100-word response 1 reference
Rae
An STG is a Security Threat Group and in prison these are usually gangs. These gangs might have tattoos or clothes that signify their loyalty to a gang or even a certain language or hand signals. These gangs can lead to a lot of problems when they usually result in attacks on other inmates. The problems between two gangs could become so big it can even lead to a prison riot. Drugs are another issue to consider with STGs since it is very common gangs will distribute or transport drugs in and out of prison. In research conducted by the Department of Corrections in the state of Washington, it was found that although gang members make up 18% of the prison population, they were responsible for 43% of violent incidents (Winterdyk & Ruddell, 2010).
Reasons for joining a gang can be to achieve social status, because of antiauthority feelings, and hypermasculinity. It was also discovered that those who are more heavily involved in criminal acts were more likely to join a gang once in prison (Wood, etc. Al., 2014). Reasons for joining a gang outside of prison can defer greatly than the reasons for joining while in prison.
One method of controlling gangs in prison has been shown to be somewhat to very effective. Larger prisons began taking gang members out of general population and putting them in restrictive housing. Some oppose this type of control of gangs because these inmates are placed there only because of their affiliation with a gang and not always because they need protection or because they are being punished. In 2012 and in 2015 there were even legal issues because of this method of controlling gangs. But it is still a widely used method in both jails and prisons and most report that it is extremely effective in dealing with prison gangs (Pyrooz, 2018).