| Sumario: | This present study examines the social control, law and order roles (via jungle justice measures) that 'dons' carry out inside Jamaica's urban inner cities, called garrisons. Dons often function as non-state informal community leaders; they are shadow versions of state power and authority in garrisons. By examining the responsibilities of dons in Jamaica, this manuscript contributes to the literature on the activities of non-state criminal actors and their forms of influence on governance processes. The findings of this study suggests that it may now be appropriate to re-think the nature of governance and the actors we broadly assume are legitimate (or illegitimate) holders of power and authority in developing (developed) nation contexts. The ethnographic case described here led me to develop a taxonomy of these shadow community leaders by separating them into Mega, Area and Street Dons. Data included semi-structured in-depth interviews with 42 community residents, police officers, journalists, former gang members, clergy leaders, and non-governmental officials in addition to observations within the research site.
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