Blood In, Blood Out…….

Blood In, Blood Out

The daily lives of prisoners are filled with many issues; violence and drug trafficking are two of the main aspects that they partake in which contribute to the harsh and deadly environment today. But it is the faces behind the problem that contribute to the mass violence both inside and outside of the prison walls. Prison gangs control everything that goes on in the systems; from putting out hits (Murders of targeted inmates/citizens), supplying drugs, and even organizing riots. Housing these gangs has become a major problem for these correctional facilities. It has even caused them to build the Special Housing Units (SHU), and segregate by gang’s identification. Another problem is the special attention needed to be given to gang leaders and any member that defect from the gang, keeping them safe and secluded is a daunting and expensive task.

There are many prison gangs in the United States but there are five that are prominent figures in the prison system. The five prominent gangs include: Black Guerilla Family (BGF), Aryan Brotherhood (AB), Nazi Low Riders, Nuestra Familia (NF), and probably the most renowned Mexican Mafia (EME). Each of these groups were formed on racial boundaries, and most were created to protect inmates from the other gangs and races.. The Nuestra Familia is a Northern based gang that was formed as to protect Northern Mexicans (who were more Americanized) against the dominate Southern Mexican gang the Mexican Mafia (who were from Southern California and had strong cultural ties to their native land Mexico).

 These prison gangs are structured on racial and cultural boundaries. They have strict by-laws and hierarchal system of power. Their hierarchy of power consists of: the President, vice-president, generals, captains, soldiers (or Carnales in the EME), etc… The one law that separates these prison gangs from any other gang in the world is that once you join you join for life, “blood in, blood out”. It also takes years of loyalty and doing the bidding (or dirty work) of the members. The willingness to give your life at any moment for a “brother” and to maintain respect at all cost in order to even be considered as a member. Some of these prison gangs even conduct strict militant type routines; with workouts, purpose and standards. These prison gangs are self perpetuating criminal entities that have built themselves up inside of the prison walls and have branched out toward controlling the activities and structures of the dominate street gangs in America (U.S. Department of Justice).

Prison officials have been trying to control and diminish these gangs by separating their leaders from the general population and by cutting off their communication. Unfortunately for the corrections officials these inmates have the ability to gain access to communication devices; whether it is a kit (note) or even a cell phone. These inmates always find loop holes through the system, even to the extent of using their confidential lawyer documents to smuggle in drugs and money. They also have the ability to corrupt the prison staff due to the money they can offer them compared to the wages the Correction Officers earn while working. These prison gangs have become overly dangerous to our society and our correctional facilities and government units are unable to properly take down and eliminate these gangs and their abilities to cause mayhem. Our countries dept and financial shortcomings have also made it hard for our corrections officials to maintain proper programs and task forces toward diminishing these gangs’ structure and activities. Until our government finds an effective method toward taking down these dominate groups our society will continue to flourish with crime and fear.

References  

Dufresne, D. (2010, December 11). Top 10 US Prison Gangs. Retrieved March 29, 2011, from Top 10 US Prison Gangs: http://listverse.com/2010/12/11/top-10-us-prison-gangs/

Florida Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness. Retrieved March 28, 2011, from Florida Department of Corrections: http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/prison.html

InsidePrison.com. (2006, May). Mexican Mafia: Prison Gang Profile. Retrieved March 29, 2011, from Inside Prison - inside prison life, prison stories, prison conditions: http://www.insideprison.com/mexican-mafia-prison-gang.asp

U.S. Department of Justice. (n.d.). Prison Gangs. Retrieved March 28, 2011, from United States Department of Justice: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/gangunit/gangs/prison.html