Medellin between Death and Life. Crime Scenes, 1990-2002

This article aims to approach the understanding of the homicides in Medellin by means of defining violence scenes seen as spaces that exist in the relationship between the violent acts & the society structural dimensions. These scenes are established starting from violent facts such as: circumstances, motives, premeditation, at issue object, neighborhood, organization, victim condition, rationalization degree. As a result of the research, nine scenes was defined. It is possible to identify three periods in which the city experienced different violence expressions. From 1990 to 1993 the main violence scene present was the one related to trafficking & other organized illicit activities; between 1994 & 1998 the presence of gangs accentuated the violence aimed to an economic recovery. Last, in the period between 1999 & 2002 the decision of the guerrillas & self-defenses groups of transferring the war to the city had as a consequence the predominance of the territorial violence. Concluding, this research shows the diverse character of the homicide scenarios, the mobility of the individual & collective actors, & the necessity of understanding their dynamics. Tables, Figures. Adapted from the source document.