Social cleansing
Social cleansing is social group-based killing that consists of the elimination of members of society who are considered undesirable, including, but not limited to, the homeless, criminals, street children, the elderly, the poor, the weak, the sick, the needy and the disabled. This phenomenon is caused by a combination of economic and social factors, but killings are notably present in regions with high levels of poverty and disparities of wealth. Perpetrators are usually of the same community as the victims and they are often motivated by the idea that the victims are a drain on the resources of society. Efforts by national and local governments to stop these killings have been largely ineffective. The government and police forces are often involved in the killings, especially in Africa, Asia, and South America.
Causes
Africa
In African countries, social cleansing almost always takes the form of witch hunting which is most common in areas with poor economic circumstances. Several social and economic theories exist as to why such circumstances have arisen and led to accusations of witchcraft, including warfare, natural disasters, unequal patterns of development, and larger forces of globalization. Most scholars agree that the cause of social cleansing efforts is a result of "interaction of economic conditions and cultural factors". All of these theories must be linked to larger societal trends, including the devaluation and social marginalization of women as well as the placement of blame on individuals for their own economic misfortunes in lieu of recognition of global and local economic forces at play. However, several scholars have emphasized the outside groups and circumstances related to these killings to dispute the idea that they are simply a cultural norm.Economic
In many countries, income disparities have led to social tensions and a climate of "mutual suspicion". The wealthy and powerful are perceived as having obtained their wealth through "evil arts", while the economically disadvantaged are accused of responsibility for misfortunes of the community. There is also evidence that the causes of social cleansing are linked to globalization and economic liberalization, "to the extent that it has stripped entire populations of their means of subsistence, torn communities apart, deepened economic inequalities and forced people to compete for diminishing resources." Many African communities have been destabilized as communal lands have been privatized, local currency has been devalued, and public services have been eliminated.Sometimes these larger economic trends have been linked to more specific events. For example, in Southern Zimbabwe, violent wars led certain areas to be neglected in development efforts, leading to a lack of resources and increasing disparities of wealth in these areas. In Tanzania, scholars have found positive correlations between extreme rainfall and large negative income shocks and famine. These periods have been statistically linked to increases in murder of witches.
Cultural
Several cultural explanations for social cleansing in Africa are related to religion. One that has been offered by scholars is the presence of Pentecostals, whose focus on the occult has been spread by the media and increased social anxiety. Pentecostals have been recorded as preaching connections between illness and the devil, which has combined potently with existing indigenous beliefs, most notably in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania. In Tanzania, a positive correlation exists between witch killing and areas where populations practice traditional religions, where the belief in witchcraft is strong. While scholars have suggested that the presence of these beliefs is important because it demonstrates the fact that perpetrators generally do believe that their victims are practicing witchcraft, they also recognize the fact that populations with traditional religious beliefs often have a low socio-economic status, which supports their assertion that poverty is still the primary factor in motivating killings.Latin America
The most widespread myth about social cleansing in Latin America is that these killings are all related to drug use. However, the phenomenon is larger than the drug problem and is related to state ideology, a culture of violence, and inequitable wealth distribution. Within Colombia specifically, economic factors account for many of the reasons behind these killings, but such factors are additionally "aggravated by external political and economic pressures from the United States".Economic
Latin America has an extremely large number of individuals living below the poverty line, and these individuals are largely blamed for their impoverished state. Many of these individuals are in critical poverty, meaning that they do not even have the ability to secure food and shelter. This critical poverty is connected to inflation rates that has led the cost of living to increase and the minimum salary to be hardly adequate for survival. Since the 1990s, the gap between the rich and poor has widened, and funds for welfare programs and social services has decreased while funding for security forces to protect "the haves from the have-nots" have tripled in Colombia specifically.Culture of violence
Latin America's history has long been plagued by political violence, which over time has morphed into class-based violence. Despite mostly formally democratic governments, the "legacy of authoritarianism" lingers, and the presence of "armed actors" is prevalent as a result of a long history of violence between military, paramilitary, and guerilla groups. The presence of the culture of violence has had various effects on the underclass in countries in Latin America. The military and especially the police have been known to use violence to harm citizens, rather than protect them.Private "vigilante" security forces have likewise used violence against the poor with the idea of promoting law and order, especially in Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru. Though many guerilla groups are much less violent than when they originally emerged, they are a presence and an additional source of violence, especially in Colombia. Tension between political groups has led these guerilla groups, the government, and vigilante actors to suspect peasants of working with their enemy and to intimidate them into leaving land in the countryside for the city. Other poor rural residents have been forced to leave because of general violence or lack of public services. Violence at the local level is also extremely common by organized criminals such as street gangs, drug bosses, vigilante justice groups, and local civil patrols.
