International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs International Practices in Intervention the Culture of Drugs and Violence International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence Laurel Consulting Group, Inc. Columbia 14504 Greenview Drive, Suite 500 Italy Medellin Laurel, Maryland 20708 www.lcgnet.com Palermo South Africa Chelsea Cape Town July 2005 International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence Anthony Wanis-St. John, Ph.D. Laurel Consulting Group, Inc. 14504 Greenview Drive, Suite 500 Laurel, Maryland 20708 International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The fieldwork and research performed for this report were conducted by the Laurel Consulting Group, Inc. on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs under Cooperative Agreement S-OPRAQ-00-H-N009. The author of this report made ample use of LCG’s extensive fieldwork and gratefully acknowledges that all site visits, trip reports, data collection and portions of the writing were completed prior to his involvement. The group of professional consultants who worked on this project and share the credit for all the data collection and research includes Robert Harrison, Inge McKinney, Susan Berger Boyette, Lou Biondi, Louise Shelly, and Maria Candamil. The author also relied on Susan Berger Boyette for her expertise in a comprehensive review of all five reports for content and focus. Appreciation is also extended to the staff of the LCG, Inc., in their coordination and support of this project. The findings in this report do not necessarily represent the view of the US State Department. International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence 3 Table of Contents Contents INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES IN INTERVENTION IN THE CULTURE OF DRUGS AND VIOLENCE ........................................................................1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................3 CAPE TOWN REPORt – DrUGS AND VIOLENCE IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA .......................................................................................7 Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................7 Introduction .......................................................................................................................9 Historical Context for the South Africa Anti-Drug and Anti-Violence Experience ........12 Cape Town’s Civil Society Responses to South Africa’s Social Problems Regarding Drugs and Violence ......................................................15 Cape Town-Specific Lessons Learned ...........................................................................21 Prevention Strategies That Might Be Applied Elsewhere ...............................................23 ROCA REPORt – SOLID FOUNDATIONS FOR VIOLENCE AND DRUG PREVENTION .......................................................................26 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................26 Introduction .....................................................................................................................27 The Context For ROCA’s Work in the Boston Area .......................................................29 ROCA’s ‘Pillars’ ..............................................................................................................35 Prevention Strategies That Might Be Applied Elsewhere ...............................................38 Annex One: ROCA’s Four Pillars in Detail ....................................................................42 PALERMO REPORt – DrUGS AND VIOLENCE IN PALERMO, ITALY: CIVIL SOCIETY TRANSFORMING THE CULTURE ................................................49 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................49 Introduction .....................................................................................................................51 Social Context For the Sicilian Anti-Drug and Anti-Violence Experience .....................53 Sicily-Specific Lessons Learned .....................................................................................66 Prevention Strategies That Might Be Applied Elsewhere ...............................................68 MEDELLIN REPORt – CIVIL SOCIety’s ROLE IN DRUG AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION .................................................................73 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................73 Introduction .....................................................................................................................75 Historical Context for the Medellin Anti-Drug and Anti-Violence Experience .............78 Civil Society Responses to Drug Abuse and Social Violence ........................................83 International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence 5 Medellin-Specific Lessons Learned ................................................................................94 Prevention Strategies Used in Medellin That May Be Replicated Elsewhere ................96 COMPARISON REPORt – DrUGS AND VIOLENCE PREVENTIon – 4 CASE STUDIES .............................................................................................................101 Introduction ...................................................................................................................101 The Social Contexts and Different Manifestations of Drug Trade, Drug Use and Social Violence ................................................................................103 Prevention Work Across the Four Sites ........................................................................109 Concepts For Supporting Further Demand Reduction Work ........................................114 6 International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence Cape Town Report – Drugs and Violence in Cape Town, South Africa Executive Summary South Africa has made great strides in building a more equitable and democratic country in the post-apartheid era. There is still a long way to go. Some social problems, such as violence, crime and drugs, have not diminished in the post- apartheid. But partnerships among local government, the business community, academia and organized civil society have helped stimulate a broad, creative response to these challenges. Criminal activity related to drug use and gang activity is considered by some to be a core obstacle to economic and social development in the new South Africa. Cape Town and its metropolitan area have been particularly affected by problems of drug use, gang activity and high levels of crime. Some of this has been exacerbated by conditions that predate the ongoing political transformation in South Africa; including gender violence and lack of empowerment for women, ethnic and sectarian tensions, as well as poverty and extreme disparities in the distribution of wealth. Some factors are more recent, including the influx of new migrants to Cape Town, the widespread availability of drugs and new clients for the sex trade. Practitioners of prevention activities in Cape Town are keenly aware of the numerous challenges they face to their ongoing work. Nevertheless, they have found several effective strategies that recommend themselves to others doing prevention work on other national contexts, including building cross-sectoral partnerships, holistic approaches to youth intervention work, and non-territorial approaches to prevention. Partnering across sectors holds the potential to leverage different sectoral capabilities and involve different sectors of civil society and government more deeply in a shared social problem. A holistic approach to prevention, encompassing families, cultural attitudes, self-esteem and skill-building appears to be helpful in the Cape Town context and can be replicated elsewhere. Cape Town’s government and NGO community recognize that gangs simply migrate to other areas when they are confronted by law enforcement in their original area of operation. By employing a variety of non-territorial approaches, they are able to better serve their client population, rather than waiting for people to walk in. This report details the unique contextual challenges that South Africa and Cape Town face, the dynamics of the gang and drug problems, and looks closely at International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence 7 the various organizations engaged in drug and violence prevention. These are all analyzed for lessons learned from the Cape Town context. The strategies foreshadowed here are explored in greater detail in the concluding section. 8 International Practices in Intervention in the Culture of Drugs and Violence Introduction South Africa lies at the extreme southern tip of the African continent (see figure 1), and is a country of approximately 43 million people, of which it is believed that more than 5.3 million are infected with HIV/AIDS,1 whether from intravenous drug use, unprotected sexual contact, or having been infected at birth. Cape Town lies on the south west coast of South Africa and is South Africa’s legislative capital, as well as the provincial capital.