Friday, December 4, 2009

Work Cited

The Politics of AIDS and Prisons

http://www.drugtext.org/library/articles/florenz.html

This source mainly gives statistics and overview of what diseases goes on in Prison.

This source gives you an overview over of drug use and spread of viral infections in prison.

It summarizes main topics of the current discussion about prevention of infectious diseases.

It outlines what is need to be done to effectively prevent infectious diseases.

Slang Names for Prison
• http://www.rateitall.com/t-21446-slang-names-for-prison.aspx

This source shows different types of slang names for sections of the prison named by people all over the world. There were at least thirty different names such as:

Hole (solitary confinement)
Mainline Joint
Glasshouse (British Army Slang)
Con College
Hole (solitary confinement)

Behind the Walls

-An expert discusses the role of race-based gangs and other extremists in America's prisons.

• http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=55

This article describes how prison gangs began racially motivated and how the largest prison gang expanded and operates.

Gangs within the community and gangs within prison have a lot in common. Prisoners join gangs in order to feel protected from the general population, so do young adults who join gangs to feel a part of something and protected from the other gang members within the community. Just like within the community, prisoners segregate themselves based on race. The Aryan Brotherhood took it to the next level. The brotherhood is one of the first and most powerful prison gangs. It was formed during the 1960s at San Quentin, originally to protect white inmates from Hispanic and black gangs.

These gangs used intimidation tactics to survive. It is a organized crime within the prison system. The organization is all about drugs, protection, prostitution, extortion, witness intimidation, assaults, and anything else they could use to accomplish a criminal goal. There are members on the inside and outside of jails. They communicated thought letters, girlfriends, visits, anything to get the message across.

Major Prison Gangs

• http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/prison.html

This article describes the major prison gangs that are recognized nationally for their participation in organized crime and violence.

This article describes the top prison gangs that are nationally recognized. It contains statistics about the gangs and what distinguishes them from each other. For the most part the gangs are racially divided, being all White, Hispanic, or Black. The gangs are mostly made up of men and they use tattoos and markings on their body to identify themselves.

The gangs also used handshakes and symbols to identify each other. These gangs become powerful and began running operations on the street such as the Latin Kings. The Latin Kings a prison gang that began in prison and its leader lived in prison and still organized major gang crimes outside of the prison walls.

Gangs Reach Out of Prison to Commit Crimes
by Michael Montgomery

• http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4525733

A federal judge in San Francisco is scheduled to sentence five leaders of a California prison gang. The men have already pleaded guilty to drug dealing, extortion and murder across northern California. These men were leaders of prison gangs in California and they used their connections and power to commit crimes outside of prison walls.

During the time these leaders ordered hits and committed crimes, the criminals were already in jail serving life sentences in one of the most secure prisons in the United States/ California has the biggest prison system, yet the prison gangs are the biggest and most powerful. These gang leaders control gangs across the United States along while being in jail. Experts are still trying to figure out how this is possible.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Prison Gangs: There is Safety in Numbers




Prison gangs were first developed in the 1960’s and have been around for decades. Florida houses six of the most nationally known prison gangs. They are:
Neta
Aryan Brotherhood
Black Guerrilla Family
Mexican Mafia (aka La eme)
La Nuestra Familia
Texas Syndicate
Often times, these gangs are formed as an alliance, a means of survival. Sometimes, depending on your gang affiliation, it could be the cause of life or death. People join gangs in prison that they wouldn’t otherwise join if they were on the street. There is a certain safety in numbers.



La Aryan Brotherhood is the oldest and largest prison gang.



