The Prison and The Gang

• In Event: Prisoners and Prisons (Panel 2 of 3)

Abstract

The classic view of prison gangs-as conspiratorial, hierarchical, monolithic, predatory, and rule bound-is outdated; contemporary research reveals far greater heterogeneity in the forms and functions of gangs in prison. Over thirty studies uncover that misconduct, but especially violence, concentrates disproportionately among gang populations, yet rely too heavily on official data and place too little emphasis on theory and mechanisms that bring about this association. About 15% of U.S. prisoners are affiliated with gangs, while a much larger proportion maintain associations by virtue of homophily and the institutional environment. Emerging evidence suggests that prisoners not only enter gangs but also disengage from them while incarcerated. Prison officials have constructed an intelligence apparatus to document and manage gang populations. There is no consensus as to whether gang concentration or dispersion strategies produce safer prisons, though gang affiliates are overrepresented in solitary confinement. Several promising liabilities- and obligations-based programs exist, but the evidence is far too sparse to reach any firm conclusions about the efficacy of these rehabilitative efforts. The essay concludes with a research agenda—focused on people, groups/networks, places, and responses—calling for corrections and punishment scholars to take seriously the relevance of gangs to prisons in the U.S. and beyond.

Author

• David Pyrooz, University of Colorado Boulder