Prison Gangs Research Paper

Prison Gangs Our streets and neighborhoods today are filled with drug abuse and violence, generally distributed and perpetrated by various gangs. Many people cannot go out of their houses at night or take a walk after sunset in fear of falling victim to these gangs. When these gang members get caught for their illegal activity, people just assume that they are locked up, away from the gang behavior that incarcerated them in the first place. Unfortunately, this logic is flawed. In the prison system today, a growing dilemma of prison gangs are emerging. Prison gangs, also referred to as “security threat groups,” are racial or ethnic groups of organized inmates who commit acts of violence, smuggling, and racketeering inside the prison they reside

The origin of prison gangs did not come about until the 1950’s. Before the gangs, inmates lived by an unwritten code; the “convict code,” as stated in David Skarbek’s book, "The Social Order of the Underworld: How Prison Gangs Govern the American Penal System.” This code simply stated that inmates should never help any law enforcement official, especially if it would hurt another inmate. Back in the day, inmates were afraid to be ostracized if they broke the code ("Why Prisoners Join Gangs"). Society today is in an unfortunate state with many people going against the law. In retaliation, the courts have sentenced more people to the correctional system, then the system can manage. Due to this, the prison system has become a joke with poor management. An unexpected positive outcome for this however, is that some inmates have become snitches. They reveal important information to the authorities because they don’t feel threatened to tell on their fellow offenders. With so many people in the system, they figure it will never trace back to them. This stoolpigeon behavior goes against the olden day “convict code.” Despite the positive data flow, overcrowding is a cause for the increase in prison gangs. With so many people, inmates feel the sense of urgency to have a

Unfortunately, with the growing number of prison gang members, many inmates turn to join the gangs as a means of safety. Lone rangers without any gang affiliation or without a group to watch your back, are sitting ducks; they are easy targets for violence and abuse. According to Daniel Miller, a former member of the incarceration club, your option in prison is “hunt or be hunted.” You either join a gang, or you pray that you can stay low enough on the radar to not be a target. Miller ended up joining the Aryan Brotherhood, a notoriously lethal gang. He comments that in addition to safety, inmates join gangs because it gives them a sense of comradery (Rodgers). They have people to rely on. Others join gangs because they like to be in on the action. In some highly gang populated prisons, such as prisons in Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, California, and New York, these gangs are in control and regulate the economy inside the prison. As far as economy goes, gangs help regulate items like drugs, cell phones, sex with guards, weapons, and alcohol. Without the gang connection, an inmate would not have any access to normally forbidden