Research Paper On Prison Gangs

The most heinous crimes committed in the prisons are done by the hands of prison gangs. Gangs compete with other gangs to be the most dangerous of them all. There are many reasons why an inmate would join a prison gang. Some do it for the power although others do it for protection from rival gangs or people who don’t like them. CBC News reported that in the last 5 years the numbers of inmates who are affiliated with gangs has risen by 32%. Some people believe that prisons are the breeding grounds for gang initiation and joining. Adult gang members in prison range from ages 18 to 65 years old. Many prison gang members are brainwashed. They are used to being fed, clothed, and sheltered in prison that they are unable to walk a straight line once released. With little to no skills of surviving by themselves in the real world, gang members return to prison because that is what they are used to. It is common to find ex-con gang members panhandling on the streets or resorting to crimes such as robbery, burglary or theft. Gang members do what they know instead of trying to become better. My topic is about prison gang and violence. Why they join gangs, How they took over prison, How they affect other inmates, How to prevent it in the correctional facilities.

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.

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.

Most gang members in prisons are introduced to the “gang life” at an early age and enter prison a member, but some become a member once behind bars mainly for the protection the gangs are known to provide. Gangs are known to purposely intimidate other inmates, thus reinforcing the reason why “one out of every ten male inmates” becomes a member once behind bars. (Knox) Most of the people who enter prison a member

What are Prison gangs? This is a criminal association that is formed in the penal system and operates within the prison system in the United Sates. Prison gangs identify themselves with symbols, tattoos, and calls (by yelling out a chant, phrase, or word/number). Prison gangs go decades back and are still present in the prison system.

As we know of today, the Criminal Justice System consists of three main parts, the law enforcement, courts, and corrections. When it comes to prisons, the Criminal Justice Systems job is to convict and punish the guilty; which they are doing decent job by putting them away, to help the guilty/inmates to stop offending, and to most importantly protect the innocent. The ways prison gangs interact in the Criminal Justice System is that prison gangs have their own code of conduct that encourages them to be disobedient to prison rules. Whenever prison rules and gang codes conflict, gang members are going to obey their gang codes and not the prison rules. By them being disobedient to the prison rules, it’s bound to cause upsets and problems not only with inmates but the correctional officers as well. Prior to 1950, the prisons had way stricter rules, like they didn’t have contact with the outside world (visitations), wasn’t over crowded, and they didn’t really run the prison like now a day prison gangs. Currently, prison gangs are creating a higher risk of violence because of their gang codes that require complete loyalty to the gang. In order to show their commitment to the gang they have to go through and pass a

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

Security threat groups and prison gangs are responsible for a lot of the crimes that occur in prison. Well-organized and highly structured prison gangs who have leaders and influences have been around decades. Gangs in prison can be described as groups whose activities pose a real threat to the safety of the institutional staff and other inmates and also to security of the correctional institution (Beth, 1991). These gangs always have strong leaders and use that leadership role to their advantage as an influence on other inmates by means of violence. Sometimes they are interested in drugs, alcohol, and contraband to other prisoners. Gang activity is an increasing activity in prisons in major cities, rural communities, and prisons. The Aryan Brotherhood, Black guerilla Family, The Folk Nation, The Mexican Mafia, and MS 13 are five of the most dangerous gangs to prison systems among the many gangs that that are known out there.

[ACT: sounds of gunshots] First a warning, then a deadly shooting. A gang-related attack has taken place in Los Angeles. Gabriella Rasso has more on the shooting.

Gang violence is nationwide and is one of the most prominent problems in the prison system today. Gangs are known to attempt to control the prisons/jails, instill fear within the prison system and throughout the society, and bring negative attention to the system. “Gang affiliated inmates comprise about 18 percent of the 18000 inmate population.”(Seabrook) A growing numbers of inmates and a large amount of them serving longer sentences for violent crimes suggest a notable increase in gangs and violence in the prison system in the upcoming future.

When an individual decides to be a part of a gang they are subject to being victimized at one point or another. Whether an individual is part of a street gang or a prison gang victimization can occur once or multiple times. Fox et al., studies prison inmates and how gang membership and non-gang membership amongst those inmates' leads to crime victimization (Fox et al., 2012). The authors indicate that prior empirical studies have only begun to touch the surface on this subject especially with special populations like prison inmates (Fox et al., 2012). The aims of this study are to identify what the characteristics are in regards to victimization for gang and non-gang inmates as well as what the descriptors are amongst gang membership when

“Sponsorship is mandatory, and only after acceptance may an inmate identify himself with a tattoo or patch” (Ralph, 1997, p.185). Most gangs utilize a “blood in, blood out basis for gang membership: A would-be member must stab a gang’s enemy in order to be admitted, and once in cannot drop out without endangering his own life” (Clear and Cole, 2000, p.260). Besides killing a rival there are other ways to enter the gang and receive acceptance. Those ways include, but are not limited to, assaulting an officer, doing drug deals, or “catching a cell” which means to go into a cell with members of the gang for which the recruit is trying to enter and fighting against them to determine if the prospective member can “hold his own”. These methods of entrance are what contribute to a large majority of the prison violence. The past prison experience relied on “the order and stability provided by the old inmate subculture (which) has been replaced by an atmosphere of conflict and tension, in which inmates align themselves into competing gangs and other inmate organizations” (Bohm and Haley, 1999, p. 351). The gang culture is also based on loyalty and trust of fellow members, such as a “united as one” attitude. This attitude has brought up confidence in offenders, but helped to diminish the effectiveness of the authority of the correctional officers. With the problem of gangs in hand, many states have

Most gang members in prisons are introduced to the “gang life” at an early age and enter prison a member, but some become a member once behind bars mainly for the protection the gangs are known to provide. Gangs are known to purposely intimidate other inmates, thus reinforcing the reason why “one out of every ten male inmates” becomes a member once

In this article, it discusses how prison gangs may ultimately control the activity in certain jail or prison environments. it also discusses how the Corrections Officers are the ones who control and contain most of the movement of the inmates, but these gangs and other groups take over and run the inmates code of conduct. Inmates are intimidated and threatened to pay so-called debts with drugs and other contraband. A great example of how the code of conduct works is a movie called an innocent man which gives you a glimpse at how things are run by games within a prison. He truly is an innocent man in the beginning but due to the violent culture in prisons and jails is a hard and convict and killer. There are some hundreds of different

The reality of prison gangs cannot be over look. Many inmates join gangs for safety and protection during their incarceration. “Prison gangs is an organization which operates within prison systems as a self-perpetuating entity, consisting a group of inmates who establishes and organize chain of commands” (Pyrooz & Mitchell). They also are governed by an established prison code. Research has shown that prison gangs have effects on non-gang members and the prison system. I will examine ten articles that explore the effects of prison gangs.