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Gangs (Security Threat Groups) - Prison Gangs

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    Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness

    "In 1992, the Florida Department of Corrections began its efforts to identify the levels of gang activity within its inmate/offender population. Although we had not realized a significant number of disruptive incidents were attributed to gang activity, national trends and an increase in the intake of younger inmates prompted the Security Threat Group (STG) management initiative. The result is the comprehensive intelligence gathering program that has literally given us a "blueprint" of gang activity in Florida. The Security Threat Intelligence...

  • Security Threat Group (GANG): Validation, Placement and Debriefing (2014)

    This document from the San Quentin Prison Law Office reviews the new CDCR rules for deciding who is a gang member or associate, and whether or not those prisoners are placed in a Security Housing Unit (SHU). It also describes the Step Down Program (SDP) for gang prisoners and if prisoners in the SDP can earn Sentence-Reducing Conduct Credits.

  • How Gangs Took Over Prisons (2014)

    This Atlantic Monthly article from October 2014 summarizes the findings from David Skarbek's book "The Social Order of the Underworld", which attempts to explain the intricate organizational systems that make prison gangs so formidable.

  • Gang Renouncement and Disassociation (GRAD) Process

    This webpage from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice covers the Gang Renouncement and Disassociation (GRAD) process, which provides a method for offenders to renounce their membership with a known security threat group (STG). Offenders willing to renounce their gang affiliation will be required to participate in the nine month process and associated activities until successful completion is attained.

  • 13 Dangerous Prison Gangs Correctional Officers Should Know About (2015)

    Gangs are outside and inside prisons, and can cause an even more dangerous working environment; learn how each gang works in order to incorporate that knowledge into your day-to-day duties

  • White Supremacist Prison Gangs in the United States A Preliminary Inventory (2016)

    This report serves as a primer on white supremacist gangs in the United States and the problems they cause, but it is more than that. It also provides the first state-by-state inventory of such prison gangs, identifying nearly 100 different active white supremacist prison gangs. At least 35 states have at least one such gang and many states have to deal with multiple gangs. In some states, white supremacist prison gangs seem to be a particular problem, including Texas, California, Oklahoma, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon, and Tennessee.

  • Inside out: The challenge of prison-based criminal organizations (2016)

    In this paper, Benjamin Lessing argues that prison gangs present three distinct problems for policymakers. First, many typical responses to prison-gang activity have unintended and deeply counterproductive consequences. Second, it is unclear that reducing incarceration rates or improving prison conditions would neutralize the authority that prison gangs have accumulated as a result of mass-incarceration policies. And, finally, it is not clear that reducing prison-gang authority would produce positive outcomes.

  • The Use of Restrictive Housing on Gang and Non-Gang Affiliated Inmates in U.S. Prisons: Findings from a National Survey of Correctional Agencies (2020)

    Gangs present serious challenges to the management and order of prisons. Restrictive housing is viewed by correctional officials as one of the few effective responses to gangs, yet public officials and advocates continue to push for reductions in its use. Some evidence suggests gang affiliates are overrepresented in restrictive housing, although this research is limited to a few prison systems, and the reasons for this relationship remain speculative at best. This study examined the relationship between restrictive housing and gang affiliation based on administrative data gathered from 39 correctional agencies in 2016, collectively housing 73% of state prisoners. The relative...

  • Head injury in prison: Gang membership and the role of prison violence (2020)

    Purpose Serious head injuries, also known as traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), are associated with an increase in aggression and violent tendencies. The current study extends the literature on head injuries by examining whether gang membership is associated with an elevated risk of head injury in prison, and the extent to which this relationship is mediated by different forms of prison violence. Methods We use data from the LoneStar Project, a representative sample of 802 men imprisoned in Texas. We assess the gang membership-head injury link using logistic regression and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) mediation. Results Prison gang members were >2.5 times as...