Experimental Impacts of Intensive Municipal Governance and Community Organization on Gang Governance

刑事治理在拉丁美洲和其他地方越来越普遍。这些组织如何运作以及如何打击它们是政治学、经济学、犯罪学和公共政策的一个重要前沿。在世界各地，数亿人生活在犯罪集团的武装统治之下。这些组织对各国政府、地区稳定和美国本土构成重大威胁。然而，我们对这种武装统治下的商业和生活组织知之甚少。这部分是因为犯罪治理往往隐藏在平民窟和城市周边地区，国家力量可以进入这些地方，但很少建立持续的存在。本研究旨在通过对高、中、低级别帮派成员的大样本定性访谈，对犯罪集团的定量数据收集，以及对犯罪团伙的实验性干预，来了解整个犯罪生态系统。这项研究还促进了培训和奖学金，涉及一些博士后和博士前的学生。这项研究解决了知识方面的关键空白：城市犯罪集团是如何构成的，他们如何以及为什么统治平民，当局如何将他们排挤出去？在哥伦比亚的麦德林，大多数贫穷和中等收入的社区都被犯罪团伙所控制。300多个当地帮派解决纠纷，警察和预防犯罪，管理法律的和非法市场，并对企业征税。在这些地方帮派之上，大约有十几个类似黑手党的组织。这些组织发展了复杂的等级制度和规则，以控制犯罪，减少冲突和治理。通过研究整个犯罪生态系统，该项目利用独特的大N设置来生成有关犯罪组织和治理的知识。与传统的单一帮派或黑手党的案例研究不同，这项研究利用麦德林的大量武装团体，通过结合定性和定量研究方法的三管齐下的设计，开发出更具普遍性的理论和发现：㈠通过大样本和多年访谈，对几十个帮派的内部组织和外部治理进行定性研究，这些活动包括：（一）对中低层犯罪成员进行调查;（二）收集初步和观察性数据，以衡量数百个帮派的内部组织和外部治理的差异;（三）若干实验性反帮派干预措施中的第一项，首先是旨在了解和减少犯罪治理的干预措施。这项研究还将通过测试当地制定的非军事化战略，对不同方面产生更广泛的影响;它可以在整个拉丁美洲的类似情况下使用。此外，该奖项还表明，严格和大规模地对帮派政策进行实验是可行的，并激励在打击武装团体方面进行进一步的道德实验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Criminal governance is increasingly common in Latin America, and elsewhere. How these organizations operate and how to combat them is a major frontier of political science, economics, criminology and public policy. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people live under the armed rule of criminal groups. These groups pose a major threat to governments, regional stability and the U.S. homeland. Yet we know relatively little about the organization of business and life under this armed rule. This is partly because criminal governance is often hiding in plain sight, in slums and urban peripheries where state forces can go but rarely establish a continual presence. This study aims to understand this entire criminal ecosystem by means of large-sample qualitative interviews with high-, mid- and low-ranking gang members, quantitative data collection on criminal groups, and experimental interventions with criminal gangs. This study also promotes training and scholarship by involving several post-doctoral and pre-doctoral students. This study addresses critical gaps in knowledge: how are urban criminal groups structured, how and why do they govern civilians, and how can authorities crowd them out? In Medellin, Colombia most poor- and middle-income neighborhoods are governed by criminal gangs. More than 300 local gangs resolve disputes, police and prevent crime, manage legal and illegal markets, and tax businesses. Above these local gangs lie roughly a dozen mafia-like organizations. These groups have developed complex hierarchies and rules to regulate crime, minimize conflict, and govern. By studying this entire criminal ecosystem, this project takes advantage of a unique, large-N setting to generate knowledge about criminal organization and governance. Unlike traditional case studies of single gangs or mafias, this study leverages the large number of armed groups in Medellin to develop more generalizable theory and findings through a three-pronged design that combines qualitative and quantitative research methods: (i) a qualitative study of the internal organization and external governance of dozens of gangs, through large-sample and multi-year interviews, with high-, mid- and low-ranking criminal members; (ii) primary and observational data collection, designed to measure variation in internal organization and external governance of hundreds of gangs; and (iii) the first of several experimental anti-gang interventions, beginning with one designed to understand and reduce criminal governance. This study will also have a broader impact on different dimensions by testing a locally-developed, non-militarized strategy; it could be used in similar contexts across Latin America. Moreover, it demonstrates that it is feasible to experiment on gang policy with rigor and scale, and spur further ethical experimentation in combating armed groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.