Adam Baird

Dr. Adam Baird, born in London, specialises in armed violence prevention, gangs, and organised crime, focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean.

He is a globally recognised expert in masculinities and recently developed the concepts of ‘chronic vulnerability’ and ‘masculine vulnerability’ to explain the persistence of violence in poor urban communities. These ideas were highlighted in an Issue Paper by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, presented to the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime in 2022. 

Adam has carried out baseline assessments and written corresponding reports on ‘Weapons and Ammunition Management’ across Central America. His latest book, From South Central to Southside: Gang transnationalism, gender, and chronic vulnerability in Belize City will be published by Temple University Press, in spring 2024.

His 2023 publications include: with Bishop, M. & Kerrigan, D. ‘Differentiating the local impact of global drugs and weapons trafficking: How do gangs mediate ‘residual violence’ to sustain Trinidad’s homicide boom?’, Political Geography; and with Kerrigan, D., Carceral Masculinities in the Caribbean, The Routledge Handbook on Caribbean Studies.