Central American nations have recently had the highest per capita homicide rates in the world--surpassing the per capita death toll even in war-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan--and gang violence has been the dominant explanation for this tragic state of affairs. But why has gang activity become endemic in the region? Photojournalist Donna De Cesare began covering Central America during the civil wars of the 1980s, focusing especially on the disrupted lives of children and youths, and continued her photography project in Central American refugee communities in the United States in...