What Are Prison Gangs? 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.

Prison gangs are flourishing across the country. Organized, stealthy and deadly, they are reaching out from their cells to organize and control crime in America's streets. Law enforcement personal began to systematically monitor gang activities in the 1970's. Working together, their initial attempts were to identify only gangs which had some semblance of formal structure, a constitution, bylaws, mission statement, or some identifiable tenets guiding their activities. However, with experience, staff began to realize that even less well-organized groups could still pose significant threats to the security and orderly running of an institution. Many of these smaller groups

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.

Gang members have even gone so far as to soaking postcards in substances, or gluing and ironing cocaine filled cards down to almost paper thin and sending them through mail into the prisons where if not caught, the inmate who received the card will chew on the paper to receive the effects of the drug. Another surprising factor of these gang members is the way that they continue to communicate with one another even when they are always on watch by the officers. There has been secret code languages discovered that they created on their own, so no one, other than those in the gang, can understand what they’re saying when planning for an attack or kill. Another method these inmates are using to communicate, especially those in solitary confinement who don’t get to interact with anyone, is by talking into the pipes to transfer messages from one cell to another. Through this the prisoners can talk to one another like a telephone system without the guards hearing them. The more resources and ways of communicating the gang has, the more powerful they are perceived, and as the gangs get larger these tasks then become a lot easier to achieve.

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.

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.

These are made possible is through an inmate’s friends and/or girlfriends ( Justice Quarterly, Vol. 20, Iss. 3, 2006). Gangs need strong leaders to maintain their power and connections to the outside world; a single inmate who best embodies the gang’s beliefs usually assumes the role. When the leader is relocated either the gang’s elite decides on a new leader or the strongest remaining gang member assumes the role. Becoming an elite member requires acts of violence that focus on weakening other gangs. Each member takes vows to be loyal and obedient, if the vow is broken they risk losing everything including their life. By deportation of inmates to facilities where they are the minority, the department can ensure that the inmate will be hard-pressed to find new racial alliances. The institution may send an Aryan Brotherhood leader in a facility heavily populated with black inmates. This does not always deter the gang violence as there is always someone to replace the leader; the prison may only increase the gang’s anger toward the system be deporting a leader, encouraging further violence. Despite segregation attempts and lock-down, prison gangs seem to remain more prevalent and visible than ever. There are about six well known prison gangs within the country: Mexican Mafia, La Nuestra Familia, Neta, Black Guerrilla Family, Aryan Brotherhood, and Texas Syndicate. Each one of these gangs has a history

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

These connections are how they are able to import the contraband and perform illegal activities within the prison. Being a member of a gang promotes a criminal lifestyle with a lifetime commitment. Since the violent lifestyle of a gang member is not likely to change, prisons must address the issue by protecting other inmates from their influence so that the problem can be controlled. By isolating gang members in a separate prison under twenty four-hour lockdown, correctional officers will be able to easily monitor what is coming in and out of the prison and keep illegal activities under control and

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.

For over 50 years prison officials have dealt with the problem of gangs within the cell block walls and over the years it has evolved and shaping due to changing times, “but all jurisdictions today continue to utilize variants of two philosophies: suppression and intervention.” (Carlson, Peter M., Jan 2001).

Gang initiated attacks are also common out on the prison yards and other common areas. Each gang has leaders who determine the crime that is going to be committed. Lower members of the gangs are then expected to carry out these orders or pay substantial consequences. In San Francisco, gang members of one of the largest prisons systems are pleading guilty to different crimes across northern California. These gang members have pleaded guilty to drug dealing, extortion and murder and already serving life sentences for prior crimes. (Michael Montgomery,