"We Are All Victims Here": Perceptions of Safety and Violence among Guatemalan Youth in Santa Cruz del Quiché

Abstract

As a region, Latin America has a dramatically high level of violence as defined by homicide rates. Consequently, citizens often feel less safe now than during the civil wars that ravaged most Latin American countries and fear and insecurity have become 'normalized' into the reality of everyday life. While it is often thought that violence ends when peace accords are signed, it has been proven that by no means this is always the case. In Guatemala, the years of peace turned out to be almost as dangerous as the years of conflict that ravaged the country for thirty-six years. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the aftermath of violent conflict and of the lives of youth in postwar Santa Cruz del Quiché, Guatemala. On the one hand, we will take a closer look at the perceptions of safety and violence regarding the causes and the victims of the ongoing violence, among others. On the other hand, we will explore the ways in which Guatemalan youths try to cope with their unsafe surroundings. These coping strategies can be divided into three categories: avoidance-strategies, agency-strategies and personal-strategies.