Street Gangs and their Relationship to Prison Gangs - Term Paper Example

Street Gangs and their relationship to Prison Gangs within the Correctional system While considering street gangs in relation to the prison gangs, it is important to identify a culture and a society. A society consists of a group of individuals who often share a common culture and an exclusive territory. Narrowing down to culture, a culture is a way of living, and a collection of learned behavior, which thereby includes norms, which are the expectations about how a person should behave. Into the tribal organizational structures, modern urban street gangs have evolved. In the streets of the urban jungle; these modern street gangs have developed themselves into a subculture. They establish the rules and codes of conducts. Moreover, they claim territory, have their own language and customs, and are self-supporting. The continuation of the gang is ensured by passing the customs to new members by rites of passage from generation to generation. Gang members do not associate them as ordinary people; instead, they are identified as people separate from the rest of the society (Etter, 1998 p.261). Any type of gang activity in prisons and correctional systems is referred to as Prison Gang. The prison officials and others use the term Security Threat Group or STG in law enforcement. The history of prison gangs dates back to five major prison gangs, which are known as the ‘Traditional Prison Gangs’. It was in the California Correction systems that these gangs were formed in the 1960’s and 1970’s. They were known for their violence. Inmates formed them as to protect themselves from other groups and inmate predators. These prison gangs are otherwise known as Security Threat Groups. These groups often have a major impact on the State’s prison systems [Pri12]. It was after the American Revolution that the gang like groups began to emerge. Initially the street gangs were not seasoned criminals, but they were fighting over local turf. Analysts have categorically divided the gangs into 3 generations- first generation, second generation and third generation. Street gangs are part of the first generation and they make up the largest of the three categories. These gangs primarily focus on protecting their territory, no more than a few city blocks. Their criminal activities are small scale and opportunistic which includes assault, robbery and petty extortion. The gang consists of a few dozen members or more. The organizational structure is mostly horizontal and not hierarchical [Bra09]. Initially, there were no initiation rites invented by the street gangs or the prison gangs. However, the requirements to belong to the gang have been expanded. An initiation rite is a ceremony before officially becoming a member of a society or being vested with a particular status. Habitually, the pre-requisite of joining a gang is that the inductee is expected to have a ‘heart’ so that he would be able to run at the first sign of trouble. Large drug cartels in the US are known as Prison gangs. Street gangs are the real distributors of drugs in the US. A tight grip on them is maintained by the prison gangs. Special protection is provided for crucial jail members. The Prison gangs negotiate the relationship between major Mexican drug cartels and street gangs[Jon11]. North of the border, the street gangs and the prison gangs who control them fill up the place of Mexican styled borders. A microcosm of this structure is provided by California. Mexican mafia, by the name of La eme controls the South part of California. A prison gang is always associate with a street gang[Jon11]. There are a number of reasons behind the development of Prison gangs in the U.S prison system. One of the most important reasons is for protection and control. Influence can also be exerted outside the prison on street gangs by the prison gangs. Prison gang member carry out a great deal of respect for the street gang members, thereby, the street gang members would honor and pay homage to the prison gang members. Prison gang members are very powerful and influential. This is the reason why street gangs aspire to become prison gang members [Val12]. It is due to the changes in prisoner culture, increasing numbers of violent, poor, minority, state raised youth and the radicalization of the prison population in conjunction with external political movement, that prison gangs are formulated. Research shows the literature of prison gangs is similar to that of street gangs. Delinquency and criminal behavior is expected to increase after the establishment of street gang membership. Study even shows that the street gang members had high delinquency rates before the membership; however, they dropped off after they left the gang. They were once high when the members were affiliated with the gangs. It is often vague to talk about the gang membership, as it is a controversial issue. Delinquency and criminal activity is expected to be a pre-requisite before being defined as a gang. However, there is no such pre requisite, which states that the gang member should be involved in any sort of misconduct prior to the membership [Gae01]. A small prison gang by the name of Mexican Mafia is operational in South California only yet it is extremely powerful. It is such that it taxes hundred of large street gangs of Southern California and collects up to 10-30 percent of the revenues. Eventually, most of the drug dealers end up in prison. This is the key of Mexican Mafia’s power. They have approximately 150-300 made members. Despite of having such a small number of members they can threaten the drug dealers outside the prison, thereby, punishing them when they are inside the prison. This is how they maintain control of the prison bottleneck. Mexican Mafia tax hundreds of gangs. With the passage of time, Mexican Mafia became influential and like the government, it started to provide public goods. Tax revenue is eventually increased because this Mafia enforced gang claims to property and protected the taxpayers both inside the prison and on the streets [Met12]. In Central America, there seems to be a couple of reasons for the increase in the street gangs. However, migration remains of the main reasons in the expansion and development of the gang problem. It is not exclusively migrant flows due to which there has been an increase in the street gang, but the return of maras remains another reason. Before the refuges began returning following the Central American civil wars, these gangs sprang up. Many gangs were deported to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras after the anti immigrant policies came out. Studies show that these gangs were know as maras in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. They are suspected of carrying out violent activities [Cru08]. It is also important to identify the reasons behind people joining gangs. Poverty remains one of the factors behind people being a part of any gang is it street or prison. Crimes whether inside the city on a small scale, or outside on a larger scale, is one of the available ways of making money. Being a part of a gang gives an individual power and fame to the extent he cannot even dream of. Apart from this, there might be some emotional needs that push a person to be a part of a gang. This might be the urge of gaining a status, excitement, power, etc. Often, being a part of a gang provides you protection. If there is, a minority of people or a marginalized group is a part of any gang, than they might prevent themselves from the rivals, thereby reducing the degree of threat. Any person who is a part of either a street gang or a prison gang may be influential largely. References Pri12: , (Prison Gangs), Bra09: , (Brands, 2009), Jon11: , (Jones, 2011), Val12: , (Valdez), Gae01: , (Gaes, Wallace, Gilman, & Suppa, 2001), Met12: , (Metanoodle, 2012), Cru08: , (Cruz, 2008), Read More