
AUTHORS
Berg & Carranza (2015)
STUDY OBJECTIVE
This is an ethnographic study that explores safe communities in Honduras in order to understand community characteristics that contribute to low levels of violence. In particular, the focus is in identifying factors that facilitate collective action among the community and that allow the community to come together to monitor and control crime.
EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT
This is an ethnographic study that seeks to understand why some communities are safer than others in Honduras through in-depth interviews and observational work.
MAIN RESULTS
The authors identify two main factors explaining why a community in Honduras is safe: 1) It is dominated by an armed group that is able to provide order; or 2) The community has resolved its collective action problem to monitor and control criminal behavior. The authors propose strategies that help communities improve their collective action: invest in community organizations, strengthen municipal-level planning, promote local mediation and alternative-dispute resolution, and increase ties with police.
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