Prisons gangs have a reputation of being a disruptive force in the correction facilities inside the United States. Apart from threatening the safety of the prison staff and other inmates, the gangs also erode the institutional quality of life. The traditional response to the predicament posed by the prison gangs is adopting a suppression mechanism involving lockdowns, transfers, and segregations (Fleisher & Decker, 2001). However, the problem is hardly solved in a definitive way given the complicated nature of the prison gangs. This paper will draw from the insights of scholarly sources to formulate an educated response to the problem of prison gangs. The complexities involved in dealing with the prison gangs demand effective interventions such as improved community re-entry and cooperation between prison authorities and academic researchers on the issue.

Society should be attentive to the quality of life inside the costly, tax-dependent corrective facilities. Prison gangs get a fertile ground for thriving due to limited education and skill for the inmates inside the walls of a prison (Pyrooz, Decker & Fleisher, 2011). Upon release, they have limited knowledge and employable skills, have complex emotional difficulties, and suffer from the problems of drug addiction. The result is that only minimum wages await them on the outside. Faced with this reality, the inmates view the prison gangs as the only way they can prepare for their financial well-being at the end of their sentence (Skarbek, 2011). The reasons behind the formation of the prison gang system are driven by the inmates’ need to develop a sense of identity according to race and personal interests. The attempt to suppress a human desire to belong is a futile attempt in the long run, as research studies have proven (Skarbek, 2012). While a significant number of the prison facilities continue to employ the same technique over the years, the fact that it has failed necessitates a change in approach.

Prison facilities where the management controls to deal with inmate crime are relatively weak naturally inspire the rise of prison gangs. Additionally, the inmates tend to form the cliques and tips as a means of protection when placed in the institutions which routinely violate their rights. It follows, therefore, that the prison authorities have to strengthen their power inside the correctional institutions to prevent the rise of prison gangs (Skarbek, 2014). Also, the prison authorities have to find ways of offering the convicts an alternative route from the prison gangs by providing an avenue for personal issues such as treatment for addiction. The prison authorities have to find a way of broadening the approach used in corrective institutions all over the United States.

Thoughtful community initiatives must match any efforts to control prison gangs. Such actions could include measures to reintegrate the convicts back to society and educational initiatives. The specialized training regimes should meet the minimum expectations of an entry-level, high technology employment opportunity. After all, the influence of criminal gangs extends into the community even after their release from prison (Winterdyk & Ruddell, 2010). Therefore, there is a risk that the gangs will generate a considerable influence in their respective communities if those areas do not structure an intervention that includes more than a law enforcement suppression.

Conclusion

The onus is on the prison authorities to find ways of incorporating the help of proven academic researchers on the topic besides instigating a series of effective interventions such as constructive community re-entry. The problem of prison gangs in the United States, therefore, requires cooperation between the authorities and research academics. Further, efforts in the communities which receive the gangs need to be integrative and suited for life after prison release.

References

Fleisher, M. S., & Decker, S. H. (2001). An overview of the challenge of prison gangs. Corrections Management Quarterly, 5, 1-9.

Pyrooz, D., Decker, S., & Fleisher, M. (2011). From the street to the prison, from the prison to the street: Understanding and responding to prison gangs. Journal of aggression, conflict and peace research, 3(1), 12-24.

Skarbek, D. (2011). Governance and prison gangs. American Political Science Review, 105(4), 702-716.

Skarbek, D. (2012). Prison gangs, norms, and organizations. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 82(1), 96-109.

Skarbek, D. (2014). The social order of the underworld: How prison gangs govern the American penal system. Oxford University Press.

Winterdyk, J., & Ruddell, R. (2010). Managing prison gangs: Results from a survey of US prison systems. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38(4), 730-736.