| dc.description.abstract | Abstract This research undertakes an analysis that attempts to shed some light in the existing relation between socioeconomic deprivation and drug cartel violence. The investigation has demonstrated that socioeconomic deprivation and lack of social infrastructure, fuels the interest of individuals to engage in drug cartel activities, promoting the escalation of levels of violence in marginalized communities. The methodology for this research involved the use of thematic analysis and the conduction of 11 semi-structured interviews with a diverse pool of participants, including experts on the subject, victims of drug cartel violence, and active drug cartel members. These interviews were designed to unveil the experiences of those individuals that are exposed to cartel violence, as well as to understand the socioeconomic dynamics that generate this situation. To better illustrate this, I decided to present the study case of Cuauhtémoc City in Chihuahua, Mexico, where these relations between relative deprivation, poverty and drug cartel violence are more evident. The results of the study show a strong relation between relative deprivation and the inclination towards involvement in drug cartel activities. The narrative of the participants revealed that socioeconomic deprivation, resource scarcity, lack of interest of the state and an inadequate social infrastructure contribute to the perceived attractiveness of joining cartels. This tendency is prevalent among marginalized communities, where limited access to basic services creates a vacuum that drug cartels exploit, often positioning themselves as alternative providers of income and social order. The research aims to evidence how this socio-economic marginalization fuels the cycle of violence in societies that have active presence of drug cartels. The study highlights the need for social and economic alternative perspectives with better social understanding to mitigate the root causes of drug cartel violence. The findings emphasize that law enforcement and punitive measures alone are insufficient to control the violence printed out by the drug cartels. This work paves the way to create a basis for future research and will contribute to create effective strategies to disrupt the cycle of deprivation, perception of poverty, and violence in Cuauhtémoc City and in other societies that present the same characteristics. | eng |