Locked Down: Gangs in the Supermax by Michael Montgomery Essay

This paper will serve as a profile of a prison gang of your choice. You will research this gang, its origins, growth, culture and newsworthy incidents. This paper should include the influence gang membership has on inmates, their progress in their sentences, rehabilitation and recidivism.

A gang is an organized group with a recognized leader whose activities are either criminal or, at the very least, threatening to the community. (Walker, 2011) Throughout history there have been some infamous gangs that have gotten media attention and others that have gone under the radar. One of the more underground gang structures are prison gangs. The Nuestra Familia may not be in the news as much anymore compared to other gangs, but they are nothing to be taken lightly. Prison gangs have been around since the late 20th century and only seem to be getting stronger if nothing is going to be done to prevent them. Gangs in prison have members in and out of prison. One of the more popular gangs that has been gaining steam recently is

There are many problems with gangs in prison. These gangs cause problems and threaten the well-being of others who don’t fit into their mindset or beliefs. This problem has been going on for a long time, and has cost the prison system a lot of money throughout the country.

In our prison systems today, many different gangs pose a threat to our correctional staff and other inmates. In the United States, gangs exist in forty of the fifty states. These gangs bring violence, drug trafficking and racial unrest to our correctional system.

Solitary confinement is a mandated arrangement set up by courts or prisons which seek to punish inmates by the use of isolated confinement. Specifically, solitary confinement can be defined as confinement in which inmates that are held in a single cell for up to twenty-three hours a day without any contact with the exception of prison staff (Shalev, 2011). There are several other terms which refer to solitary confinement such as, administrative segregation, supermax facilities (this is due to the fact that supermax facilities only have solitary confinement), the hotbox, the hole, and the security housing unit (SHU). Solitary confinement is a place where most inmates would prefer not to go.

In Policing Gangs in America, Charles Katz and Vincent Webb describes every issue in American Gangs today. The ultimate goal of this book is how the gang officers work and the different kind of atmosphere they work in. Their job isn’t like other law enforcement jobs. It’s one of the more dangerous occupation in the Criminal Justice system. These gang officers focus on how they react to public gang issues.

Gang members in institutions recruit heavily and forge alliances to strengthen their power base and influence within the prison.

No-frills prisons and jails that take away prisoner amenities and privileges are part of the correction landscape. New policies are designed to make jail and prison life as unpleasant as possible in the belief that such conditions deter even the most hardened criminals. No one knows what freedom feels like more than the inmates in a Supermax facility. Their freedom has been taken away due to their behavior. What most people take for granted as ordinary everyday responsibilities are the things those in Supermax prisons fantasies. After conviction, these offenders spend the rest of their lives boxed in by steel walls. Their communication with the outside world is shut off or limited. However, the criminal justice system does not throw anyone

Picture Manhattan in 1860, a time before the city had been dolled up and gotten ready for the silver screen, before the glamour and allure took over. Amsterdam Vallan (DiCaprio) is a young Irish man that migrates to the USA at a young age. Amsterdam’s story takes place in Five Points District of New York, a filthy and dangerous part of the city before it was deleted form history. As a young boy Vallan witnessed his father’s murder at the hand of William Cutting or Bill the Butcher (Day-Lewis) during one of their many gang wars. As Amsterdam’s story progresses along side The Butcher they become inseparable, but Amsterdam had ulterior motive. Ultimately, Amsterdam attempts to betray his new found ally in order to avenge his father’s death.

“You can hire half the poor to kill the other half.” Boss Tweed spoke these words in reference to the Draft Riots. It shows that you can easily turn the poor against each other, if you bring money into the situation. Gangs of New York is about the separation of the Irish and the Natives, which eventually led into larger conflicts. In this film there are two important characters, Amsterdam Vallon and Boyle McGloin, who were both Irishmen in the Five Points. Amsterdam was the son of Priest Vallon and he became a positive Irish Leader who was looked up to by many. Boyle McGloin was an Irishmen who was a Dead Rabbit, but later joined Bill “The Butcher” Cutting and became a “Native”. The character

Many prisoners are already highly susceptible to extremist groups. The prisoners allow for a captive audience. Many prisoners deal with vulnerabilities such as alienation, anti-social attitude, cultural disillusionment, social isolation, and violent tendencies. Also, prisoners may be forced to join gangs in order to gain protection for themselves, allowing the leaders of these groups to further influence the prisoner’s ideologies. Religious groups also play an integral part of support in the prison culture. These groups can lead to extremism as well if not properly vetted before allowing operation inside facilities (Hamm,

As a commander of a gang unit, I would first contact each gang to let them know that the violent behavior must stop and will not be endured any more. During our discussion, I will inform the member that if this behavior doesn’t cease at once, there will be severe consequences following their actions. I would inform them that we would utilize a method known as “pulling levers” (Hoover, 2016) and that it will not end well if their behavior continued. I would simply explain that this method would use every legal way possible to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law for their violent behavior.

The groups within facilities have a gang history and involvement in criminal activity and the Security Threat Intelligence unit is specialized too know there operations. When looking at Security Threat group (STG) is a formal or informal group of prison inmates that are basically a prison gang. The law enforcement official’s use the term Security Threat Groups to take away the recognition of “gang” connotes in the prison population. The “STG” pose a threat to the prison officials and prison population do too this groups challenging or breaking Florida correction facility procedures. There are many gangs that are structures in an organized manner some threat groups are street gangs, prison gangs, Cult groups, etc. This groups or gangs are so structured that their purpose is to defy authority in order to create some type chaos in the corrections facility. The “STG” are formed to protect the gang members an is often involved in illegal activity like murder, kidnapping, assault and controlled

Throughout the Spring semester we have discussed the qualities of prisons. One is Maximum security prisons. Maximum security prisons are “where both external and internal security are high and programs and contact with other prisoners and visitors are very limited”. Throughout this topic, we can discuss several subtopics; such as the architecture of the prisons and cells, whereas the death row inmates and freedom of inmates differ from the show. However, they are always comparisons within the differences and vice versa. The comparison and contrast of these subtopics will be through the TV Show Prison Break.

People are becoming involved in actions related to prison-gang business. As a result, it is no longer just a corrections problem--it is also a community problem. It is a misnomer that when you lock a gang member up, they cease criminal activity. Law enforcement has realized that what happens on the inside can affect what happens on the outside and vice versa. It has only been in the last six years. The gang leaders communicate through letters as per gang investigators. Where mail is monitored, they may be carefree by using code-for example by making every 13th word of a seemingly benign letter significant. They use visits, they put messages into their artwork and in some states they use the telephone.