"Caroline Doyle provides a rich and nuanced account of the complexities of criminal governance and violence in Medellín. In offering a profoundly human face to stories of crime and insecurity that are often told only via statistics and trends, Doyle makes a timely contribution to research on crime and violence in Colombia and beyond. Doyle brings the reader with her in her writing to meet the individuals she spoke with and weaves thoughtful reflections of her research process throughout the book. This makes Researching Crime and Violence in Medellín, Colombia an equally valuable resource for those interested in how we might conduct ethical, responsive, engaged, research with violence-affected communities."
— Helen Berents, Griffith University
"When they say 'culture eats strategy for breakfast,' they mean we need more context and fewer rigid molds to tackle complex phenomena. Caroline Doyle’s book offers an intimate immersion into the misunderstood reality of urban violence and provides insights into how local solutions are the pathway for societies to exit pervasive violence successfully."
— Andrés Casas, Director - Neuropaz.com
"Caroline Doyle offers a new approach to the phenomena of violence facing the city of Medellín, Colombia. Dr. Doyle’s status as both a foreigner and an expert in Latin America, allows her to have an original and lucid approach to the problems facing the region. The book allows readers to understand both why Medellín had such high homicide rates and to consider elements about the reasons for the rapid decline in homicides.
Dr. Doyle's book has a serious tone but at the same time it provides readers with the realities of conducting fieldwork in the city – the good and the bad. This book presents her journey to one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but also one of the most difficult cities to understand.
Anyone wanting to conduct fieldwork in the city should read this book first."
— Luis Felipe Dávila, Universidad Católica de Colombia
"By providing an honest and personal account of her journey to understand dynamics of violence in Medellin, Caroline Doyle offers readers a useful reflection on the challenges faced by researchers when studying the many forms of violence, crime and insecurity people experience in Latin America. Through an overview of key concepts and approaches and a critical analysis of her research experience in a city with a particularly complex history of violence, Doyle helps readers understand the paradoxes that continue to make Medellin one of the most emblematic cases in the region. The interesting reflections on the value of qualitative methods and the role of researchers’ identity and personal experiences will be particularly useful to researchers from the global north interested in navigating the landscape of narratives and experiences of violence in Latin America."
— Alexandra Abello Colak, The London School of Economics and Political Science