Conversion and Exit from Central American Gangs

Robert Brenneman of St. Michael's College recently published an article on Wresting the Devil: Conversion and Exit from Central American Gangs in the Latin American Research Review.

Abstract: A crisis of urban violence has emerged in northern Central America during the past two decades. Although youth gangs are responsible for only a portion of this violence, punitive approaches to dealing with gang violence have sharpened public hostility toward gang members and created a context conducive to the practice of “social cleansing” aimed at reducing gang violence by eliminating gang-affiliated youth through extrajudicial executions.

Against this backdrop of public anger and resentment aimed at gang youth, a sizeable number of Evangelical-Pentecostal pastors and lay workers have developed ministries aimed at rescuing gang members and restoring them to society, often making considerable sacrifices and taking personal risks in the process.

After describing the difficulties and risks associated with leaving the gang, this article takes a sociological approach to gang member conversions to discover the resources that Evangelical- Pentecostal congregations and gang ministries offer to former gang members facing the crisis of spoiled identity. I draw on semistructured interviews conducted in 2007 and 2008 with former gang members and gang ministry coordinators in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, and a handful of follow-up interviews conducted in 2013.

Religious exits from gangs do not appear to have ever been that successful and, from what I read, have become less so since these interviews were conducted.

See also Brenneman's Homies and Hermanos: God and Gangs in Central America

Inspiring and depressing?

Will a Plan for Central American Prosperity Succeed?

The Inter-American Dialogue's Latin American Advisor asks Will a Plan for Central American Prosperity Succeed?

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden traveled this month to Central America to meet with the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The meetings followed recent confirmation that the Obama administration would include $1 billion in security and economic development assistance for the  region in its 2016 budget under the "Alliance for Prosperity." What did Biden accomplish in Central America? Does the White House's proposed spending target the right areas, and if not, where should the focus be? What do the Central American countries need to do to make the plan work? Will concerns over corruption derail U.S. involvement in the alliance?

I wasn't asked but increased US focus on the region is a welcome development. $1 billion is probably not enough money and the US Congress will probably make it even less. Increased attention and investments need to be sustained beyond what is currently proposed. The devil is in the details of the plan and its implementation. I'm not sure that the region and the US are prepared to scale-up programs that quickly. No, I do not have as much faith in the region's elected and un-elected officials as some do. Many other things need to go right for the investment to pay off.

I still believe that it will help. You can read the varied answers here.