Prison Gangs of America

Prison gang members perpetuate many violent and drug-related crimes. Prison gang is a term used to denote any type of gang’s activity in prisons and correctional facilities. Prison officials and others in law enforcement use the term Security Threat Group, or STG. Most prison gangs do more than offer simple protection for their members.Prison gangs are responsible for any drug, tobacco, or alcohol handling inside correctional facilities.Prison gangs involve themselves in prostitution, assaults, kidnappings and murders. Prison gangs often seek to intimidate the other inmates, pressuring them to relinquish their food and other resources.

            Some common gangs that use violence on a daily basis are the Aryan Brotherhood, “a white prison gang that originated in California's San Quentin Prison, amongst Irish-American prisoners, in 1964 their emblem, ‘the brand’, consists of a Shamrock, a swastika and the number 666” (Hagedorn, John M.). Another group is the Nazi Low Riders, “a newer white prison gang that emerged after many Aryan Brotherhood members were sent to the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay” (Hagedorn, John M.). La Eme, or the Mexican Mafia, is composed mostly of Hispanics, although some Caucasian members exist. The Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood are allies and work together to control prostitution, drug running, weapons and “hits” or murders. Another corrupt gang is the Nuestra Familia, “which means ‘our family’ in Spanish: The ‘N’ is the 14th letter in the alphabet which is used as their symbol along with the Roman numeral ‘XIV’ to represent their gang”( Hagedorn, John M.). Another mostly Hispanic prison gang that is constantly at war with “La Eme and was originally formed from Northern-California or rural-based Hispanic prisoners opposing the domination by La Eme” (Hagedorn, John M.). La Eme was started by and associated with Los Angeles gang members. Most African-American prison gangs retain their street gang names and associations. That can identify with either Blood or Crip affiliations. The Black Guerilla Family “represents an exception, as an originally politically-based group that has a significant presence in prisons and prison politics” (Hagedorn, John M.).  The Black Guerilla Family is the most militaristic and has significant role in the American Prison system. The reason they have so much success is because they team up with other gang organizations to achieve a common goal. If the Mexican prison gangs did not always fight with each other, they would overrun the prison systems because of the sheer amount of people they would have in their gang.

Most prison gangs follow the policy of “blood in - blood out.” “Blood in generally means that to get into a prison gang, one has to spill someone else's blood. Most often this requires a murder, although occasionally it can be an aggravated assault” (Decker, S.H. Chapman). The idea is that law enforcement officials will refuse to carry out murder or aggravated assaults, therefore allowing the prison gangs to remain without infiltration. As most prison gangs are for life, even if released from prison they are expected to remain loyal to the gang by providing support to them, by whatever means. “Blood out” refers to trying to get out of a prison gang. Most often, this means the member will be killed.
Gangs are continue to grow in the prison system. If it was not for the corrupt prison standards gangs would never originated. The reason I say this is because the prison guards and other prisoners started abusing the inmates. The inmates combined forces of own race and found out they were not getting as mistreated. Gangs are a huge problem in the prison system. Some theories say that gangs are uncontrollable and can be stopped because of the philosophy of blood in and blood out. I believe the criminal justice system should have more informed classes of gang violence and drug use to youth offenders. Youth offenders still have a chance to get on the right track on life. Education all starts with the youth. Gangs typically get young teens to join their gangs but if we as a society help teach the youth the horrible effects gangs have on a individuals life then we can stop it before it even starts.

 References

Hagedorn, John M. (2008), A World of Gangs: Armed Young Men and Gangster Culture. Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States: University of Minnesota Press.

Decker, S.H. Chapman (2008). Drugs Smugglers on Drug Smuggling: Lessons from the Inside. M.T. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 209