NCJ Number
141166
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 71 Issue: 2 Dated: (Fall-Winter 1991), 23-37
Date Published
1992
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The history of a right-wing extremist inmate group, the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT), is presented, based on official documents maintained by Texas prison system administrators, documents obtained from current and former members of ABT, and interviews with correctional personnel and current and former ABT members.
Abstract
The more than 3,000 letters to and from ABT members from February 1984 through August 1991 provide the most extensive description of the origin, development, and activity of ABT. The organization developed in part because of the longstanding racial segregation in the system, the use of inmate guards, and the rapid changes resulting from the judicial decision in Ruiz v. Estelle that resulted in heightened racial tension, the emergence of inmate gangs, and high levels of serious violence. Thus, ABT originated during a period of social change in which many white inmates perceived their status to be declining. Seeking to restore their past status, right-wing inmates developed a moralistic and conspiratorial rhetoric that helped them recruit less racist or extremist inmates but, eventually proved inadequate to sustain the movement in the face of internal controversies and external attack. Membership remained around 200 in 1987 and 1988. The intense internal power struggle attracted additional members in 1989, but most of these members failed to remain loyal to the group once released. Thus, like all radically right movements, the ABT declined due to internal disorganization. It will require a sudden increase in strain within the inmate social system to rally its support, and pressure from the Justice Department to integrate individual cells may provide this strain. Footnotes and 21 references