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Gang violence in prison essay
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Gangs and Violence in the Prison System
Introduction
Gang violence is nationwide and is one of the most prominent problems in the prison system today. Gangs are known to attempt to control the prisons/jails, instill fear within the prison system and throughout the society, and bring negative attention to the system. “Gang affiliated inmates comprise about 18 percent of the 18000 inmate population.”(Seabrook) A growing numbers of inmates and a large amount of them serving longer sentences for violent crimes suggest a notable increase in gangs and violence in the prison system in the upcoming future.
History
“Prisons began to bulge with gang members when states enacted tougher laws for gang-related crime in the mid to late 1980s.”(Martinez) On one hand the laws enacted helped get gang members off the street, but in another way it backfired by not stopping the gangs’ activity. “In many ways their number and power grew even more in prison.”(Martinez) The problem of gangs and violence has been addressed many times throughout the years by the United States Correctional Board but the board has yet to take the problem seriously.
Background
Most gang members in prisons are introduced to the “gang life” at an early age and enter prison a member, but some become a member once behind bars mainly for the protection the gangs are known to provide. Gangs are known to purposely intimidate other inmates, thus reinforcing the reason why “one out of every ten male inmates” becomes a member once behind bars. (Knox) Most of the people who enter prison a member were sentenced for drug offenses. Prison gangs are well known for the handling of illegal substances, alcohol, or tobacco inside the correctional facilities, this is only a ...
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... of Gangs and Security Threat Groups." National Gang Crime Research Center. 2005. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. .
Martinez, Pila. "Novel Attempt to Curb Prison Gang Violence." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 1 July 1999. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. .
"Prison Gangs -- Gangs and Security Threat Group Awareness." Florida Department of Corrections. Florida Department of Corrections. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. .
Seabrook, Norman. "Prison Violence on the Rise." USA Today. Buisness Library, Sept. 2005. Web. 28 Jan. 2012. .
Yanez, Dominick. “Security Threat Group’s in the Correctional System Overview.” Sam Houston State University, Huntsville. 13 April. 2012. Lecture.
The documentary by Lockdown: Gang vs. Family by Gail Mitchell (2007) interviews gang members that are in the Utah State Prison. The state prison has more gang affiliated inmates than non-gang affiliated inmates. The goal of the prison is to stop or reduce gang violence in both the prison and the surrounding cities. In this film, the young lady they are interviewing is living proof of a sociological theory.
Schmidt, L. M., & O'Reilly, J. T. (2007). Gangs and Law Enforcement: A Guide for Dealing with Gang-Related Violence. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD.
First let's focus on the fact that gang related crime is one of the most dangerous challenges facing society and law enforcement today. They are younger, more brutal, unafraid of consequences and becoming increasingly more vicious. Gang members work together as cliques, they commit all sorts of violent crimes including murders, rapes, robberies and kidnappings. "They live in aimless and violent presents; have no sense of the past and no hope for the future; they commit unspeakably brutal crimes against other people often to gratify whatever urges of desires drive them at the moment and their utter lack of remorse is...
A gang is an organized group with a recognized leader whose activities are either criminal or, at the very least, threatening to the community. (Walker, 2011) Throughout history there have been some infamous gangs that have gotten media attention and others that have gone under the radar. One of the more underground gang structures are prison gangs. The Nuestra Familia may not be in the news as much anymore compared to other gangs, but they are nothing to be taken lightly. Prison gangs have been around since the late 20th century and only seem to be getting stronger if nothing is going to be done to prevent them. Gangs in prison have members in and out of prison. One of the more popular gangs that has been gaining steam recently is the mainly Hispanic gang La Nuestra Familia. The purpose of this paper is to write about the history of the NF, the structure in which it operates, and some good preventative tactics that could prevent prison gangs from becoming stronger.
According to the National Gang Center, the change is gangs from 2002-2007: +12% in larger cities, +33% in suburban counties, +27% smaller cities and +24% in rural counties (National Youth Gang Center, 2009). The gang problem in the United States of America has been getting worse since the first gang was formed by Irish immigrants in the early 1800s. For low income and areas with high population, gang involvement with youths has also been getting worse. Regarding gang-related homicides, it is for difficult data collection industries to gather correct information because after a murder is committed it must be determined whether the murder is gang-related or not. But despite that, reports of gang-related murders are concentrated mostly in the large cities in the United States of America. Including San Jose, where there are long standing and persistent gang problems, which mean there are a larger number of documented gang members. There are literally thousands of anti-gang advocacy groups because there are so many concerned parents. These groups support politicians who are working to try to create legislation to reduce the gang problem in the United States of America. There are a number of theories on how to combat the gang problem, but a strategy which rarely fails is to take small steps in progress and continue to move forward.. There will never be a perfect solution that solves every aspect of a problem. But one policy that covers a wide range of issues involving gangs is the United States Constitutional bill S.132, “Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2009.” It is the most extensive and sophisticated piece of gang legislation to appear in the last decade, it has many objectives on increasing and enhancing law enforcement resources committed to the investigation and prosecution of violent gangs. It has had more supporters from both parties than any anti-gang bill in the last decade. S.132, “The Gang Abatement and Prevention Act of 2009” has the potential to deter and punish violent gang crime, to protect law-abiding citizens and communities from violent criminals, to revise and enhance criminal penalties for violent crimes, to expand and improve gang prevention programs; it will give jobs back to police officers such as those in San Jose who lost their jobs and will help law enforcement indentify gang crimes to be able to put murderers behind bars faster.
