Breaking Bad: How transnational drug trafficking creates violent masculinities in local Caribbean communities in Port of Spain

The research project studies the impact of transnational organised crime and drug-trafficking (TNOC) on poor urban communities in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, which has seen crime and violence soar since the mid-1990s as the city became transhipment point in the illegal drugs trade. We address the impact of TNOC on vulnerable populations, culture and security by considering the 'transnational-to-community' impact of drug-trafficking. In particular we consider how TNOC contributes to a number of male residents becoming increasingly violent at a micro level as 92% of homicide victims are men: how do relatively benign 'corner kids' turn into violent gang members? In turn we ask, how can these communities work with young men to insulate themselves from the negative impact and violence generation of TNOC?

This research uses masculinities as an interpretive lens and draws upon scholars across the disciplines of Peace Studies, Cultural Anthropology, and International Relations. The methodology is rooted in Trinidadian 'Spoken Word' traditions, and art and music, to grasp how male identity, culture, community violence and TNOC intersect.

Before high levels of TNOC emerged, the region had relatively low levels of violent crime. However, this changed rapidly with the onset of cocaine trafficking in early 1990s across the Caribbean which dovetailed with the multiple clefts of colonial legacies, exclusion and poverty, worsened by the collapse of traditional agricultural exports, racial divisions and widespread institutional weaknesses. Violent death rates in cities in the region have grown to outstrip many warzones, whilst some of the highest rates of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in the world are found in the Caribbean.

The answers to understanding violence must be sought at the interface between cocaine-driven TNOC and vulnerable communities, as poor residents have become disproportionately affected by violence. TNOC has weakened the rule of law, posing stiff challenges to already struggling institutions, whilst transforming local communities, hence the rather topical title of this research proposal 'Breaking Bad'. However, we still understand relatively little about the transformative processes between TNOC and community level violence.

Furthermore, we understand little about how masculinities become violent in communities traversed by TNOC. It is at the intersection between TNOC, community, and masculinities, that the new violence of Port-of-Spain can be most productively understood. Certainly it is an area where we must strengthen policy and programming. Whilst there is no silver-bullet solution to violence in these cities, masculinities are clearly an important part of the solution and are almost completely overlooked. This research project strives to create pragmatic, evidence based recommendations to lead to concrete impact by promoting innovative, community-led and gender-based solutions for the populations that most suffer from violence, whilst serving to interrupt the negative impact that TNOC has on poor neighbourhoods.

This research has been designed with two impact pillars:

1. The first is 'community level impact' through the process of Action Research using Spoken Word, art and music workshops. Our workshops are designed to not only generate data, they also aim to empower local participants to resist the impact of TNOC and drug-trafficking on their communities, using their own knowledge, capacities and experiences of dealing with problems in their own settings; and to generate ways of reducing local men's violence whilst promoting awareness around gender based violence. We will work mainly with the youth population and ensure their involvement in impact activities from the outset. The total number of local direct workshop beneficiaries will be eighty; ten male youths, and ten female youths and women from each of our four target communities. Their workshop experiences, activities and training will then help them influence their home communities as they will become focal points for community ideas and activism around violence reduction.
Their involvement will lead to the co-design of a community safety guide 'Reducing Men's Violence in Your Community'. The aim is that this will become an accessible and transferrable guidebook that can be used in other vulnerable Caribbean communities affected by overarching TNOC, associated drug-trafficking, and community violence. We aim to distribute 500 copies of the guidebook, or 125 in each of our four target communities, with the ultimate goal of reducing the impact of TNOC at a community level by reducing male perpetrated homicide and gang related violence; sexual and gender based violence; and other sources of insecurity identified by local inhabitants using a gender-based approach and a critical analysis of violent masculinities.
The project will aim to consolidate a network of community members committed to building human security from below and link them to state security providers, the University of West Indies, and local UNDP offices to create a flow of knowledge to influence ongoing security policies that impact upon their communities (see also point 1. above). We envision that once opened, such channels of communication will be self-sustainable. This is easily monitored.

2. The second pillar is 'policy, advocacy, and programming impact' supported by our strategic partnerships with UNDP, the NGO Promundo, and our PIs track record of turning research into practical violence reduction intervention programs with UNDP. The UNDP and Promundo were specifically chosen to promote the second impact pillar.
UNDP is participating fully in this project from the outset from design, research, workshops, through to output publications. The UNDP interfaces with high level policy makers in Trinidadian state and government sectors and the international donor community, therefore they are strategically placed to lead the impact of this project in terms of influence and reach over state policy making and international cooperation for security in the country.
A roundtable will be held with high-level stakeholders in Port-of-Spain, including state ministries and security forces, the international donor community, and leading academics and practitioner experts, to disseminate the results of the research and the final policy briefing written in conjunction with UNDP.
Promundo is a leading NGO working on masculinities. They have significant reach in policy circles in Washington DC and with UN Women. Promundo will be supporting our workshops, the dissemination of the project research.
Finally, the project will serve as a launchpad for future bids for violence prevention projects with a focus on masculinities based on our research. PI Dr Adam Baird has used his previous work on gangs and masculinities to design a UNDP project worth US$250,000 which ran in Belize 2012-2014. We will use our project to influence and design future programming interventions through UNDP and the broader international community.