies and measures for prevention.

San José, Costa Rica, DEMOSCOPÍA S.A; Stockholm Sweden: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2008. 166p.