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The problem of gangs in prisons
Prison gangs introduction
The problem of gangs in prisons
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Perhaps the most effective method for controlling street and prison gangs and their influence has been suppression efforts especially if the focus is to reduce gang violence, disorder and recruitment. Suppression and prevention strategies are key to identifying and possibly preventing the growth in gang involvement in and out of the prison system. There are several programs that law enforcement uses to assist in attempting to deter or persuade todays youth from committing themselves to the gang life. The primary focus here is to identify the problem before it exists and hopefully stop it before it begins. In order to achieve these goals a set of basic strategies must be utilized, which include, but not limited to, neighbor-hood mobilization, social intervention, especially youth outreach and work with street gangs, provision for social and economic opportunities, such as special school and job programs, gang suppression and incarceration. Neighborhood involvement usually includes adult and youth agencies that work toward building social intervention, because of the socially deprived …show more content…
This is done in a similar fashion as the programs used on the streets, but must use a harsher approach. In the prison system, strategies to suppress gang activity must be used often and continually adapt to the ever-changing creativity used by its gang population. Most importantly, to weaken the gangs structure, you must remove its core, and this is done so by removing prominent gang leaders from general population, and can even go as far as to transfer the leadership out of state. Another technique is to transfer or accept out of state transfers, which are used to, “Create a power vacuum or to remove leaders or members who present a substantial danger to a smooth
The American headlines of any large city will site killings on street corners, robberies, assaults, intimidation, and drug interaction. While not all-criminal activity is associated with gangs, the 780,000 strong members do account for a large majority of the problems that are plaguing America. There is no one-way to stop gang activity in one single swipe, but through a combination of cooperation, education, and training techniques law enforcement can minimize the gang’s movements and even stop a crime before it is committed.
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.
Gang involvement has been quite higher than past years. The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey estimates that about 32.4 percent of all cities, suburban areas, towns, and rural counties had a gang problem (Egley et al., 2010). This represented a 15 percent increase from the year 2002. The total number of gangs has also increased by 28 percent and total gang members have increased by 6 percent (Egley et al., 2010). This shows how relevant gang related activity is in today’s society. More locations are beginning to experience gang activity for the first time. Gang crime has also been on the rise in the past...
Street Gangs are becoming popular in many cities across the country. According to the Department of Justice's 2005 National Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 21,500 gangs and more than 731,000 active gang members (Grabianowski). Gangs bring fear and violence to neighborhoods, drugs, destroy property, involve youth in crimes and drive out businesses. When you have gangs in a community, it affects everyone in the community. An alarming amount of young adults are joining gangs and becoming involved in illegal activity. Most gangs have a rule that when you join the gang you are a member of the gang for life. Gangs can be removed from our communities with more community involvement and education.
Spergel and Curry (1993) discuss suppression and the activities under as, “arrest, special prosecution, incarceration, intensive supervision, gang intelligence, and networking” (p. 374). The implications of Thornberry et al.’s (1993) models illustrate increased criminal behavior during gang membership, thus suppression techniques could potentially reduce crime. These suppression efforts are an approach used against gangs in general, rather than preventing membership, which is the primary goal of community organization programs. Curry et al. (2014) explain the suppression efforts in detail as including, “prosecution, specialized enforcement efforts, specialized probation, targeting of gang members by the California Youth Authority, summer projects, and the use of gang injunctions” (p. 179). While these suppression efforts are extreme, they attempt to answer the issue of gangs and their criminal behavior. This in turn may lower crime and decrease gang expansion. Ultimately, programs that focus on gang membership prevention have the potential to inhibit increased delinquent behavior caused by gangs, while suppression strategies attempt to interrupt criminal behavior in gangs as a
One method that is being used in corrections that has resulted on crime prevention committed by gangs are reporting gangs and all the forces used to identify and convict gang members. For example, the task forces that were used to identify and arrest the 200 MS-13 gang members. The reporting done through the FBI sponsors, which allowed the offices to report violent street gangs and drug related violence. In
Gang violence is a growing problem in this world. No parent would like to imagine their kids dealing with weapons or being threatened by them. These violence’s affects each child individually and their families as well. These gangs recruit multiple different individuals for many reasons such as bribery, family traditions, or even threatening. Although, many kids feel like they have to be a part of it but there are many resources out in this world to prevent them from believing so. Gang violence has been a problem in society for several of years and is a growing problem each and every day.
