ABSTRACT This article addresses both the culture of risk as an analytical and intervention category in vulnerable communities. The main objective is to show that risk analysis and intervention is only viable when the cultural values of the communities that face a particular kind of vulnerability are taken into account. We present the results from a study of a representative sample of vulnerable communities in Barranquilla, Colombia, in which various techniques of data collection were applied to identify the perception of risk and its relationship with the cultural typologies developed by Cultural Theory. We explain the causes and effects of perception and response when faced with risk in different contexts.