Book contents
- Competing for Control
- Competing for Control
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Foundation for the Study
- 2 Understanding Gangs in Prison
- 3 The LoneStar Project
- 4 The Characteristics of Gang Members in Prison
- 5 The Characteristics of Gangs in Prison
- 6 The Role of Gangs in the Social Order of Prisons
- 7 Misconduct and Victimization in Prison
- 8 Joining and Avoiding Gangs in Prison
- 9 Continuity and Change in Prison Gang Membership
- 10 Implications of Competing for Control
- Appendix Preliminary Evaluation of the Gang Renouncement and Disassociation Program
- References
- Index
5 - The Characteristics of Gangs in Prison
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 August 2019
- Competing for Control
- Competing for Control
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Foundation for the Study
- 2 Understanding Gangs in Prison
- 3 The LoneStar Project
- 4 The Characteristics of Gang Members in Prison
- 5 The Characteristics of Gangs in Prison
- 6 The Role of Gangs in the Social Order of Prisons
- 7 Misconduct and Victimization in Prison
- 8 Joining and Avoiding Gangs in Prison
- 9 Continuity and Change in Prison Gang Membership
- 10 Implications of Competing for Control
- Appendix Preliminary Evaluation of the Gang Renouncement and Disassociation Program
- References
- Index
Summary
In 1927, Frederic Thrasher observed that “No two gangs are just alike” (1927, 45). Of course, the point of Thrasher’s emphasis was heuristic; it directed attention to the diversity within gangs identified in his fieldwork in Chicago. This chapter is motivated by Thrasher’s early observations and uses data from the LoneStar Project to examine this claim quantitatively with application to prisons. If gangs are not all alike, in what ways are they different? If they are indeed different, what explains the differences and similarities across gangs? And, most importantly, what role does prison play in explaining variation in the group-level characteristics of prison gangs? While these questions guide our interests in this chapter, our overarching goal is to describe the characteristics of gangs in prison.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Competing for ControlGangs and the Social Order of Prisons, pp. 94 - 121Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019