Prison gangs were created by inmates as a way to protect themselves from other inmates. Each prison gang has their reasons for existing. There are five prison gangs in the United States. These gangs are as follow: The Aryan Brotherhood, The Black Guerilla Family, Texas Syndicate, Mexican Mafia, and Lanuestra Familia. They all have similar beliefs, meanings of their tattoos, how gangs impact their lives and society, and the challenges they bring the prison system in order to decrease gang population.
Prison gangs are originally formed by inmates as a way of protecting themselves from the other inmates. These gangs have turned out to be violent and thus posing a threat to security. This paper will have a look at the different gangs in prisons, their history, beliefs and missions, and the differences and similarities in these gangs.
Chapman’s research shows evidence of 211 stabbings taking place in three years at one prison in Louisiana. Bloody riots, rape, robberies, and exhortation are just a few of the everyday occurrences that can be expected when entering a penitentiary.
In the United States of America’s criminal justice system, both violent and non-violent offenders are imprisoned. This imprisonment has led to overpopulation of our prisons, both federal and state-owned. Overpopulation and overcrowding can cause stress on the average, everyday tax-paying citizen as it becomes very expensive to house the over one-hundred and fifty thousand sentenced prisoners each year (US Bureau of Justice Statistics). That number adds up, because even with the over six hundred thousand offenders released each year, there are even more that remain in the prison system (US Bureau of Justice Statistics). The total number of prisoners in the U.S. state and federal correctional facilities, which includes prisons, rehabilitation centers, and juvenile detention centers, is 1,574,700 (US Bureau of Justice Statistics). This cycle of overpopulation needs a long-term fix, not some cookie-cutter solution that will only alleviate the problem temporarily. Due to the
This book review covers Policing Gangs in America by Charles Katz and Vincent Webb. Charles Katz has a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, while Vincent Webb has a Ph.D. in Sociology, making both qualified to conduct and discuss research on gangs. Research for Policing Gangs in America was gathered in four cities across the American Southwest; Inglewood, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona. This review will summarize and discuss the main points of each chapter, then cover the relationship between the literature and class discussions in Introduction to Policing and finally it will note the strengths and weaknesses of book.
Attorney General's Report to Congress on the Growth of Violent Street Gangs in Suburban Areas
Historically, gangs began to develop around the time frame of the 1970’s. Irish gangs have been known to be the first initial gang, followed by the Germans, Jewish, and Italians (Pacheco, 2010, p. 10). Gangs are larger in population and tend to be more prevalent in the United States, compared to other countries. In 2008, statistics showed that there were 20,000 active gangs and more than 1 million gang members in the United States (Pacheco, 2010, p. 12). According to Pacheco (2010) there are different types of gangs. Although these gangs are formed for individual purposes, broken up, they can form a multitude of different types of gangs. There are your traditional gangs (Crips, Bloods). Business, profit gangs, which are generated around financial gains. Hate group gangs, which their purpose is to target different ethnic groups, races or homosexuals. Copycat and delinquent social gangs, which seem to be the least relevant. Street gangs, which are prone to target younger individuals, but the actual ages of the gang members vary. Third generation gangs which are known as “terrorist”. Hybrid gangs are new to this generation, they could be considered the “hipster” of gangs. Then there are prison gangs. They are usually small in population and are structured along an individuals ethnicity (Pacheco, 2010, pp. 12-15). Gangs serve a multitude of purposes for their members. The gang becomes their family. They are able to trust them, rely on them, and the gang gives them a sense of self and importance. Gangs have the ability to offer status, refuge, protection, and opportunity of stigma free life within this population (Tower, 2013, p. 82). In the PBS show Interrupter ex-gang members and ex-gang enforcers joined together ...
Fleisher, M. S., & Decker, S. H. (2001). An Overview of the Challenge of Prison Gangs. Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(1), 1.
Hallswort, S. And Young, T. (2004) Getting Real About Gang. Criminal Justice Matters [online]. 55. (1), pp 12-13 [Accessed 10 December 2013]
Many stereotypes of gangs have been fabricated. The problem is that a majority of gang members do not fit these stereotypes, which, in turn, makes it hard for the to be caught (Klein). Traditionally they organize their group around a specific neighborhood, school or housing projec...