McIlwaine, Cathy

This paper describes the use of participatory research on violence and discusses a range of participatory urban appraisal (PUA) tools that can be used for this purpose. This includes tools that can document the perceptions of poorer groups regarding the kinds of violence (economic, social or political), the extent, causes (and the links with poverty and exclusion) and consequences of violence, as well as the strategies for coping with or reducing it.

Latin America is one of the world's fastest developing regions, yet also a hub area for crime and violence, where the links between social exclusion, inequality, fear and insecurity are clearly visible. This book explores the meaning of violence and insecurity in nine towns and cities in Colombia and Guatemala to create a framework of how and why daily violence takes place at the community level. It uses participatory urban appraisal methods to ask people about their own perceptions of violence as mediated by family, gender, ethnicity, and age.

The paper presents guidelines for undertaking urban appraisals on violence that evolved from a World Bank funded policy focused research on community perceptions of violence in Guatemala and Colombia. By reviewing relevant conceptual frameworks, discussing the need for conducting participatory urban appraisals for research on violence and assessing the tools for appraisal, the authors show the rationale for and importance of participatory urban appraisals.

The paper presents guidelines for undertaking urban appraisals on violence that evolved from a World Bank funded policy focused research on community perceptions of violence in Guatemala and Colombia. By reviewing relevant conceptual frameworks, discussing the need for conducting participatory urban appraisals for research on violence and assessing the tools for appraisal, the authors show the rationale for and importance of participatory urban appraisals.