Gang Violence In Prison

Prison is a place where murders, rapists, and burglars, etc. end up after being proven guilty. What we tend to forget is that most of the crimes were made by gangs, either it was part of their initiation, or it was because their leader told them to. Now gang violence is a big issue because it causes family pain, it leads to death, and even puts the police officers and work staff in danger, they also challenge the authority. These gangs are like a disease, they spread until pain is felt, control is lost, and it will get to the point where it has complete control .
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

mexican members. Knowing this we can have a better understanding on how race would cause a big problem with in those concrete walls. What these gangs usually fight for is the respect, money, or the right to sell illegal substances.
Basically they are in constant war with each other, that they risk losing their lives on day to day bases, because of the fact that many gangs have enemies that are gangs as well, the prison system try to prevent anything bad from occurring so we try to keep the gangs separated from other gangs.

Example, we would try to keep the gang Neta away from the Latin Kings due to the fact that they are enemies. One of the problems that might happen often are small fight that can lead into riots, which makes it harder for the police officers to stay safe, but also these inmates that have nothing to deal with these gangs. These prisoners not only fear for their lives but also have to kill or go to an extreme for their leaders. Most of the prisoner are sentence for life, so most of these guys feel the need to become someone that people respect and especially will not mess

with.
According to the NIJ (National Institute of Justice), the definition of a gang is “An association of three or more individuals, whose purpose is to engage in criminal activity and which uses violence or intimidation to further its criminal objectives.” Although, little did you know many inmates only join a gang for protection in the prison from other gangs, but the truth is it actually makes it hard for them to stay safe or reduce their chance of being killed.