Prison gangs engage in criminal activity and have strict internal hierarchies. They may run entire prison systems and are often divided by race or outside affiliations. Initiation is brutal, and membership is for life. Even non-affiliated inmates may join for protection. Officials struggle to limit their power.
A prison gang is a group of inmates who engage in criminal activity while incarcerated and after release. Often called security threat groups or STGs by officials, these gangs typically feature a strict internal power hierarchy and often brutal methods of both discipline and punishment. There are many prison gangs around the world; experts suggest that some effectively run entire prison systems from within the walls of a correctional facility. Some experts also suggest that gangs are sometimes tolerated by prison officials as they provide a means of unofficial discipline.
Although prison is intended to cut criminals out of a life of crime in hopes of rehabilitation, many prisons are complex dens of criminal activity. Drug trafficking, prostitution, corruption and money laundering are all common features of prison crime. A prison gang may have an affiliation with an outside group or gang, consisting of previously incarcerated members and other initiates. Using the connections between insiders and outsiders, gang leaders can continue to conduct criminal operations even while in prison.
Prison gangs are often divided by race, although some may also be divided by country of organization or outside gang affiliations. One of the best-documented gangs, the Aryan Brotherhood, is made up of white members who mostly profess racial hatred toward African Americans. The Aryan Brotherhood has long maintained an alliance with the Mexican mafia, due to a shared hatred of African-American gangs.
Prison gang initiation is typically a brutal process, sometimes known as a “blood in, blood out” arrangement. This means that to enter, an initiate must kill or severely maim another prisoner, usually from a rival gang. Prison gang memberships are usually lifetime memberships, meaning that a person in a “blood in, blood out” arrangement can be horribly beaten or killed if they want to get out of the gang. With such brutal methods, the gangs maintain a forced loyalty that often continues after the prison sentence has ended.
Even inmates not affiliated with a gang can find themselves desperately in need of a gang membership. Unaffiliated inmates are sometimes much more at risk than gang members, as they have no form of protection within the prison. Robbery, beating, rape, and even murder of non-gang inmates are not uncommon, as gang members need not live in fear of retaliation. Therefore, even those with no desire to join a gang can get involved in one simply to survive.
While stalemating each other through alliances, prison gangs may appear to be reining in anarchic violence, experts warn that this tenuous peace is neither desirable nor sustainable. Some officials believe prison gang populations are growing, posing more and more threats to other prisoners, prison workers, and outside civilians. Few experts can offer comprehensive solutions to ending the threat of jailed gangs, even though officials often attempt to limit power by separating known gang leaders from any contact with other members.
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