Abstract

The present article seeks to integrate the sociological contributions of Bourdieusian criminology into the study of street gangs. Drawing from an ethnographic study and interviews with gang members from the Santo Tom & aacute;s slum in La Pintana (Santiago de Chile) we analyze street conflicts through the concept of capitalization strategies of violence: a set of practices where marginalized individuals and groups use violence to gain economic, social, and symbolic benefits. This article explores the phenomenon of violence through gang members' life history narrations, presenting empirical observations of a context of institutional abandonment and its transformative effects on the lives of people living within that social space.