Prison gang integration and inmate violence

Worrall, John; Morris, Robert G.

doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2012.06.002

Cited by 70 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Studies also suggest that peer-isolated youth engage in less delinquency than peer-connected youth (Demuth, 2004; Kreager, 2004). In one of the few studies of peers and crime in correctional settings, and consistent with social learning expectations, Worrall and Morris (2012) found that inmates with prison gang affiliations were at significantly greater risk of inmate-on-inmate violence than non-gang prisoners, particularly in prisons with greater numbers of gangs. In sum, extant research of offender peer relationships finds that, contrary to control theory expectations and research on social integration and health, weak peer ties are not associated with increased individual antisocial behavior and that ties to other criminals are primary mechanisms for future crime.…”

Section: Detainee Peer Integration Aggression and Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 60%

Doing your own time: Peer integration, aggression and mental health in Dutch male detainment facilities

Kreager

Palmen

Dirkzwager

et al. 2016

Social Science & Medicine

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Background Prior research demonstrates a strong positive association between social integration (e.g., strong social ties) and individual health. However, researchers also emphasize that this correlation may vary by context and potentially reverse direction under certain conditions. In this study, we draw on competing criminological theories of peer relations to examine if social integration, measured by trust in peers, is positively or negatively associated with violence and mental health of men detained in pre-trial confinement facilities. Methods We test our hypotheses with peer network and health data from 502 Dutch male pre-trial detainees. Results Results suggest that peer trust has no direct association with reported rates of peer aggression while detained and low peer trust is generally protective for mental health. Conclusions Our study thus adds to a small body of literature finding that social integration within certain correctional settings may not operate in the same way that it does in the general population and may actually contribute to adverse mental health outcomes.

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Section: Detainee Peer Integration Aggression and Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 60%

Doing your own time: Peer integration, aggression and mental health in Dutch male detainment facilities

Kreager

Palmen

Dirkzwager

et al. 2016

Social Science & Medicine

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“…There is a body of institutional gang research derived from official records (e.g., DeLisi et al., ; Huebner, ; Trulson, ; Worrall and Morris, ), in‐depth interviews (e.g., Hunt et al., ; Lopez‐Aguado, ; Tapia, ; Trammell, ), surveys of inmates (e.g., Fox, Rufino, and Kercher, ; Krienert and Fleisher, ; Maxson et al., ; Rufino, Fox, and Kercher, ; D. W. Scott, ; Wood et al., ), and surveys of administrators (e.g., Camp and Camp, ; Ruddell, Decker, and Egley, ; Winterdyk and Ruddell, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of Incarceration for Gang Membership: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Offenders in Philadelphia and Phoenix*

2017

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Gang members are overrepresented among incarcerated populations in the United States. The link between incarceration and gang membership is beyond dispute, but serious questions remain about the causal mechanisms underlying this relationship. In this study, we develop and test theoretical models—origination, manifestation, and intensification—that focus on whether gang membership is exogenous or endogenous to incarceration. We used 7 years of monthly life calendar data nested within an 11‐wave longitudinal study of 1,336 serious offenders in Philadelphia and Phoenix to examine the effects of incarceration on gang membership. Multilevel models indicated that offenders were more likely to be in gangs while incarcerated in jail and prison settings than when not, although longer spells of incarceration corresponded with prolonged gang membership only in Phoenix. Incarceration in juvenile facilities maintained adverse between‐ and within‐individual effects on gang membership only in Phoenix. Additional descriptive findings revealed that gang status was durable to transitions into and out of incarcerated settings, and that more offenders exited than entered gangs while incarcerated. We situate these findings within our theoretical models and the body of knowledge on incarceration, concluding with a call for future research that is focused on the symbiosis between gangs in street and incarcerated settings.

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“…On the one hand escape from the gang on the outside may erode gang solidarity. On the other hand pressures of threat and violence inside may compel inmates to rely on bonds of gang affiliation (Worrell and Morris ). Our contribution aims to illuminate not only the dynamic between desistance from the gang and being incarcerated, but also explain why prison can impose contrary trajectories.…”

Section: Orientationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voices of Quiet Desistance in UK Prisons: Exploring Emergence of New Identities Under Desistance Constraint

McLean

Maitra

Holligan

2017

Howard J Crime Justice

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The article explores desistance dynamics within prison, and what gang members say about its phenomenology. Qualitative methodology was adopted with research participants in English and Scottish prisons. The findings indicate that desistance‐oriented dispositions develop gradually once gang ties, originating in the street gang, lose the resonance they once exercised on conformity to offending behaviour. This liberation from oppression means not merely that gang members are de facto left to fend for themselves, but also to find a liminal space in which to thrive. It gives them an opportunity to learn and develop prosocial values. Spirituality, a source of personal meaning, supports progression to desistance and fosters distance from the street self. Gang members’ loyalties and conflicts pre‐dating incarceration challenge the potential of prison to break criminogenic ties and foster desistance.

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Prison gang integration and inmate violence

Cited by 70 publications

References 64 publications

Doing your own time: Peer integration, aggression and mental health in Dutch male detainment facilities

Doing your own time: Peer integration, aggression and mental health in Dutch male detainment facilities

Consequences of Incarceration for Gang Membership: A Longitudinal Study of Serious Offenders in Philadelphia and Phoenix*

Voices of Quiet Desistance in UK Prisons: Exploring Emergence of New Identities Under Desistance Constraint

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