Youth Gangs and Urban Security: Case Studies from Madrid and Mexico City
Carmen Sánchez Muñoz , Universidad de Castilla Urbana, Spain
Abstract
This research includes the complicated encounter between urban security and youth gangs by comparing the case studies in Madrid, Spain, and Mexico City. With the development, urban centers being faced problems with acts of violence, fragmentation of society, and inequality. The rising tide of youth gangs has increasingly seemed to become the cause of the violence of security, which in turn increasingly drawn towards the insecurity problems. Through the study, with the briefing of the similarities and differences in their formation, organization, and effect on the safety of the masses, it is investigated that how socio-economic, cultural, and political variables give birth to the spread of youth gangs in these two metropolitan areas. Youth gangs in Madrid are commonly associated with a subordinate immigrant group, where low opportunities for education, jobs, and social inclusion lead to a feeling of exclusion and sometimes identity crises among young people. Gangs including Latin Kings and Netas, which are also known as Latin gangs, have gained popularity in some of the territories, resulting in an occasional bout of violence and an increased level of concern among the public. These groups, though having elements of crime in them, occasionally provide a sense of belonging and social order in perceived neglectful or hostile environment. Although the problem with the growing issues of social inequality and marginalization in both cities is similar, their historical, cultural, and political dynamics demand the following strategies. The paper supports the multi-sectoral approach, which is based on a balance between enforcement and prevention, as well as education, and empowerment of the community. There is need that Urban security would be effective in not only dealing with the symptoms of gang violence but, more importantly it should also be effective to deal with the conditions that feed the problem. Finally, the research study helps to develop the complement of knowledge about the issue of urban security governance in cities and urges the implementation of inclusive, youth-focused policies, which could transform the culture of violence into productive involvement in city life. The cases of Madrid and Mexico City become the most important examples, serving as a model for other cities with the identical drawback of controlling the young violence and city security.
Keywords:
Youth Gangs (YG), Urban Security (US), Case Studies (CS), Madrid (MM), Mexico City (MC)
