Prison Gangs - History, Prevalence and Activities - Research Paper Example

 Prison Gangs Introduction: The ultimate sanction of all industrialized Western nations is imprisonment. In America, the use of imprisonment continues to rise and so does the emergence of inmate gangs. Across American prisons, the Security Threat groups or Prison gangs are involved in almost every kind of violation of institutional policies and commit every kind of violent infractions. (McShane et al 2003). Furthermore, the tendency of gang members to commit institutional violence is five times higher than other inmates. The term Prison Gang is defined as a criminal enterprise composed of an organizational structure whose activities are governed by internal leadership. The prison officials and other law enforcement personnel describe prison gangs by using the term “Security Threat Groups” or “Disruptive Groups”. Gangs exist in every prison system and minor jails and this fact is denied by most prison administrators. Over the last few years, America’s correctional institutions have been facing drastic problems due to the influx of street gangs and therefore, the nature and focus of gang activity has changed and thus, the true impact of gangs on a prison system has altered to a great extent. (McShane et al 1996). History: The first prison gang to be officially recorded was the Gypsy Jokers Motorcycle Club of 1950, in Walla Walla, Washington. The exact date of origin of the Gypsy Jokers Motorcycle Club is controversial and is different according to different sources. In modern prison culture, gangs are mostly composed of incarcerated members of streets gangs or the members have extensive ties to street gangs. In accordance with the research of the former director of research of California Department of Corrections, John Conrad, reveals that primarily the factor responsible for the erosion of the old order was the success of the Black Muslim movement. John Conrad believes that inmates, who had less worthy goals, facilitated the origin of gangs and subsequent challenging of the prison authorities (McShane & Williams 1996 p. 345). Therefore, this led to the foundation of prison gangs on the basis of common cultural factors or ethnic solidarity. A former prisoner at Soledad, California, John Irwin extensively analyzed the evolution of radical inmate gangs, capable of manipulating the inmate economy. John Irwin attempts to describe the origin of racial and ethnic coalitions between Black and White prisoners. He suggests that radicalization of the inmate rights movement undertaken by Black prisoners proved to be a catalyst which promoted racial and ethnic conflict between Black and White prisoners. Such coalitions greatly enhanced the culture of gangs in prison systems. The lack of social capital and certain other cultural norms supporting gang activity are two of the major factors involved in the influx of street gangs into American correctional institutions. There are many reasons why inmates join gangs and some of the major reasons are: attractiveness of gang activities, availability of drugs and other privileges, making money and assurance of self protection. (McShane et al 1996). The first organized gang was formed at Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracey in the year 1957. The gang was known as The Mexican Mafia or EME, and was composed of Chicano inmates. The Chicano inmates were from the East Los Angeles Barrios. The first main goal of The Mexican Mafia was to ensure self protection from the prison authorities. The second goal of the gang was to promote and establish underground narcotics trade. The organization permeated the entire foundation of the prison system in an effort to gain maximum benefit and establish authority over the prison officials. Soon the gang activities became so extensive and deep rooted in the prison system that they began to manipulate the entire inmate economy. The first murder ordered by the gang was committed in 1967 at San Quentin. The Nuestra Family was founded by unaffiliated rural and valley Hispanics in response to a second brutal homicide at San Quentin. The “war of the shoes” took place when the Nuestra Family confronted The Mexican Mafia and the violent feud ensued over the theft of an inmate’s shoes, still continues today. The tradition of radical Black inmates originated from the establishment of the Black Liberation Army which was preceded by the Black Panther Party. The inmate counterpart of the “free world” BLA was founded in the year 1971 and was known as The Black Gorilla Family or BGF. The organization was based upon the teachings of Mao Tse Tung. The gang’s political orientation justifies the use of extreme violence on other inmates. The ultimate goal of The Black Gorilla Family was the establishment of Black Nationalist revolution in the entire United States of America. Over the last two decades, several other black gangs have emerged in prison systems across America and all such gangs have been organized on the basis of Black political power. (McShane et al 1996). Due to the emergence of assertive violent Black gangs, the position and status of the racist Nazi and Biker inmates was visibly shaken which ultimately forced them to form Aryan Brotherhood in an effort to regain their earlier position and status. Aryan Brotherhood was established in 1968 in San Quentin. (McShane et al 2003).The Aryan Brotherhood was founded in accordance with the concepts of white supremacist philosophy and therefore, was organized along the lines of racial and ethnic boundaries. Primarily, the goals of the organization were to ensure self protection and benefit. The influence of Aryan Brotherhood has spread