Gangs in North Carolina Prisons, and How Gangs Communicate with the Outside World
Gangs are undoubtedly one of the largest problems that the Department of Corrections faces daily. According to David Starbek prison gang is defined as: “an inmate organization that operates within a prison system, that has a corporate entity, exists into perpetuity, and whose membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment”(Starbek). A person who was in a gang before coming to prison is generally able to find comfort with that gang while in prison, however a person who was not must earn the respect of that gang after they arrive. Prison gangs are considered to be security threat groups or STG’s and when dangerous or leaders of a gang are detained they are placed in the security housing unit or SHU, where they are on lockdown twenty-three and a half hours a day. In theory this would prevent that dangerous person from communicating out orders to commit heinous crimes, but that is not always the case.
MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha is a Latino gang that is considered to be the largest and most dangerous gang in the world. The 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment estimated “MS-13 to have between 30,000 to 50,000 members worldwide, with 8,000 to 10,000 in the United States." MS-13 is not like most gangs who mostly focus on drug selling/transporting they will commit any crime at any time that they see a potential for profit this includes, but is not limited to: drug dealing, robbery, auto theft, smuggling illegal immigrants across the border, and homicide. MS-13 has several distinguishing markers. Members of this gang most …show more content…
(n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Gangs of Charlotte (N.C.). (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Skarbek, D. (n.d.). The social order of the underworld: How prison gangs govern the American penal system.
The Aryan Circle. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26,
Gangs are undoubtedly one of the largest problems that the Department of Corrections faces daily. According to David Starbek prison gang is defined as: “an inmate organization that operates within a prison system, that has a corporate entity, exists into perpetuity, and whose membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment”(Starbek). A person who was in a gang before coming to prison is generally able to find comfort with that gang while in prison, however a person who was not must earn the respect of that gang after they arrive. Prison gangs are considered to be security threat groups or STG’s and when dangerous or leaders of a gang are detained they are placed in the security housing unit or SHU, where they are on lockdown twenty-three and a half hours a day. In theory this would prevent that dangerous person from communicating out orders to commit heinous crimes, but that is not always the case.
MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha is a Latino gang that is considered to be the largest and most dangerous gang in the world. The 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment estimated “MS-13 to have between 30,000 to 50,000 members worldwide, with 8,000 to 10,000 in the United States." MS-13 is not like most gangs who mostly focus on drug selling/transporting they will commit any crime at any time that they see a potential for profit this includes, but is not limited to: drug dealing, robbery, auto theft, smuggling illegal immigrants across the border, and homicide. MS-13 has several distinguishing markers. Members of this gang most …show more content…
(n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Gangs of Charlotte (N.C.). (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2015.
Skarbek, D. (n.d.). The social order of the underworld: How prison gangs govern the American penal system.
The Aryan Circle. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26,