Perception and intervention of conflicts from community actors and the military and police forces

analysis from Action Without Harm

Abstract

This article presents a description of the perceptions and interventions of local conflicts developed by community and institutional actors in periods of escalating violence, mainly community organizations, members of the security forces and government institutions in the context of the Agricultural Capital of Colombia. The methodological design combines the social research methodology for the elaboration of public policies and the postulates of the Do No Harm methodology. It is a descriptive qualitative study that is part of the results obtained through the applied research exercise and the Conflict Perception Survey that was completed between 2020 and 2021. More than 450 people participated in the exercise, including members of state institutions and community actors, of which 385 filled out the survey. The sampling of the survey was simple random with a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 5%, based on a population of 349,294 inhabitants of Valle de las Palmas. The analysis of the data collected through the survey was carried out with the statistical software R. The exercise reveals that the perception of the leaders who participated in the exercise regarding the intervention of the public forces, the Community Action Boards and the peace judges, was mainly positive in the local context. Finally, the exercise highlights the role of different state actors and institutions in conflict intervention and strategies for the reduction of violence rates.