to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and several other prison systems as well. Furthermore, a number of other supremacist gangs have also emerged which are quite similar to the organization of Aryan Brotherhood but do not have an affiliation with it. The emergence of gangs at Statesville, Illinois prison system was officially recorded for the first time in 1969. These gangs consisted of members belonging to famous street gangs including the Blackstone Rangers, the Latin Kings and the Vice Lords. The sudden emergence of a large number of aggressive black gangs resulted in the formation of counter organizations by White and Hispanic inmates. In 1989, Michael Lane, the director of Illinois prison system estimated that 80 to 90 percent of the inmate gangs at Illinois prison system have an affiliation with street gangs (McShane & Williams 1996 p. 345). Michael Lane believes that the prison is used as recruitment by incarcerated street gangs. On the other hand, he also believes that prison gangs have widespread and extensive ties with Chicago street gangs. Moreover, the prison gangs were initially concentrated in California but soon became widespread and mediated their influence in prison systems located in adjacent States and Midwestern States including, Wisconsin and Iowa. Some law and order experts blame the reincarceration of prisoners for the spread of gangs to other prison systems. In addition, certain experts blame the strategies followed by prison officials for gang management to be the major reason for the spread of prison gangs to other systems. It has been observed within Texas prison systems that gang management strategies involving interstate transfers have led to the spread of gangs from one system to another. The establishment of Texas Mexican Mafia and Aryan Brotherhood of Texas are prominent examples of gangs formed due to the re-arrest of gang members from California. (McShane et al 1996). Prevalence of Prison Gangs: In accordance with the study of National Institute of Justice conducted by the American Correctional Association, revealed the existence of 1,153 different “Security Threat groups” consisting of 46, 190 members. In the District of Columbia and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 5.9 percent of the total adult inmate population has affiliation with a “Disruptive group”. The gang members in prominent prison systems are: Illinois (14,900); New Jersey (6,000); California (3,384); Texas (2,729); Federal Bureau of Prisons (2,434) and Pennsylvania (2,181). The percentage of inmates involved in STG activities in smaller States prison systems and minor jails are: Wisconsin (17%); Connecticut (9.8%); Tennessee (8.1%) and Iowa (8%). On the other hand, fifteen States refused to reveal their data. (McShane et al 1996 p. 346). Prison Gang activities: Prison gang members have five times greater tendency to be involved in infractions then other inmates. The major goal of such activities is to ensure self protection and profit. Assaults and homicides are two common infractions committed by members of Security Threat groups in American correctional institutes. Among other activities are smuggling drugs, prostitution, gambling, and mediating artillery and narcotics trafficking. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3100189/). Several Black street gangs have strong ties with the Black Gorilla Family because a number of its members were previously involved in street crimes. Moreover, many prison officials speculate that the Black Gorilla Family may have strong affiliations with Chicago street gangs as well. The Black Gorilla Family is not as highly organized as some of the other major Security Threat groups and its organizational structure composed of single leadership, a central committee and groups of soldiers. (McShane et al 1996). Major Prison Gangs in the United States of America: Prison systems across America are littered with different prison gangs. Apart from the Aryan Brotherhood, Mexican Mafia and BGF, some of the other major prison gangs are listed below: i. Nazi Lowriders: This is a relatively newer prison gang composed of white and Caucasian Hispanic members and was formed as a counter organization to Aryan Brotherhood. The majority of the gang members belong to the Antelope Valley. ii. The Texas Syndicate: The Texas Syndicate originated in Texas and is composed of White and Caucasian Hispanic members. The Texan prison gang has close association with the Border Brothers. iii. Netas: The Netas is a Hispanic prison gang and its influence is concentrated only on Puerto Rico. iv. United Blood Nation: The United Blood Nation is an Eastern coast based prison gang composed of mainly African American members. The members have close association with the Black Gorilla Family. v. People Nation: The People Nation is Midwestern and Southern based prison gang and has close association with the Bloods and considers the Folk Nation as their enemies. vi. Folk Nation: The Folk Nation is a rival of the People Nation and has close association with Crips. Like the People Nation, the gang is found in Midwestern and Southern states. vii. DC Blacks: The DC Blacks is a prison gang composed of African American members and originated in Washington DC. viii. Conservative Vice Lords: The Conservative Vice Lords originated in the St. Charles Illinois Youth Center in Chicago and is composed of mainly African American members. (http://www.cprf.ca/education/Openmind2007presentations/Peel%20Region/youth_gangs_an_overview.pdf). Management of Prison Gangs: The gang activities have a strong impact on the inmate economy which has forced the prison officials to devise rigorous management strategies