Macabre ceremonies

How Los Zetas produces extreme violence to promote organizational cohesion

Bibliographic Data

ID13132402
AuthorsValentin Pereda (0000-0002-3336-1748, University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume2
Issue2
Pages278-296
Publication date2021-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueViolence An International Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2633-0032 • E-ISSN: 2633-0032
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/26330024211059840
OpenAlexW3212017290
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited31

Why do some organized crime groups (OCGs) carry out face-to-face killings where perpetrators debase their victims and defile their bodies? Leading criminologists contend that OCGs carry out extreme killings deliberately to attain specific performance objectives. Conversely, psycho-sociological scholars argue that extreme killings only occur in situations that affect perpetrators’ reasoning and emotions. In their view, these situations are largely beyond OCGs’ control. I argue that analyzing extreme killings as organizational rituals can contribute to reconciling these seemingly conflicting views. More specifically, I contend that the OCG known as Los Zetas ritualizes executions to generate the conditions that make extreme violence possible. Through ritualization, Los Zetas influences executioners’ perceptions of extreme behavior from something abhorrent into something valued, desirable, and enjoyable. Once the conditions conducive to extreme violence emerge, Los Zetas exploits it to attain utilitarian objectives

Affect (linguistics · Cohesion (chemistry · Criminology · Face (sociological concept · Perception · Social science · Sociology · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Psychology · Social Psychology · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

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Open DOIOpen Access