In Mexico, violence between criminal groups continues to claim lives, prompting groups to replenish “staff,” and this is accomplished thanks to potential members’ extensive exposure to criminality, as well as their aspirations for financial success. , notions of masculinity, and social belonging.
The study Beyond Money, Power, and Masculinity: Towards an Analytical Perspective on Recruitment for Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations, published in the journal International Sociology, notes that Mexican drug trafficking organizations have experienced rapid attrition that has resulted in a need for continuous staffing since 2006, however, it is noted that new members are “mentally prepared” to belong to a group.
While the participation of their relatives in criminal groups and some normalization of the group’s presence simplify the arrival of new members to criminal groups.
The article prepared by Piotr A Chomczyński, from the Department of Sociology of Art at the University of Lodz, Poland, as well as Roger Guy, from the Department of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York and Elena Azaola, from the Center for Advanced Studies and Research in Social Anthropology, from Mexico, indicates that after interviewing 79 current and former members of a cartel, they found that the people recruited are motivated by aspirations for financial success and notions of masculinity, but also influenced by attachment to social groups and experiences. shared together.
The findings also highlight that new members joined criminal groups because organized crime offers intangible benefits rooted in group life, such as the collective experience of belonging to intimate groups and the idea that the path toward crime is linked to significant others.
In addition to that structural inequality and its relationship to illicit opportunities increase the momentum and attractiveness of organized crime as a vehicle to success.
Our interviewees were not only impoverished, but also resided in neighborhoods characterized by the pervasiveness of organized crime and the absence of legitimate economic opportunities,” the report states.
So because of their similar social backgrounds and biographical experiences, recruiters directly appealed to the material aspirations of the underprivileged by equating pleasurable experiences (for example, social prestige, material success, and masculinity) and thus recruiters offered the life in a cartel or being a drug trafficker as a solution to their daily problems.
“We have shown that recruitment is a dynamic process among individuals with similar backgrounds that revolves around the primacy of group life and the importance of collectivism,” the paper adds.
group membership
The study argues that the recruitment process becomes a medium of exchange where young people immediately enter a social group after being sensitized to agree to work with a criminal organization, while recruiters exploit common histories to draw cartel work as a legitimate employment option.
Part of the investigation takes up interviews conducted in Tepito, where investigators observed that many minors were exposed to organized crime from an early age, and that this facilitated the transition to joining these groups as they grew up.
“Many of their families are engaged in some criminal activity: the father, the uncle, the cousin,” as a social worker described it to the authors.
It is possible that they were already involved in petty crimes, something that made it even easier for them to join the group.
Likewise, it is emphasized that by belonging to the group, men can achieve financial independence and support their family.
