The Courtyard or Security Fencing and La Pura Vida

On first walking about Costa Rica, (in this case, Playas del Coco), I am struck by the prevalence of courtyard or security fencing surrounding most homes.

 

Courtyard fencing

The typical Spanish style courtyard fence is usually a masonry wall across the street side of the property with decorative features.

Often, a narrow roof of Spanish tiles covers the entrances and, perhaps, the length of the wall.

This painted gate provides am interesting variation.

The sides of the property off the street show fencing as well, usually cement block with healthy colonies of mildew.

Security fencing

Security fencing of chain link

and barbed wire represent the lower budget substitutes for the masonry wall.

The standard American response to courtyard fencing in CR

Americans are often charmed by the Spanish courtyard, the cool, shady tropical garden, the fountain, and the feeling of protection from an unpredictable, often shabby outside world.

This photo shows a courtyard restaurant.

The standard American response to security fencing in CR

Americans respond to the masonry walls as charming and the security fencing as erected in response to crime, especially house breaking and theft of personal property. The conclusion: crime is common in Costa Rica, more so than the US.

An alternative construction

Perhaps the walls, rather than representing rampant crime, represent the successful prevention of crime. Perhaps the Costa Rican culture puts the responsibility for the security of one's possessions on the individual, rather than placing, on the police, the responsibility for catching and successfully prosecuting thieves.

 

This could help explain the statistics showing that the US has the highest rate of incarceration on the planet. My minimal amount of research found that the US locks up 738 criminals per 100k residents vs. Costa Rica's 181 per 100k residents.

 

No doubt, the story behind these statistics is much complicated than I have the energy to present here.

 

My point, without any supporting data, is that locking-up our stuff to deter thieves could be a much better approach to Theft than leaving our stuff available to thieves and then asking the police to catch, convict, and lockup the culprits.

I am not sure which approach works better, locking stuff or locking people. Certainly, low cost security fencing is less attractive than no security fencing. Courtyard fencing can be very appealing, but expensive to build and maintain.

Beyond cost and esthetics stands an underlying philosophy regarding the scope of the power and the scope of the responsibility of government. My sense of it is that, Costa Ricans are comfortable lower levels of government power and responsibility than are Americans. Perhaps a small government sentiment is one of the elements of Pura Vida.

 

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