When poor residents are forced to move to the city, they often must turn to prostitution, crime, or begging in inner-city ghettos, which puts them in an extremely vulnerable position in the presence of these violent groups. Men in particular become even more entrenched in the culture of violence as many join gangs to escape "social exclusion and economic disadvantage" and establish a sense of identity and masculinity. Finally, violence exists at a level even smaller than the community: the home. Children are often victims of "physical, mental, and sexual abuse by adult members of their own families". In Guatemala specifically, social cleansing occurs with the "backdrop of genocide," and homicide rates are still extremely high after "three decades of armed conflict" during the Guatemalan Civil War.
Violence experienced across the region has led to an erosion of social capital, which was described by Colombians as including "'social mistrust,' 'lack of unity,' 'fear' and 'lack of social institutions.'"
In Spain
Spain before colonization demonstrated societal patterns that shaped life in Spain in terms of prejudice and discrimination. The discriminatory practice of Spanish legislation led to a certain caste system pertaining to those with or without honor. Moreover, one's reputation and the way one was treated was based on aspects such as honor, legitimacy, and the limpieza de sangre, a prejudicial marker that indicates one's purity of blood, relating to their family timeline and deciding how society was to treat them. "Historic meanings of honor included those cultural specific ways that Spaniards had always rationalized discrimination due to defects in birth, religion, and race." That discriminatory institution, based on those concepts of honor, limpieza, and legitimacy, is expressed through the legislation of Spanish government at the time.An example was in 1414, when Pope Benedict XIII approved the constitution of the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé, in Salamanca, Spain, which linked those concepts through the school's acceptance policy. Those accepted into the school had to prove that they had pure blood, rather than Jewish, Moorish, or heretical heritage.
In colonial Latin America
The concept of limpieza de sangre, or purity of blood, was used in societies of Spain and Portugal, originating from Iberian culture, where reputation was inherited from one's ancestors. If someone was found to be a race such as Jewish, a converted Jew, or Muslim in their family timeline, it was said to be a stain on their ancestry. Consequently, one's own ancestry determined their reputation and social standing, impacting other aspects such as access to education, career, and marriage for further generations. This became known as the culture of honor, which resided in such reputational ancestry that came to define how individuals were respected.Limpieza de sangre affected life for every individual in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, including the degree to exclusion and racial discrimination. When Europe came to colonize the "New World" these ethics of honor and limpieza de sangre implied that those with blood lacking purity to European standards was inferior. The Europeans were at the "apex" of social structure and everyone who was not identical in blood was inferior. As colonists, the presumed inferiors were the colonized and thus, due to this culture of honor, they became victims of this discrimination. While over time assimilation, miscegenation and admixture complicated this concept of social cleansing, the ideals of "purity of blood" prevailed, and elite was considered to be of European and Christian origins.
The conquest of indigenous people in Latin America strengthened these ideals. The vulnerability of one's identity in colonial America gave way to one's defense of honor, except for the elites and those in power, typically the colonists. As the degree of honor perceived by individuals was reputational, people felt the need to be confirmed by society or by those in good social standing through submission to the given standards that one's place held. The pursuit of this honor led to many disputes, as well as the fear of being rejected by society and losing one's place.
Despite these long-lived standards, during post-colonialism the ideals of Latin America changed with independence and the growth of democratic values. With this, the culture of honor and respect for those with pure bloodlines changed. People began to socially include those who were previously seen as inferior.