Drug-scene familiarity and exposure to gang violence among residents in a rural farming community in Baja California, Mexico

Abstract

We examined drug-scene familiarity and exposure to gang violence among residents of a migrant farming community in rural Baja California, Mexico. In October 2010, 164 members of a single colonia (community) underwent an interviewer-administered survey to assess ‘exposure to gang violence’ and ‘drug-scene familiarity’, as well as other health indicators. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of exposure to gang violence. Overall, 20% of participants were male, the median age was 27 years, 24% spoke an indigenous language, 42% reported exposure to gang violence and 39% reported drug-scene familiarity. Factors independently associated with exposure to gang violence included being younger (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.80 per 5-year increase, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.67–0.96), living in the community longer (AOR=1.47 per 5-year increase, 95% CI=1.11–1.72), higher educational attainment (AOR=1.70 per 5-year increase, 95% CI=1.07–1.12) and drug-scene familiarity (AOR=5.10, 95% CI=2.39–10.89). Exposure to gang violence was very common in this community and was associated with drug-scene familiarity, suggesting a close relationship between drugs and gang violence in this rural community. In a region characterised by mass migration from poorer parts of Mexico, where drugs and gangs have not been previously reported, emerging social harms may affect these communities unless interventions are implemented.

Keywords:

• drugs
• gangs
• violence
• Mexico
• migration

View correction statement:

Erratum

Acknowledgements

Tyson Volkmann was supported by a predoctoral training grant (T32 DA023356), the National Hispanic Science Network's (NHSN) Scientific Development Travel Fellowship (R13DA26647-03) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a fellowship from the NHSN's Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute, and a San Diego State University Associated Students Travel Scholarship. Richard Garfein is funded by a grant from NIDA (R01 DA031074). The authors gratefully acknowledge the VIIDAI students, faculty and staff from SDSU, UCSD and UABC for their help with survey preparation and data collection, Margarita Chalita for her work in survey translation, and Angela M. Robertson and Victoria D. Ojeda for their edits. We thank the study participants for their time.

Notes

This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Erratum (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2013.770948).