NCJ Number
178208
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 61 Issue: 5 Dated: August 1999 Pages: 76-79
Date Published
1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Prison gangs are discussed with respect to their propensity for racial intolerance, their promotion of bias-related violence, and the need for correctional personnel to determine ways to neutralize their negative influences in this area.
Abstract
White supremacist groups and other prison gangs embrace racism as a tenet of membership. The majority of prison riots in the past 10 years have pitted one racial group against another. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to reducing gang membership is that membership is not necessarily just for confirmed racists. Inmate gangs provide new inmates with support and protection in a hostile setting. In addition, some white supremacist groups have prison outreach groups and sent materials to inmates, who have few other stimuli and study the literature thoroughly. Organized groups commit no more than 5 percent of hate crimes, but these groups are most likely to be involved in the most serious crimes, including homicide. To address the problem, prisons should implement anger management programs and education and encourage meaningful contact between inmates from different ethnic and racial groups. One authority also suggests harsh responses to inmate gang activities, as well as transfers of gang leaders to other facilities. One program involves gang renunciation through a 12-step program. 2 references