Managing Prison Gangs: Results From a Survey of U.S. Prison Systems

• NCJ Number: 231755
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 38 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2010 Pages: 730-736
• Author(s): John Winterdyk; Rick Ruddell
• Date Published: July 2010
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey; Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Responses from a survey of gang management strategies were collected from U.S. prison systems holding 1.19 million inmates.

Abstract

The results provided insight into the prevalence of gang members in prisons, gang structure, as well as the strategies used to manage the threat that these groups pose. Officials from most prison systems reported an increase in the proportion of security threat group (STG) members over the past 5 years and that these offenders were more disruptive and sophisticated than five years ago. Despite these challenges, there was no one clear strategy for the investigation or suppression of these groups, nor did most systems evaluate the effectiveness of their current gang management interventions. A lack of rehabilitative opportunities for gang members represents one shortcoming in the range of gang management strategies in most jurisdictions. The implications of these findings are addressed. (Published Abstract)