Prison Gangs Research Paper

Prison gangs have been and are a growing problem. Prison organizations throughout the United States have tried many different strategies to address the issue of prison gang members. One of the problems is that gang members are more of a threat to the staff and other inmates than regular inmates who are not in a gang. The prisons have problems begin able to house certain serious offenders that need to be kept separate because of the limited spacing. Gangs in the prison have a higher disruption and incident rate then non gang members. Prison gangs thrive on crime within the facility. If not addressed their involvement in crime will continue to grow and pose a threat to other inmates, staff, and the institution. If procedures are not put into place then gang membership will only continue and remain a safety concern. Administration must ensure their staff members are adequately trained and know how to act and deal with the gangs. Because the prison community is so private more research needs to be done to understand the workings of prison gangs and get more current, detailed, data. The community needs to be aware of the issues as well since they

They examine current gang management strategies and see what works and does not. They completed their research by survey. “First, according to the respondents, inmate containment and sanctions were perceived to be very effective at managing gangs…. The second strategy is based on investigations, which if successful, also increases the costs of being affiliated with a STG through internal and external sanctions…Last, respondents placed great value on using the products of these investigations through intelligence sharing within their prison system, other correctional systems, and with law enforcement (Winterdyk & Ruddell,p. 734.