It is a white gang that was formed in the 1960’s in San Quentin, California as protection against the Hispanic and Black gangs. One of their rivals are the Black Guerrilla Family. They too were started in the late 1960’s by a former black panther by the name of George L. Jackson. Currently California hosts some of the oldest prison gangs at a facility called Pelican Bay State Prison. Gangs are not to be confused with life-long friendships. Most of the members protect you out of loyalty to the oath that they took when they joined the group. Determining actually what a particular oath might entail depends on which gang one is affiliated with. For example, the Aryan Brotherhood takes a “blood-in, blood-out” oath, were as the Black Guerrilla Family takes a “death” oath. Either way, it almost guarantees your membership for life. Most times, you don’t have a choice of whether or not to join a gang because they recruit newcomers. In a prisoner’s mind, it’s kill or be killed.

http://www.history.com/video.do?name=gangland&bcpid=14519891001&bclid=16548723001&bctid=20975390001

~Diseases in Prison~



^1.3 million of the 9 million released in 2002 were infected with hepatitis C, 137,000 with HIV, and 12,000 had tuberculosis. These figures represent 29%, 13-17%, and 35% respectively of the total number of Americans who have these diseases (1) Unprotected sex is routine without access to condoms. And even activities such as tattooing or skin piercing that are relatively safe against infection from HIV or hepatitis C when performed in the outside world become high-risk activities in prison. They are prohibited by law, and their equipment banned; therefore everything connected with them is concealed and, of course, shared.

^Tattoos are one of the cause of the spread of diseases because sometimes they don’t change the needle and they just pass the diseases around.

^Diseases can spread all throughout prison from more than just needles. Unprotected sex might be the main cause. In prison they just don’t care, they feel as if they are going to be in there for the rest of their lives so they might as well keep somebody in there with them. Most of the time the prisoners don’t know that they have a disease and when they get out if their having unprotected sex with people they are passing it around to them and they don’t even know it



^Once inside prison inmates are tested for certain diseases, such as tuberculosis or syphilis, but institutions do not automatically test for HIV or hepatitis. But when procedures are not well explained (or when a prisoner does not speak English) and blood is taken, some inmates think that they are being tested for these viruses. Budget limitations often mean a no-news-is-good-news policy, so only those whose results show infection receive a follow-up appointment - and the rest assume that all is clear.

^In another case a Michigan prisoner was accidentally shown medical records from his previous incarceration and was stunned to learn that he had tested positive for hepatitis C two years earlier and had never been told. His girlfriend, with whom he had lived between his arrests, discovered that she too had the disease (probably acquired between her partner's detentions).

^Also, the use knives and other handmade objects to do tattoos. They don ‘t use needles in prison. Which causes diseases.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Beginner’s knowledge


-No matter how prison is looked at it is still a place that no one wants to be. Behind the walls of a prison there are horrific things that go one. It is a place outside of society that is set up by criminals. Imprisoned people are not considered to be part of society however just like in society they must play the game of life accordingly to prevent from losing.
-Prisons are holding places; the government puts criminals in a holding place for a certain amount of time. It is almost like TIME OUT!
- Prisoners are giving a strict schedule every day. They must follow the rules and the schedule accordingly or they will be punished. Inmates are told when they can do something, noting is done on their own time or when they want to. The lights in a prison must be out at a certain time. They go to sleep and wake up at when they are told to. The men and women use the restroom when they ask a guard and the guard tells them yes.
-Prisons have been around for many years. They have even been around since the ninetieth century.
- Prisons were created to rehabilitate.
- Prisons are so dangerous and a safe hazard because of the many people that is in one prison. In one prison there could be racist people, homosexuals, and drug addicts; this is not secure for anyone.
- Efforts were made in the United States to abolish unsanitary and demoralizing prison conditions. Reforms included the individualization of treatment, psychiatric assistance, constructive labor and vocational training.
- From 1980 to 1990, the nation's prison population increased by 134% to persons; by 2000 it was 1,381,892 persons, a 79% increase from 1990. From 1970 to 2000 the number of state inmates alone increased 500%.
-There is a huge difference in County jails then in prisons. County jail more like a short term holding place and prisons are more for longer term.
- Some children are put in homes with strangers because their parents are in prison. Few kids are able to stay with family members.
- More than 80,000 women in prisons are mothers and they have 200,000 that are under 18.

The first prison in America


In America, the concept of imprisonment came to an end result. It was encouraged by religious beliefs, the English Quaker William Penn, founder of the colony of Pennsylvania, abolished the death penalty for most crimes in the late 1600s, by doing this it was substituted by imprisonment as a punishment. The Walnut Street Gaol, in Philadelphia is considered the first prison in the U.S.



