The American Prison System - Report Example

Prison Gangs in the United s and the Problems of the American Prison System by (Date) 1.0 INTRODUCTION According to a survey by the National Gang Crime Research Center, 94% of inmates know that their fellow is a member of or is being recruited by a prison gang (McGuffin 2012). With such an overwhelming number of inmates, the U.S. Department of Justice even agrees that prison gangs are in fact “self-perpetuating criminal entities” that somehow can never be uprooted (Prison Gangs and Photos 2012). There are various reasons why prison gangs exist and cannot be eradicated by the American prison system. Many of these reasons are from within the prison but a few equally significant ones are from outside. Overall, these reasons have an impact on the economy and on the continued existence of racism and illegal economic rackets inside correctional facilities. 2.0 REASONS WHY THE AMERICAN PRISON SYSTEM HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO ERADICATE PRISON GANGS 2.1 Reasons that arise from needs inside the prison The main reason why the number of prison gang members continues to be on the rise is the fact that the prisoner needs protection, and that inside a prison with a huge population of inmates, the best or only way to protect oneself or to have someone to protect you is to become a member of a gang (Intelligence Report 2002). Not only is protection necessary but prison gangs also provide for the needs of every member if they could. This would be anything from basic necessities to money and drugs, which could naturally become indispensable when dealing with prison life (Intelligence Report 2002). Usually after having been protected or defended by his fellow gang members, an inmate would normally develop a sense of loyalty towards his gang and to every member of it and would be willing to do the same if any fellow member also encounters harm. Thus, a member’s loyalty to the group and such collective loyalty become a major reason why the existence of gangs perpetuates in American prisons. With this loyalty, however, comes fear, or the fear of breaking away from the gang and from the oath to maintain loyalty. Thus, it is possible that prison gangs also continue to exist because of such fear of defying the rules of the gang, which would most likely be dealt with using violence or force (Prison Gangs in the U.S. 2012). The distinct hierarchical structure of several prison gangs also contribute to the continued existence of these groups since (Prison Gangs in the U.S. 2012). The hierarchy that a gang member achieves must be enough to motivate him to stay in the group and to uphold its ideals as long as he is with them. Distinct positions must be equivalent to a sign of loyalty and must also be tantamount to a sense or feeling of superiority over the new recruits. These feelings must create in any member the instinct of preserving the group, thus prison gangs are hard to eliminate for their existence depends on highly motivated members. Survival and escape are also two other reasons why prisoners seek to become members of gangs and consequently why these prison gangs continue to exist (Williams 2010). Survival and escape are two major instinctual motives that every free-thinking human being has and since the only way to attain these two things is through the protection of a prison gang, then these two major desires – survival and escape – which serve as the basis for gang membership and loyalty must be sufficient enough to explain why prison gangs have never been eradicated. Another reason why the American prison system has not shut these prison gangs up is the large amounts of money involved in drug trafficking inside the prison, which translates as a way for gang members to make extra money while behind bars. Another problem that somehow compounds this is that even corrections officers may be significant parts of these drug rings (Day 2010). When crimes become extremely organized, then they will most likely remain stable. In fact, the Aryan Brotherhood has itself become an organized crime group, and this status has become the primary dynamic behind its continued existence (Intelligence Report 2002). The individual’s own desire for mental stimulation may also be another factor why prison gang members continue to remain loyal to their groups. Prison gangs usually provide extremist publications to satisfy these desires for self-independence and mental stimulation inside the prison. When these extremely curious and mentally eager gang members are fed with extremist material, their loyalties to the group become bonded with idealistic philosophy and thus become very hard to break (Intelligence Report 2002). Other factors that may have triggered violence in prisons and the eventual formation of prison gangs include budget shortfalls that have in turn caused shortages in staff and living space in prisons. In fact, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California reported that they had only 100,000 beds for 170,000 inmates in their place (Gomez 2008). Thus, having all the inmates packed up in prison has two possible consequences: violence becomes a trend and friendships become easy to forge. These are two factors that may eventually lead to the formation of prison gangs and to their continued existence. 