Social vulnerability to crime and community organization: a participatory reflection in Atahualpa

Abstract

In the rural parish of Atahualpa, Ecuador, an increase in money laundering activities has been observed. In response, the community initiated a neighborhood watch experiment in 2025, which did not yield the desired results. The most reliable statistical test conducted in the country in 2014 demonstrates that social vulnerability (measured by the RS/MIES pattern) is not associated with criminal offending. Contrary to this finding, I have witnessed firsthand the phenomenon of neighborhood watch in the area and, through field notes and participant observation, I perceive that the aforementioned document does not adequately account for the observations made in 2025. My results describe and categorize two new findings: crimes related to organized crime do not appear to follow the dynamics of the 2014 test (altering the community’s strategic possibilities that served as the basis for the test), and the self-perception of vulnerability emerges as an obstacle to the management of neighborhood watch (leading to a critical reflection on the victimhood narrative embedded in populist political culture).