in an effort to control the extent of gang influences on America’s prison systems. (Camp et al 1985). Unfortunately, a majority of management strategies have not only been costly but have proved to be quite ineffective. However, some prison systems have developed effective and refined management strategies while other prison systems have not been fortunate enough and are still involved in devising cost effective management strategies. The National Institute of Corrections holds seminars and conferences in an effort to help prison officials in their war against prison gangs. The management strategies that currently exist have certain principles in common which are identification, tracking, segregation, transfer and enhanced prosecution. In order to indentify gang members, minimum standards are used. Such minimum standards of identification include tattoos, informants, and mostly importantly the possession of rules or other gang correspondence. Once the gang members have been successfully identified then prison officials use highly technical methods to track the movement and activities of the identified gang members. In most prisons, a system wide reception office has been established to effectively track down the activities and movement of gang members by providing constant surveillance. Most prison systems practice segregation of gang members in an effort to hamper the gang activities and to stop further spreading of the gang in the prison system. Most gang members are segregated in high security units which hamper their activities up to a considerable degree. Many correctional institute officials consider the transferring of gang members to another institution as the most effective way of dealing with prison gang activities. The transferring of gang members from one correctional institute to another has been successful in hampering the development of prison gangs into highly effective and strong organizations. In an effort to keep the gangs off guard, many prison authorities keep moving he gang members from one institution to another. However, in certain instances the transfer of gang members has proven beneficial in growth of gang activities by increasing the gang range. For this reason many interstate transfers of gang members have been stopped. In many correctional institutes, the prosecution of gang members has been intensified in an effort to reduce the activities of gang members. Moreover, severe sentences are issued if evidence of gang related criminal behavior is proven. (McShane et al 1996). Sociological Perceptive of Security Threat groups: Prison gangs in many of our nation’s prison systems are not only strong but have a significant impact on the environment of a correctional institution. The importation of cultural, racial and ethnic biases into prison systems has precipitated into different gangs on the bases of common cultural backgrounds. In order to effectively eradicate prison gangs, law enforcement officials need to analyze and elevate the internal and external sociological factors which foster the development of gangs. (Camp et al 1985). The common sociological factors fostering gang activity, originate due to defective prisonization process and deprivation of prison rights. In addition, the influx of racial, cultural and ethnic issues and coalitions among inmates has directly facilitated the foundation of prison gangs along racial boundaries. Therefore, it can be safely said that many of the organizations recently formed are nothing but counter organizations i.e. organizations formed in order to ensure self protection from already existing gangs. It is quite important to analyze and evaluate the extent of the influence of external behavioral patterns on inmate conduct. Such an analysis is not only important to understand the underlying factors involved in the organization of a gang but will also help in devising ways to effectively tackle the problem of gang origination. It is a fact that racial tension remains the major fact fostering the origination of prison gangs. Much of the racial tension is a product of unequal racial treatment of inmates therefore; racial tension needs to be elevated in an effort to control the spread of prison gangs. It has been observed that the civil and political unrest of 1960s and 1970s greatly promoted the formation of criminal organizations. On the other hand, the influx of street gangs into American prison system has proved to be a catalyst in promoting criminal conduct in correctional institutions. Therefore, American correctional institutions are presented with a dual problem and needs to not only handle inmate organizations but also tackle their external counterparts. Primarily, this has been the major reason why American authorities have simply been unsuccessful in tackling and eradicating criminal organizations which continue to plague the roots of our nation’s correctional institutions. (McShane et al 2003). References: McShane, M. D., & Williams, F. P. (1996). Encyclopedia of American prisons. New York: Garland Pub. McShane, M. D., & Williams, F. P. (2003). Encyclopedia of juvenile justice. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage. Camp, G. M., & Camp, C. G. (1985). Prison gangs: Their extent, nature, and impact on prisons. Washington, D.C: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Legal Policy, Federal Justice Research Program. Mexican American Youth and Adult Prison Gangs in a Changing Heroin Market by Avelardo Valdez. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3100189/). Youth Gangs: An Overview by James C. Howell. (http://www.cprf.ca/education/Openmind2007presentations/Peel%20Region/youth_gangs_an_overview.pdf). Read More