Auburn state prison system of New York came into play in 1817. The Auburn system allowed the prisoners to work together in silence and they slept separate anyone who violated these rules could get some type of strict discipline. The Pennsylvania system in the Eastern Prison located at Cherry Hill in 1829 was based on solitary confinement day and night.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Homosexuality in Prisons


Homosexuality has always been a big issue in America. Although it is not accepted by the majority of America, homosexuality has made a big impact on this country. It has been noticed in the light, as well as in the dark. In the cells and blocks of maximum security prisons, homosexuality runs deeper than the American concept. Whether from being accepted into a gang, getting sexual pleasure, and to even understanding one’s role in prison, homosexuality is king in all aspects.

When one is under the persecution of a judge; he never can guess what is going on inside the mind of the judge. A philosophy of the federal courts, which also applies in Illinois recently, has been that men are sent to prison “as punishment for the crime” and not “for punishment of the crime.” The “as punishment” has come to mean, taking a few years of a productive man’s life and depriving him of his ordinary mode of sexual expression. With this view it can be used as a back-up on why ex-convicts do not want to go back to prison.

With this view it can be used as a back-up on why ex-convicts do not want to go back to prison. Judges have some sort of idea and knowledge of what goes on behind prison doors, also another reason a judge does not take long for his decision between community service and jail time. “If I send this man to jail, I definitely know that he will repent for his actions, whereas if I give him community service there might be a chance to where he does not repent and commits the crime again.” A thought that a lawyer gave during a lecture at a Young Black Men’s Conference



A fact that goes under the radar to the public is that male prison guards also get raped during their hours of work. In John Money’s “Prison Sexology” an inmate had reported of two officers getting raped during his two years in the institution. “To my certain knowledge two officers were raped in the two years I spent in “Jailtown.” Naturally none of the perpetrators was found, for to be forced to testify to a man-to-man rape requires more fortitude than in the case of male-female rape.” So naturally, nobody is necessarily safe behind prison walls.



But there is also a flip side for the guards. In the same article Money talks to another inmate whose jail house had sold young fresh inmates to older inmates. The range price was from $25 to $100. If a prisoner had the right amount of influence over a prison guard, whether it was money, drugs, or even sex, a young inmate could go to him. Also, the guards would perform “set-ups”. If an inmate was to give a guard a hard time, the guard would open a certain inmate’s cell and place the other one inside to get raped.


Not all sex in prison is because of rape. About 87% men that go into prison are heterosexuals. Studies say that sex in prison only happens to fill the sex void that the prisoners naturally receive.After staying behind walls with men and not seeing a woman for more than 3 years, can have some sort of effect on men. Some men make bonds with their comrades in jail and become close with each other. Other cellmates have become more intimate than comrades, through the very real necessity for sexual expression. The relationship is not an aggressive-passive one, but rather a mutual understanding of taking care of another’s sexual needs.



With the new gay and lesbian number growing it is causing worries in the medical field. Since you can’t stop the inmates from having sex with each other, new diseases are spreading, and the number of infected patients is increasing for the existing diseases.It is wise to educate prison inmates about the risks and dangers that will be involved in contact with HIV/AIDS positive inmates in prison. Learning about the danger equips inmates to safeguard and protect themselves against possible infection. Since AIDS in most cases is preventable, prevention is the best approach.



In conclusion homosexuality in prisons in no secret. Sex happens a lot and happens regarding different situations. Whether it is for pleasure, a feeling of relief, or by force. When looking at the situation of inmates from an outside view, I feel sorry for those victims who were falsely accused in court and have to go through those types of circumstances. Going to jail changes a person’s life for better or for worse. That’s why I do my best on the outside so I do not have to see that type of rugged lifestyle. It can make a break a man.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Prison?????????


PRISON: Place of confinement for the punishment and rehabilitation of criminals. A place where a person who is guilty of a crime is sent to.
Criminal: Someone who breaks the law.
Other Words for Prison
Pen
Big House
The Clink
The joint