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Costa Rica is a small country located in Central America, characterized by having one of the most stable democracies in Latin America. Costa Rica was the first country in the world to officially abolish its armed forces (1949), following the Civil War in 1948. From the time of its foundation as a Republic, Costa Rica has been defined in terms of homogeneity and socio-economic equality. These two features have been recognized as the main elements of the country's national identity, and the reason for Costa Ricans to be perceived as peaceful and happy individuals. This research utilizes the methodological lens of Performance Studies to analyze these iconic elements of Costa Rican national identity and to challenge the view of Costa Rica as a paradise. Even though the international community continues defining this country in the same manner in which it was defined during the second part of the nineteen century, the reality is that during the last three decades this nation has changed so much that the same definition is not adequate anymore. Street violence in the country has become a threat to citizens of all socio-economic classes, taking away their peace and happiness. I analyze this development and the response by the citizens in an attempt to show that Costa Rica is facing an internal conflict that could have devastating on its society. Many social movements have formed during the last decade to try to bring Costa Rica back to the nation it was at the beginning of the twentieth century. The most important characteristic of these movements is that they try to unmask the country showing that it is not peaceful in an attempt to recover the peace they believed characterized the Costa Rica of their ancestors.

The gang has been a focal concern in UK media, political discourse, policy, and policing interventions in the last decade, occupying the position of contemporary ‘folk devil’. Despite the heightened attention on urban ‘gang culture’, sociological research on gangs in the UK is limited. However, some sociologists do stress a deterministic relationship between gangs and black urban youth, rendering urban men a source of fascination and repulsion, easy scapegoats in explaining street violence. Arguably, current work that privileges the idea of gang membership misunderstands much about the lives of some men involved. This thesis contributes to correcting that misunderstanding. The study adopts a social constructionist perspective in understanding the (multiple) ways urban men in an inner city area of London construct their lives when immersed in what they refer to as being ‘on road’, a symbolic space in which everyday lives are played out. As a broadly ethnographic study, the data for the thesis were generated using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with a range of participants, including young and adult men. The study identifies three distinct ways in which some men become trapped in difficult experiences and identities ‘on road’. It focuses on the implications of the notion of ‘trappedness’ on their experiences in public space, employment opportunities and, self- identity. The ‘on road’ lives of the men in the study represent a paradox: the road appears to offer opportunity to build masculine identity but entangles them further in a trap, restricting freedom and stunting personal growth. This study has significance for sociological theory. Theoretically, the idea of being ‘on road’ can be understood as a discourse that persists in the language and symbolism that flows through these men’s experiences and narratives. As such the idea of ‘onroadness’ powerfully shapes all aspects of their lives. It is argued that more focus is needed on the psychosocial factors that force some men into volatile social worlds, and the personal contexts that frame local narratives of ‘on road’ culture, especially within wider experiences of friendship, faith, and identity. The thesis suggests that this form of analysis offers a critical explanatory framework within which it is possible to understand the lives of some of the young and adult men in certain inner city areas in the UK.

This study focuses on examining whether there is a link between crime/street violence and socioeconomically disadvantaged/neglected areas. The study was executed on the basis of professionals' perspective on the issue. The study analyzes young men but the result is based on empirical data from interviews with the professionals who are or have been in touch with young men whose lifestyle is characterized by criminality. The interviewees are professionals in different fields such as social services, leisure activities, politics, defector activities etcetera. Therefore, the study is similar to a casestudy. Our study is conducted with the help of semi-structured interviews since we have chosen a qualitative research method with an abductive approach. The results show that the connection between the issues surrounding street violence and the socioeconomically neglected areas is strong. The stigma around the area and the lack of meaningful leisure leads to risk factors for the young men, in terms of education with fewer resources, overcrowding in their homes, poverty and exclusion in society. These factors in turn lead individually or collectively to the young men being attracted to a lifestyle that is characterized by crime, violence, drug trafficking and so on. Labeling theory was a highly current theory which most of the interviewees pointed out. Bothstigma and labeling of people who live in the neglected areas can cause street violence. This in turn causes fragile social ties in society. Developmental psychopathology is another theory that helped us answer the results in this study. The collected data shows how development differs from one individual to the other, how one person who in general lives under the same circumstances manages to stay away from criminality while another individual doesn't. The conclusion that was drawn from this study, among others, is that a root cause of street violenceis the neglecting of these areas. There is a necessity for more resources and dedicated workers in school, workers in extracurricular functions and other adults that work in close connection to the young men. / Denna studie fokuserar på att undersöka om det finns en koppling mellan kriminalitet och socioekonomiskt eftersatta/utsatta områden. Detta undersöks med avstamp i de yrkesverksammas perspektiv på problematiken. Studien undersöker unga män men resultatet baseras på empirin från intervjuer med yrkesverksamma som är eller har varit i kontakt med unga män vars livsstil präglas av kriminalitet. Intervjupersonerna är yrkesverksamma inom olika fält såsom Socialtjänsten, fritidsverksamheter, politik, avhopparverksamhet med mera. I och med detta liknas undersökningen en fallstudie. Studien genomförs med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer då vi valt en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en abduktiv ansats. Resultatet visar att kopplingen mellan problematiken kring gatuvåldet och de socioekonomiskt eftersatta områdena är stark. Stigman kring områdena och avsaknaden av en meningsfull fritid orsakar riskfaktorer för unga män i form av bland annat bristfällig skolgång med få resurser, trångboddhet, fattigdom och utanförskap. Dessa faktorer leder i sin tur individuellt eller kollektivt till att unga mändras till en livsstil som präglas av bland annat kriminalitet, våld och droghandel med bristande tillit för de vuxna och ansvariga. Stämplingsteorin kom att bli en högst aktuell teori som merparten av intervjupersonerna beskrev. Både stigmatisering och stämpling av de människor som är bosatta i de eftersatta områdena kan komma att bli en direkt följd av gatuvåld i förhållande till den socioekonomiska eftersattheten. Detta i sin tur orsakar sköra sociala band i samhället. Utvecklingspsykopatologi var en annan teori som hjälpte oss besvara resultatet i studien. Empirin visade på hur utvecklingen skiljer sig från individ till individ när vissa av unga männen som levt under i princip samma förutsättningar lyckas undvika att hamna i en kriminell livsstil, medan andra inte lyckas undvika det. Studiens slutsatser påvisar bland annat att en grundorsak till gatuvåldet är den socioekonomiska eftersattheten. Det finns ett behov av starkare resurser och engagerad personal i skola, fritidsgårdar och andra platser där unga män vistas då dessa faktorer är avgörande för deras uppväxt och framtid.