Discussion: Prison Gangs

Week Five Discussion: Prison Gangs

Hello Everyone, A prison gang is associated with a particular group of inmates who are structured into a hierarchy and follow a strict code of conduct. They are criminal groups that developed from the criminal justice system and have continued to function in prisons around the country. Prison gangs are also self-sustaining criminal organizations that can operate outside of the criminal justice system (U.S. Department of Justice, 2021). “A street gang is any sustained organization, affiliation, or group of three or more people, whether formal or informal, with one or more criminal acts as one of its primary activities, a common name or identifying or symbol, and whose members explicitly or collectively take part in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity” (NIJ, 2011). A qualitative study of gang leadership in prison discovered that qualities for gang leadership in prison differed from those in the outside world. Prison gangs are more like organized crime organizations. While street gangs tend to maintain a sense of personal and communal honor by outdoing their peers, they are often focused on strong personal connections rather than a hierarchy system (Howell & Griffiths, 2018). Another key difference is how each was established, prison gangs began to address institutional governance problems (Ortiz, 2018). Whereas street gangs first emerged around the Industrial Revolution when people began to move from rural areas to the city. They found that there was not enough housing and work opportunities, the unemployed turned to crime to make ends meet, resulting in individuals looking for safety in numbers. Thus, gangs began to form by these people banding together, protecting one another from other criminals and authorities (U.S. Department of Justice, 1998). One of the biggest reasons for proliferation (increase in number) is because the number of inmates is rapidly growing in the U.S. More inmates, mean more chances for people to get involved in a gang once in prison, besides, some new inmates already have affiliation with the gang before entering prison. Cultural diffusion could be a reason also, this is the spread of someone’s culture’s practices, beliefs, and/or other items (Howell & Griffiths, 2018). When in a close environment with another person who has been surviving in that environment for a longer period, we tend to adopt their survival behaviors; it is instinctive. According to The National Institute of Justice, gangs are responsible for a significant percentage of prison misbehavior and violence, and their existence and actions pose a significant threat to ongoing attempts to sustain prison control, order, and safety (Pyrooz, 2018). Prison gangs are a constantly disruptive force in correctional facilities, interfering with correctional programming, endangering inmates and staff, and undermining the institution's expectations for a quality of life with regards to the inmates (Fleisher & Decker, 2001).

References Howell, J. C., & Griffiths, E. (2018). Gangs in America’s communities (3rd ed.). (Ch. 3 & 7). Thousand

Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Fleisher, M. S., & Decker, S. H. (2001). Overview of the challenge of prison gangs. Office of Justice Programs. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/overview-challenge-prison- gangs#additional-details-0.

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Pyrooz, D. C. (2018, June 30). Using restrictive housing to manage gangs in U.S. prisons. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/using-restrictive-housing-manage-gangs-us-prisons

NIJ. (2011, October 27). What is a street gang? Definitions. https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/what-gang- definitions.

Ortiz, J. M. (2018, June). Gangs and environment: A comparative analysis of prison and street gangs. American Journal of Qualitative Research. 2(1), 97-117. http://www.ajqr.org/.

The U.S. Department of Justice. (1998). 1998 National survey street gang report. https://chrome- extension://gphandlahdpffmccakmbngmbjnjiiahp/https://www.16thcircuit.org/Data/Sites/1/media/ family_court/Documents/Gangs_Sheriff.pdf.

The U.S. Department of Justice. (2021, April 29). Prison gangs. https://www.justice.gov/criminal-

ocgs/gallery/prison-gangs.

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