Youth, Labor Market Exclusion, and Social Violence in Central America

This chapter analyzes the links between labor exclusion, social violence, and youth living in Central America’s urban slums. In particular, we discuss how the social violence that takes place in these areas helps diminish the labor opportunities available to marginalized, working-class youth. The violence that street gangs and organized crime groups perpetuate in these territories fuels processes that socially stigmatize all inhabitants, but especially young people. Employers respond to this climate of violence by implementing discriminatory practices that negatively affect young people’s likelihood of finding good jobs. Additionally, disputes over the control of these neighborhoods hinders territorial mobility amongst their inhabitants, which further reduces their opportunities in the labor market. In this context, a group of young people who find themselves socially excluded turn to violence, transgression, and crime as a means of accessing economic resources and goods with high symbolic value.