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In the article, “Predicting Involvement in Prison Gang Activity: Street Gang Membership, Social and Psychological Factors.”, they cover several topics describing details relating to gang activity in the prisons. The article discusses how the ideal of wealth socially and monetarily affect those who are in gangs and those who want to join a gang. They also found that different criminal backgrounds helped determine who was more likely to join a gang or not. The prison gangs share some characteristics with streets gangs, but they have different psychological factors and ways of earning membership. The article starts off by describing prison gangs. Prison gangs have been called “cohesive groups of prisoners, with a leader, whose criminal activities …show more content…
In an ironic twist, these gangs also offer protection. D. J. Stevens conducted research in 1997 that found that 73% of non-gang members wanted to transfer, while 87% wanted protective custody. The gang members generally served longer sentences. They also would have had more convictions than those that were not in any gangs. Gang members’ convictions started at younger ages, …show more content…
This theory talks about how street gang members, following convictions, were being imported into prison. In prison, they re-created gangs with “street gang roots.” These gangs are known as importation gangs, while gangs that are started in prison are known as indigenous gangs. Knox argues that if street gang members regroup in prison, new gangs will start to form. Through evidence, it has been shown that there is little to no distinction between prison gangs and street gangs. Street gangs like the Blood and the Crips members are being imprisoned, and they become active in prison. While, prison gang members are being released and are being active on the streets. 46 of the U.S. states have stated that some prisoners become gang members. M. L. Sullivan stated that prisons act as a school for gang memberships. It is a place where one can sharpen their skills. Prison gangs and street gangs share psychological similarities. Prison gangs protect their members from attacks from those that are in prison, while street gangs protect those in the gang from enemies on the street. They provide their members with: a sense of security, illegal goods, etc. They also are extremely violently, more violent that those who are not in gangs. They also want to reassert their dominance over others, especially other gangs. Social Dominance Orientation is a big factor in this. Prisoners high in SDO are more aggressive and want to gain control and
People think most gang members are crips or bloods who came from Los Angeles, but today there are a lot of neighborhood sects that cause a lot of mischief (Million). "Gangs are no longer just an urban problem. Ten counties account for 59.2 percent of juveniles handled by the state between 1999 and 2006. These counties account for 74 percent of the identified gang members"(Million). "Many gang members have similar background factors: low educational achievement...
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.
Rational Economics Theory is a powerful argument for explaining the membership of some gang members. However, its methodology does not provide an adequate answer to the question of why Hispanic youths join gang because it fails to analyze ethnicity when asking its research questions. The theory provides the assumption that the lure of money is equal for all people, but some research provides contradictory evidence, especially in the case of Hispanics. CULTURAL DEVIANCE THEORY. Acculturation Theory provides the most reasonable explana...
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...
Ralph, P.H.(1997). From Self Preservation to Organized Crime: The Evolution of Inmate Gangs. In J.W. Marquart, & J.R. Sorensen (Eds.). Correctional Contexts: Contemporary and Classical Readings (pp. 182-186). Los Angeles: Roxbury
Tobin, Kimberly. Gangs: An Individual and Group Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Members in youth gangs come from a variety of backgrounds. They come from different geographic, ethnic, demographic, and socio-economic contexts (class notes). The majority of youth who are already part of a gang or at risk for being a part of a gang, usually come from groups that struggle with a high level of inequality and lack a lot of things socially. Youth who are of aboriginal descent are more likely to be recruited into a gang and involved in organized crime than youth who are non-aboriginal. 21 percent of all youth gang members in Canada are First Nations and the majority of them come from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Youth who become involved in gangs are likely to be using drugs and already taking part of serious or violent crimes.
The society is a complex web of interactions between the different factions. At the very basic level is the family unit and in this case the nuclear family unit. The social connection between family members is the basic connection that the rest of the society uses to stay together. This is a cohesion that can be considered to have adhesive elements of the various people in the society. Ideally, there is an insatiable need in human being to be part of something bigger than themselves. As such the connection at the family level and to loved ones provides the attachment that people require to feel safe and secure. It is thus common for people to tend to look for that element of connection if the family unit does not provide for the same (Publicsafety.gc.ca, 2016). Adolescents are largely at a stage where they are trying to establish their values relative to what their environment dictates. As such, they tend to be easily carried away by whatever their environment presents. Some of them end up getting initiated into gangs. This is a common element especially for those who come from the poor communities in the society. This common trend has also been established to be
They do this to ensure that they reduce the chances of becoming a victim within the confines of prison. The problem is that once they gain reliance on a group of people, they commonly find themselves in a gang. So instead of learning a trade to ensure that they are successful when they are introduced back into society, they more often become educated on the benefits of gang life. Works Cited Schmallager, F. (2012). Criminal Justice, Ninth Edition.
Fleisher, M. S., & Decker, S. H. (2001). An Overview of the Challenge of Prison Gangs. Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(1), 1.
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...