IMPACT OF GANGS IN THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM IN CALIFORNIA

Impact Of Gangs In The Correctional System In California



Impact Of Gangs In The Correctional System In California

The nature of the prison gang problem was highlighted by Fleisher and Decker (2001) in their article entitled "An Overview of the Challenge of Prison Gangs." They found that:

A persistently disruptive force in correctional facilities is prison gangs.  Prison gangs disrupt correctional programming, threaten the safety of inmates and staff, and erode institutional quality of life.  The authors review the history of, and correctional mechanisms to cope with prison gangs.  A suppression strategy (segregation, lockdowns, transfers) has been the most common response to prison gangs.  The authors argue, however, that given the complexity of prison gangs, effective prison gang intervention must include improved strategies for community re-entry and more collaboration between correctional agencies and university gang researchers on prison gang management policies and practices. (p. 1)

Prison gangs are not a new phenomenon. As Fleisher and Decker (2001)  found:

The first known American prison gang was the Gypsy Jokers formed in the 1950s in Washington state prisons.  The first prison gang with nationwide ties was the Mexican Mafia, which emerged in 1957 in the California Department of Corrections.

Camp and Camp identified approximately 114 gangs with a membership of approximately 13,000 inmates.  Of the 49 agencies surveyed, 33 indicated that they had gangs in their system:  Pennsylvania reported 15 gangs, Illinois reported 14.  Illinois had 5,300 gang members, Pennsylvania had 2,400, and California had 2,050.  In Texas, there were nine prison gangs with more that 50 members each, totaling 2,407.  Fong reported eight Texas gangs with 1,174 members.  Illinois reported that 34.3 percent of inmates belonged to a prison gang, which was then the highest percent of prison gang-affiliated inmates in the nation

Lane reported that the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) estimated the inmate gang population to be nearly 90 percent of the entire population, attributing that number to the importation of gangs from Chicago's streets, which is supported by research. Reesshows that Chicago police estimated more than 19,000 gang members in that city and a high percent of IDOC inmates were arrested in Cook County.  Other correctional agencies, however, report their gang troubles started inside rather than outside prison walls.  Camp and Camp cite that of the 33 agencies surveyed, 26 reported street counterparts to prison gangs.

The temporary segregation of prison inmates that the U.S. Supreme Court strongly criticized in a ruling Wednesday had its genesis in the runaway growth of prison gangs during the 1960s and 1970s, experts say.

The gangs, organized along racial lines, have historically been a major source of inmate friction and disorder within the California prison system.

"Taking advantage of tensions already existing between inmates, prison gangs recruit members along racial and ethnic lines," according to a 2003 state Justice Department report on organized crime activity in California. "As the gangs began to grow and acquire more leverage, rivalries began to emerge that led to increased violence in the ...