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Locked Down: Gangs in the Supermax (2012).
The activities of gangs in the supermax at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison are investigated. Resultant findings are posted to this website. Here you can listen to an hour long documentary regarding gangs in the supermax, read the transcript, hear extended interviews from former gang members and prison staff, read about the author’s experience inside the prison, and read a three part expose.
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Prison Offenders: Prison Gangs, Prison Stories, Prison News (2011).
Descriptions of various topics related to prison offenders can be found at this website. If you want a quick introduction to various prison issues this is a good place to start. Points of entry include: about the website; topics; news; White gangs; Hispanic gangs; Black gangs; videos; prison art; prison tattoos; correctional officer job description; and prison weapons.
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Prison Gangs: A Review and Survey of Strategies (2009).
Results are reported from a study about gangs and Security Threat Groups (STGs) in U.S. prisons. In particular, gang interventions, identification and mapping of gangs, and gang management strategy evaluation are examined. Findings are organized into the following areas: STG and gang membership; STG management strategies; strategies for reducing STG recruitment; reducing STG influence; STG and gang renunciation and treatment; and STG and gang investigation. “Overall, while there is clear evidence showing that prison gangs/STG represent significant challenges for American prison systems, there is no one clear strategy for the management, monitoring, or evaluating the relative effectiveness of current gang management interventions. The primary reason for the lack of coordination and/or investigation is attributable to a lack of resources for STG investigations and coordination between the different jurisdictions (e.g., local jails, as well as state and federal prisons)” (p. 5).
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Gangland Behind Bars: How and Why Organized Criminal Street Gangs Thrive in New Jersey’s Prisons . . . And What Can Be Done About It (2009).
An exhaustive investigation regarding the impact of gangs on New Jersey’s correctional system is described. Individuals that deal with gang intelligence and intervention will find the observations made during this comprehensive examination informative and the source of ideas on how to reduce the effects of gangs in their own agencies. Sections after an executive summary are: introduction; key findings for inmate financial transactions, inmate communications, security lapses and contraband, inadequate gang identification and intelligence, systemic vulnerabilities in DOC personnel practices, and dysfunctional investigative apparatus; and referrals and six recommended focus areas.
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Prison Slang Words (2011).
This list of words tends to focus on gang slang.
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Deradicalization: A Review of the Literature with Comparison to Findings in the Literatures on Deganging and Deprogramming (2010).
“This research brief reviews the literature on deradicalization and evaluates the methodology of deradicalization programs, based on the research identifying individual motivations for entering and exiting terrorist organizations, providing comparison with relevant findings in the literatures on “deprogramming” of cult members and “deganging” (p. 1). This literature review begins with a discussion of the affiliative factors contributing to a person’s radicalization at the mass, group, and individual levels. Ideology does not seem to be “the” or possibly even “a” primary factor. The study continues with reasons for exiting, factors that may inhibit leaving an extremist group, and deradicalization efforts. Following these sections is a look at gangs and cults. It appears that deradicalization, deganging, and deprogramming efforts are not overly effective because they do not address the central affiliative factors important to the individual.
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Terrorist Recruitment in American Correctional Institutions: An Exploratory Study of Non-Traditional Faith Groups (2007).
The relationship between religious conversion in correctional facilities and terrorist recruitment (radicalization) is examined. Five chapters follow an executive summary: religious conversion and prisoner radicalization; methods and context; religious conversion in prison -- crisis converts, protection-seekers, the searchers, manipulating converts, free-world recruited converts, and the influence of chaplains; the terrorist threat; and conclusions and recommendations. "The study's main conclusion is that the danger to U.S. security is not the number of adherents to Islam, or to white supremacy religions, but in the potential for small groups of true believers to instigate terrorist acts upon their release from custody" (p. 5-6).
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Security Threat Groups (STGs) (2009).
“The purpose of this Department Order is to minimize the threat that inmate gang or gang like activity poses to the safe, secure and efficient operation of institutions … Minimizing gang or gang like activity shall be accomplished by the identification, certification and validation of prison gangs and gang members, the debriefing and segregation of inmates who disavow gang membership, and a step-down process for gang members who participate in programming, shun gang activity and affiliation, and remain disciplinary free” (p. 2). Procedures cover: group certification and annual review; suspect identification and monitoring; individual validation; validation hearings; appeals; STG member debriefing; classification and management; STG Step-Down Program procedure; completion of the STG Step-Down Program at the Browning Unit; step-down transition to general population and monitoring; removal and termination from the STG Step-Down Program; record repository; and return to custody.
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Correctional Institution Inspection Committee: Security Threat Groups (2012).
Issues related to security threat groups (STGs) in Ohio prisons are covered. Sections of this brief are: what a security threat group is; what they do; what the largest STGs are in Ohio prisons; STG statistics; STG management; STG identification; number of inmates identified as STG members by institution; and STG members by percent of institution population.
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Security Threat Groups on the Inside (2007).
Answers to frequently asked questions about Security Threat Groups (STGs) or prison gangs are provided. Topics covered include: what a STG is; the 12 STGs recognized in Texas prisons; why an offender joins a STG; what the indicators of STG membership are; how STGs recruit members; what administrative segregation is; what a STG can do to your family if your son/daughter joins; what STG members and/or their family and friends face upon their release from prison; and what to do to get out of a STG.
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The Problem of Gangs and Security Threat Groups (STG’s) in American Prisons and Jails Today: Recent Findings from the 2012 NGCRC National Gang/STG Survey (2012).
This is an excellent publication containing a wealth of information about problems associated with gangs and security threat groups (STGs) in American jails and prisons. Sections of this report include: introduction; prior research; definitions; methodology; characteristics of the responding correctional facilities; scope and extent of the gang/STG problem in American corrections; the issue of gang recruitment behind bars; the issues and controversies about religious worship for inmates and prisoners; the issue of racial extremism and racial conflict behind bars; the issue of gang renunciation—getting out of the gang behind bars; housing gang inmates separate or together—which is best; the politics of gang/STG problems in American corrections; gang/STG abuse of mail and telephone communications in American corrections; other types of problems behind bars caused by gangs/STGs; strategies to control gangs/STG’s behind bars; what should be done to respond to the gang/STG problem; and summary and conclusions. “There are many complex and intricate aspects of the gang/STG problem behind bars. This study is the latest in a long series of prison gang/STG surveys conducted by the National Gang Crime Research Center (NGCRC) dating back to the early 1990's. We are not seeing the gang/STG problem level off yet, which means that gang density is on the rise. The fact is it may be possible at this point for gangs to claim that they run the jails and prisons, because of the power they wield there. We are not seeing any optimism about the chances of reducing or curtailing the gang/STG problem behind bars. Most of the respondents were pessimistic about the future: they expect the gang or STG problem to increase in the next few years” (p. 29).
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