NCJ Number
182036
Journal
Deviant Behavior Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: March-April 2000 Pages: 155-179
Date Published
2000
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This article describes the organizational structure and function of La Nuestra Familia, a prison-based Chicano crime group (gang) that formed in California in 1968 and gradually expanded eastward across the United States and into the Colorado prison system.
Abstract
The study focuses on the organizational structure and function of the gang in Colorado State correctional facilities. As the basis for this study, the author interviewed 30 Chicano convicts not affiliated with the gang and 30 Chicano convicts who were members of Familia. The author also relied on his own prior participant observation as an inmate incarcerated in a Colorado correctional institution and as a past member in La Nuestra Familia. A literature search was conducted as well. The findings from the study have two general themes. The first theme is the clarification and differentiation of the terms "inmate" and "convict" and their coinciding cultural connotations. Another theme is the organizational structure of Familia to provide cultural and social functions for its members. The author shows Familia to be a vehicle for its members to retain their cultural identity and provide mutual aid for its members. Members identify with Familia as a means to overcome the stress, discomfort, and threats of imprisonment. Familia is a means for its members to protect themselves from the psychological and physical harm that imprisonment poses. 22 references