Control will always be a gang’s main goal, even though they were taken off the streets they still have that need of “being in charge” and marking “their” territory; Just like a dog pees on a fire hydrant, marking everything theirs and growling at anyone who steps into their territory. Most gangs are based on racial ethnicity, for an example: Aryan Brotherhood is interested only white inmates; Neta is interested in puerto rican inmates; Black Guerrilla Family is interested in african american male inmates; Mexican Mafia, would usually have
According to National Gang Center, “ more than 30,000 gangs represents a 15 percent increase from 2006 and is the highest annual estimate since 1996 (www.nationalgangcenter.gov need to find date).” National Gang Center point is about how gangs have increased throughout the years. A gang is a group of youngsters or adolescents who associate closely, often exclusively, for social reasons, especially such a group engaging in delinquent behavior. Gangs can be organized based upon race, ethnicity, territory, or money making activities. Gang members can be aged between 8 to 22 years old.
Spergel, I., Chance, R., Ehrensaft, K., Regulus, T., Cane, K., Laseter, R., . . . Alexander, A. (1994, October). Gang Suppression and Intervention: Community Models Research Summary. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/gangcorr.pdf
The streets of Philadelphia are rapidly becoming a home to violent acts and random homicides. Innocent lives are taken every day due to the strong presence of gangs, and the streets are run by unruly groups of fearless young adults. Gang violence in Philadelphia is a major issue, and the citizens will never be safe until gang prevention occurs. Gang prevention is not a simple task, but with the right resources available, it is possible. Gang violence is a problem that will contribute to the collapse of Philadelphia, and it has yet to be solved throughout many generations. With gang violence on the rise, the best solution to gang violence is to educate the youth and parents about gangs and use family support to prevent the creation of gang members from the problem’s core.
Across the United States and Europe, suburban gangs are growing as never before, estimations that in a typical inner city American community of 50,000 or more, there are 200 to 500 gang members. Some even larger organization called super gangs, which have more than 1,000 members spread over several states, have been known to operate in small town America. You cant say that any community is insulated from this activity," There's no restriction on where gang members can live. Gang members living in the suburbs share traits with recruits in the cities, and many of those factors have been exacerbated by tough economic times, The list of factors include divorce, separation, physical abuse, sexual abuse and having a parent with
Additional programs such as education, employment, substance abuse programs, and healing approaches ca also be offered as required by the RPC. (Ruddell, 2011, p.267) Individuals who participate in these programs are referred to these programs from other correctional facilities and undergo a series of tests to ensure that each member is suitable for the program as they must first meet the criteria. Upon completion of the program, gang offenders may be released into the community immediately, transferred back to his original facility or transferred to a new facility. Considering that these intervention programs do not require renunciation from their gang before participating in the program, they do not teach members that avoiding other gang members is of high importance in order to reduce the risk of returning back to the facility and committing future criminal acts. The primary focus of this particular study is to evaluate in detail, the effectiveness of treatment of gang members in efforts to reduce violent activity and recidivism rates in the community.
Statistics show that school-based programs as well as community-based prevention programs minimize gang involvement. School-based programs address substance abuse and violence, which reduces the risk factors for gang involvement. For example, in the article “What Can Schools Do to Prevent Gang Involvement,” by Gary D. Gottfredson, he states, “universal programs in kindergarten through secondary school, which [is a] rewarding educational environment im...