Ethnicity and Religion in the Archipelago of San Andrés,Providencia and Santa Catalina

Moving between historic reconstruction and ethnographic data, this article analyses the close relationship existing between memory, religion and ethnicity in the case of the Raizal people of the islands of San Andrés and Providencia (in Colombia's Western Caribbean). The dual colonial history of the islands and the peculiar modalities of the emergence of Creole society there, which is closely related to the establishment of the Baptist Church in a context of relative isolation, contributed decisively to defining the current political demands of the Raizal ethnic movements.     

A Macro-Cultural Research Design for Testing Competing Macro-Structural Theories on Crime and Deviance

A macro-structural integrative theoretical model previously identified for the prediction of crime rates is elucidated for its application to cross-cultural studies. The research strategy suggested for testing it is the accumulation of longitudinal case histories of cities. Thus, comparisons of relationships discovered among variables would be made rather than direct comparisons of crime rates among cultures. Cumulative results would make feasible: 1) the discrimination of theoretical priority based upon relatively objective tests parallel in nature and 2) provide a data base for the further integration of theory.

The major thesis of the paper is that extant archive data may be used in many countries to test relationships grounded in systems theory. The feasibility of the research design is discussed, with numerous examples drawn of operational measures related to the theoretical factors identified, both independent and dependent variables, namely ecological, economic, formal controls, anomie, and crime. In particular, it is noted that many countries that formerly were colonized, will tend to yield similar data.