When Vigilantes Take Over, Society Can Break Down
were more likely to say vigilante violence was justified. That can take multiple forms — lynch mobs in Mexico or paramilitary “self- defense” forces in Colombia — but the core impulse is the same.
“Regardless of what the police are going to do, you want justice, and it will be rough justice,” Ms. Santamaria said.
Surprisingly, that includes increased support for the use of harsh extralegal tactics by the police themselves. “This seems counterintuitive,” she said. “If you don’t trust the police to prosecute criminals, why would you trust them with bending the law?”
But to people desperate for security, she said, the unmediated punishment of police violence seems far more effective than waiting for a corrupt system to take action. Leaders like Mr. Duterte have a political incentive to exploit this sentiment. “Promising more punishment is a shortcut to gain citizens’ confidence, to gain support,” Ms. Santamaria said.
This dynamic can drive leaders to encourage vigilante violence, even if the bloodshed only worsens insecurity and its targets are largely in- nocent. The point is demonstrating a willingness to go to any length to get results.
Local communities might believe things are improving. But the extrajudicial killings instead end up provoking a self-reinforcing cycle of ever-worsening insecurity and retaliation. Once the government makes it clear that no one will face legal repercussions for extrajudicial killings, Mr. Kine said, “then anybody with a gun and a grudge has free license to go and victimize people without worrying about the consequences.”
Eventually, the situation spirals out of control. Mr. Kine pointed to the Philippine city of Tagum on the island of Mindanao. The city government encouraged off- duty police officers and collaborators to murder petty criminals in the name of being tough on crime.
Once its ability to operate with impunity was established, Mr. Kine said, that death squad began engaging in contract killings for money. People who opposed the death squad were deemed enemies and often attacked. The city became more dangerous and lawless, with devastating results for ordinary citizens.
The real problem, Ms. Santam- aria said, is not just the violence. But the way it alters the rules of society itself and what is acceptable. In Guatemala, decades of extrajudicial violence have left thousands dead, spawned ruthless street gangs and sent tens of thousands of child refugees north in search of safety.
In Colombia, vigilante “self- defense” groups grew, in the 1970s and ’80s, into large paramilitary organizations. They joined with state-supported counterinsurgency groups and became major players in the country’s drug trade and a party to its civil war, in which they were known for particularly gruesome attacks on civilians they perceived as enemies.
This is the most worrying lesson of the social scientists’ research: that it does not take evil to destroy a community’s peace and safety. Rather, ordinary human desire for security, coupled with weak institutions and desperate short- term thinking, can lead a country into an escalating disaster.