Abstract

CERBINO, Mauro. Young victims of violence, tattooed faces and erasures. Perf. latinoam. [online]. 2011, vol.19, n.38, pp.9-38. ISSN 0188-7653.

This article tries to rethink the diverse modalities of gang violence, and proposes a set of causes that explain them. It explores the spiral of violence, and the opposition between victims and perpetrators. Specifically, the paper looks at the case of the Central American maras and offers an interpretation of the act of tattooing the face, as a practice that shows paradoxically how young people suffer violence in exercising of violence. Furthermore, we analyze the practice of erasing tattoos from the skin as sign of a much more intense institutional violence. The interpretation of these practices emphasizes some of the aspects related to the meanings of positions of subjectivation.

Keywords : juvenile; violence; gangs; maras; tattoos; face; faciality; tattoos erasing.