2.2 Reasons that arise from influences outside the prison The fact that most prison gangs in America have become “systematically organized” means that they have been recognized even outside of prison, thus establishing connections with the outside world. The ones reaching out to these prison groups include white supremacist groups and anti-Semitic groups. The publications of these extremist and leftist groups make their way into the prison and are eventually read and internalized by the inmates, who mostly thirst for idealism (Bigotry Behind Bars 2001). The idealism becomes an escape from the hardships of reality of being behind bars and having to deal with fear all the time. Thus, such idealism fulfills the internal emotional needs of the inmates. Therefore, if the only way to access such philosophical ideas and to fulfill these emotional needs is through becoming affiliated with a prison gang, then nothing can possibly stop the existence of such. Eventually, the exposure of the inmates to racist publications will most likely lead to more intense racial discrimination and to a hatred that can only be expressed through violence. The development of a hero mentality among inmates is the goal of many publications of extremist and leftist organizations. When prisoners are convinced after reading these publications that they are in fact heroes or prisoners of war, then everything else that is related to this feeds their ego and eventually becomes a part of their system of belief and values. Usually, leaders of organizations that influence prison gang members would preach something like, “I truly believe that our culture and the survival of our Race are in jeopardy” (Bigotry Behind Bars 2001). This statement alone stirs the human emotions of pride, prejudice and hatred. These will then be expressed through the violence that only prison gangs can help carry out. In fact, an organization like prison gangs can only be as successful as the rigidness of its ideology, and racist groups help fuel such ideology (Can’t We All Just Get Along?, 2007). Another factor that may contribute to the dominance and continued existence of prison gangs is the fact that religious groups from outside the bars strengthen them not only as individuals but as members of a group. These religious groups, such as the Black Hebrew Israelism and the Christian Identity, teach the inmates not the basic virtues of Christianity but rather supremacist and fanatical ideas (Intelligence Report 2002). These supremacist and fanatical ideas, just like racist ideologies, also naturally convert inmates not into good Christians but into extremely prejudiced individuals who are willing to kill. Moreover, prison officials cannot prevent prisoners from meeting up with their fellow religious or sect members who are non-prisoners; otherwise, officials would get sued by prisoners for violating their rights. It is extremely hard to prevent this because banning all inmates from getting affiliated with religious groups outside of prison will ban even the genuine converts (Intelligence Report 2002). Nevertheless, no matter how spiritually beneficial these religious groups are in fulfilling the emotional needs of inmates, their negative influence and their tendency to instill supremacist ideas in them nurture a deep sense of hatred that can only be supported by prison gangs. 3.0 CONSEQUENCES OF THE AFOREMENTIONED REASONS ON PRISONER REHABILITATION Economic costs will be the most obvious consequence of the existence of prison gangs on prisoner rehabilitation. It is a fact that “the presence of a gang often leads to a noticeable increase in violence within the correctional system” (McGuffin 2012). The costs of these acts of violence may include the hiring of more staff and other means of security for the correctional facility. These additions will obviously translate as an increase in costs (McGuffin 2012). The development and existence of economic rackets in prison such as gambling, sharking, extortion, drugs, and sexual activities, as well as the mere selling of food and clothing may most likely either continue in existence or even become more rampant (McGuffin 2012). Most of these economic rackets are not only illegal in themselves but may also breed hatred, jealousy and enmity among the prison gangs. Racism, just like the economic rackets, will most likely be here to stay considering the influence of religious, leftist, extremist and racist groups from outside of prison (McGuffin 2012). Aside from those mentioned, perhaps the proliferation of street gangs will also increase as the number and size of these prison gangs increase, for prison gangs are connected with street gangs and other types of gangs (Nan et al. 2001). BIBLIOGRAPHY “Bigotry Behind Bars.” (2010). Anti-Defamation League, viewed 9 Jan 2012, Can’t We All Just Get Along?: Improving the Law Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship. (2007). National Defense Intelligence College, Washington D.C., p. 82. Day, S. J. (2010). “Gangs Within the United States Prison System: An In-depth Look.” Yahoo Voices, viewed 9 Jan 2013, Gomez, A. (2008). “States work to curb prison violence.” USA Today, viewed 9 Jan 2012, “Intelligence Report, Winter 2002.” (2002). Southern Poverty Law Center, viewed 9 Jan 2012, McGuffin, D. (2012). “What Impacts Do Gangs Have on the Corrections System?”. eHow, viewed 9 Jan 2012, Nan, S. A., Mampilly, Z. C. & Bartoli, A. (2001). Peacemaking: From Practice to Theory. ABC-CLIO, Sta. Barbara, CA, p. 523. “Prison Gangs and Photos. (2012). U.S. Department of Justice, viewed 10 Jan 2013, “Prison Gangs in the U.S.” (2012). People Against Prison Abuse, viewed 10 Jan 2013, Williams, P. (2010). “Prison Gangs in the U.S. Correctional System.” Yahoo Voices, viewed 9 Jan 2013, Read More