The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) is a transnational criminal gang that is infamous for the extreme levels of violence it employs. Two important questions to ask are: how did the norms of the gang come to be so violent, and what role does that violence have in maintaining order in the gang? Originating in Los Angeles by Salvadoran refugees of the civil war, MS-13 originally began as a means of protection against other Hispanic and African American gangs in the area (Boraz, 37). In the present day, it has evolved into an incredibly violent gang heavily involved in the drug trade, illegal arms dealing, human trafficking, and other black market activities. The police brutality and mass incarceration that resulted from the Salvadoran mano dura policy

(Hagedorn,) The social disorganization also led to poverty-stricken Salvadorans seeking opportunity in the United States, namely Los Angeles (Rossella, 2016) Salvadoran gangs began to form in Los Angeles as a means of protection, including MS-13. Many of the young men who formed MS-13 had experience with combat from fighting in the Salvadoran civil war as well as an increased knowledge of arms which contributed to the nascent gang being notorious for their brutality (Boraz,

The extreme social disorganization caused by the retreat of the state as a consequence of the Salvadoran civil war caused a breakdown in societies, as well as family units (Hagedorn, 2008). Salvadorian children witnessed unspeakable horrors of war, and those old enough to have participated in combat took the psychological effects of violence and warfare with them to Los Angeles. By instituting the mass incarceration and police brutality that characterized the mano dura, the Salvadoran government only served to harden, unite, and spread MS-13’s reach (Rogers, 951). As a transnational criminal organization, they have used their culture of brutality to enforce a sprawling economic market share in the illegal trade through vicious atrocities. As the MS-13 becomes even more massive and influential in the transnational illegal trade, it is unclear in what direction the role of violence in the gang will go, but one must only assume that as they grow so will the necessity for