Latin America is regularly associated with high crime rates. Countries in the region perennially crowd the rankings of the world’s most murderous countries, leading researchers and governments to seek solutions. At least part of the answer may be social inclusion.
According to the Americas Quarterly index, the three most violent countries in the ranking – Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala – based on their 2010 homicide rates, were among the five least socially inclusive countries. At the other end of the spectrum the three countries with the lowest murder rates in the region – Chile, the United States, and Uruguay, respectively – were the most inclusive.
“Governments, the donor community, and the private sector, in looking at how to best reduce violence, can find a correlation between how social inclusiveness can potentially lead to a less violent society,” says Jason Marczak, director of policy at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, which publishes Americas Quarterly.
That doesn’t necessarily mean social inclusion is a panacea. Brazil, for example, ranked as the fifth most inclusive country, but had the seventh highest homicide rate. The goal, Mr. Marczak says, is to try to push further consideration of social inclusion as a policy.
“One of the major goals of this index is put the issue of social inclusion front and center on the radar screen of governments, donor communities, and others to recognize that more inclusive society have greater margins of prosperity,” he says.
