El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and has the third largest economy, but growth has been modest in recent years. Economic growth will decelerate in 2009 due to the global slowdown and to El Salvador's dependence on exports to the United States of America (USA) and remittances from the USA. El Salvador’s armed conflict came to an end with Peace Accords signed in 1992 however the political war in El Salvador has now transformed into a social war. Gangs are feared as the most dangerous perpetrators of social violence. In gang communities ‘at-risk’ youth are subject to social exclusion, unemployment and domestic/street violence often joining gangs for alternative solutions. The persistently high levels of crime and violence have negatively affected the image of the country and the investment climate. Crime and violence in El Salvador also undermines social capital and erodes the assets and incomes of the poor, impedes safe access to education and reduces employment opportunities. In 2008, El Salvador had a murder rate of 52 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the world. As many as 30,000 Salvadoran youth belong to maras (street gangs), which Salvadoran National Police officials maintain are responsible for up to 60% of homicides.This study examined the impact of gangs in Salvadoran families and how has been affected economically and their reactions to those dangerous situations. At the same time, it was elaborated 28 interviews online to Salvadoran people in order to know their opinion and experience when they were victims of criminal acts and the suggestions that they offer to the Government in order to reduce insecurity and criminal behavior as well. Based on the data interview, 64% of Salvadoran responded that the unemployment is the main reason which crime has increased in the country, due that in the country the opportunities to find a job are difficult especially if the people don´t have the preparation to apply to some jobs. At the same time 43% of them mentioned that one of the most urgent problems in El Salvador are the gangs, which have increased over the past years and have greatly affected the Salvadorans. Moreover, 61% of the interviewed people have been assaulted by gang members and 39% of them have been victims of extortion by gangs. Also is important mention that the elaboration of this thesis had some limitations. One of the biggest limitations was the language, because all the interviews were conducted in Spanish and then were translated into English. All the information that Salvadorans mentioned by translating into English lose a little bit the original idea of what they said, however, it tried to show all the information as exactly as possible. In addition other important limitation was the time to arrange the interviews, because Taiwan and El Salvador have 14 hours of difference and some of the interviews were conducted in the last hours of the night in Taiwan. At the same time, this study only focused in El Salvador, however, the problem of the gangs is affecting to some Central America countries as Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua with similar situations as El Salvador, therefore, this study will be useful as guide for future research in other countries.

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