The Brotherhood : The Aryan Brotherhood Essay

They currently have approximately 15,000 members, in and out of prison. Initially formed for the protection of whites against blacks in prison, the gang gradually moved to becoming a criminal enterprise. The AB are concerned with white-supremacy, and are a ruthless gang who regularly murder those who oppose the system, growing so out of control at times, that even their own ranking members could not consider themselves safe. In prison, they strive to control the sale of drugs, gambling, and “punks,” or male prostitutes. The Aryan Brotherhood has carried out contract killings for the Mexican Mafia, but racist beliefs prevent members from consorting with African Americans, including even taking a cigarette or a candy bar from them. The only way to be a member is to abide by their philosophy of “Blood In – Blood Out.” -Kill somebody to become a member and die to part from it. AB members make up approximately 1% of the prison population nationwide, but are responsible for up to 18% of murders in the federal prison system. http://listverse.com/2010/12/11/top-10-us-prison-gangs/

The second major problem facing today’s prisons is the rise of gang activity. It is believed that most prisons are controlled by a given gang based on the region the prison is located (Falk, 2010).

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.

Qualitative descriptions suggest that, for many, gang membership represents 104 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / May 2005an opportunity to enhance social capital as a means to cope with a multitude of problems. Although on balance gang life appears to be neither very rewarding nor satisfying (Hagedorn, 1988), identification with the gang is solidified in response to conflict—often with other gangs—as members pursue their individual and collective interests.

The Aryan brotherhood was originally started in the San Quentin prison in California in 1967. “Members display many white supremacist, neo-nazi characteristics and ideology, but often but often state their goals as simply “getting high and getting over,” or making their stay in prison as comfortable as possibly” (Florida Department of Corrections). Being that the Aryan Brotherhood is made up of white people, who show that neo-nazi mentality, some of the enemies of this gang include Black Guerilla Family, Crips, Bloods, and El Rukns, because these gangs are made up of mostly black members. The Aryan Brotherhood will use black associates to sell drugs within the prisons to other black prisoners, this will eliminate the exposure they have with rival gangs. They do maintain a working type of relationship with the Mexican Mafia, and are known to work alongside biker groups. It is said many of them were once part of these biker groups.

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.

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.

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

The Nazi Hunters by Neal Bascomb is based on a true story of the capturing of an S.S. Officer after World War 2. The book goes through the background of Adolf Eichmann and then which S over to the steps that lead up to his capture. Overall it is a pretty good book that will keep the reader on edge as the try to capture him.

Gangs pose a threat to the safety of United States prisons by performing illegal activities and the encouraging violence. It is important to develop strategies to reduce gang recruitment, limit their influence, and sanction their misconduct in order to create a safe environment for all prisoners. With this, inmates that are involved in gangs should be put under twenty four-hour lockdown. By isolating these members, prisons will be able to limit their influence.

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

Prison gangs are originally formed by inmates as a way of protecting themselves from the other inmates. These gangs have turned out to be violent and thus posing a threat to security. This paper will have a look at the different gangs in prisons, their history, beliefs and missions, and the differences and similarities in these gangs.

One of the major problems of corrections today is the security threat group - more commonly known as the prison gang. A security threat group (STG) can be defined as any group of offenders who pose a treat to the security and physical safety of the institution. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, prison gangs focused primarily on uniting inmates for self protection and the monopolization of illegal prison activities for monetary gain (F.B.P., 1994, p. 2). STGs are mostly divided along racial lines and practiced defiance towards authority. STGs use a variety of hand signs, alphabet codes, tattoos, and different types of gang terminology. Gangs characteristically have rivals and make an alliance with other gangs. The criminal activity

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.

Criminal gangs are there to rule, they have been there in every community for a long time. Gang's intentions are to commit crimes. Gang leaders oversee extortion, order killings or smuggle drugs. This paper studies gang formation, why individuals join gangs and the negative influence gangs have to the society and the economy. The study focuses on some of the prominent gangs in the world today; it explains the activities of the Russian mafia and other gangs. This paper explains power struggles within gangs and gives out recommendations to solve problems associated with gang operations. This paper puts into perspective a study on factors influencing gang membership; the study employs personal interviews as a method, causal research design and ordinal scale of measurement. Prisoners in California state prison are the sample population. Structured proxy question are used, and observation to study an individual's race. The study focuses male prison gang members. Findings from the study indicate that the less educated an individual is the likely for one join a gang, from the study it is evident that gang members feel disregarded when formulating policies, it is clear that race is not a factor to gang membership and that most of the gang members come from dysfunctional families.