Prison gangs in Iran: Between violence and safety

This article aims to bridge the gap in our knowledge about Iranian prisons and the sociodynamic relations that animate them by illuminating the characteristics and activities of prison gangs in Iran. The interaction between gang affiliation and drug networks, security and violence will be discussed in detail. The in-depth qualitative research, which is informed by grounded theory, serves as the first academic study of gangs in Iranian prisons. Research participants included 38 males and 52 females aged 10–65 years. They were recruited in several different settings, both governmental and non-governmental organizations. The study employed theoretical sampling and in-depth, semi-structured interviewing. Results show that gang-affiliated inmates in Iranian prisons gain monopoly over the drugs market inside prison networks, which leads to inevitable extortion of both prisoners and correctional officers. Gang affiliation blurs the lines between violence and safety, while providing a sense of identity, belonging and financial and emotional support. Prison gang membership also offers some benefits to prisoners and staff, as their existence underpins an informal social order that can be used to govern prisoners. The article discusses this less well-known and unexplored dimension of the topic.

Laser Tattoo Removal: A New Tool for Hospital-based Violence Prevention?

Introduction Gang-related tattoos may increase an individual’s risk for violent victimization. We present our early experience using a physician-staffed tattoo removal initiative as 1 component of a violence prevention program. Methods Surgeons from our trauma department in partnership with a community advocacy group performed voluntary laser tattoo removal for individuals within our catchment area. Clients were asked to complete a voluntary, anonymous survey. This survey addressed tattoo acquisition, identified motives and goals for tattoo removal, and reported if those goals were met by the tattoo removal service. Issues involving gang affiliation and interpersonal violence were specifically queried. Results are listed as simple percentages. Results 81 of 122 (66%) program enrollees completed the survey. The average number of laser removal sessions at the time of questionnaire was 3 (range 1-15). 41% of respondents possessed gang or “crew” related tattoos. 22% of respondents possessed a tattoo related to an intimate partner who was gang affiliated. 21% of respondents desired tattoo removal for the motive of leaving gang affiliation with 94% of those respondents reporting success. 59% of respondents sought tattoo removal to improve employment opportunities with 81% of those respondents reporting success. 30% of respondents desired tattoo removal to improve personal safety or avoid violence with 80% of those respondents reporting success. Conclusion Stated client goals for tattoo removal and their subjective reports of success achieving these goals demonstrate the possible effectiveness of laser tattoo removal as a tool to help clients avoid future violence and progress toward gang disengagement. Trauma departments should consider laser tattoo removal as part of future violence prevention initiatives.

Gang Affiliation and Prisoner Reentry: Discrete-Time Variation in Recidivism by Current, Former, and Non-Gang Status

Objectives: Reentry experiences for the 600,000 people released annually from federal and state prisons differ vastly. We contend that gangs, which rose to prominence alongside mass incarceration, are an overlooked source of variation in reentry experiences. Drawing on precepts from the street gang literature, we test whether patterns of recidivism differ by official and survey measures of current, former, and non-gang status. Methods: Data from a representative sample of 802 prisoners interviewed prior to their release in 2016 were linked to 36 months of post-release arrest, conviction, and imprisonment records. Survival curves and multivariable discrete-time survival analysis were used to test for differential patterns of recidivism. Results: The conditional risk of recidivism varied by gang status. Current gang members maintained the greatest risk for all recidivism types. While former gang members were more likely to get arrested than non-gang members, there were no differences in conviction and imprisonment. Official and survey gang measures mostly told the same story, although official measures appeared to be more reliable determinants of recidivism than survey measures. Conclusions: Distinguishing former from current and non-gang members is important for policy, practice, and research. These findings renew calls to understand and respond to social groups and networks like gangs for prisoner reentry.

Criminal thinking and gang affiliation: antecedents and consequences

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between gang affiliation and criminal thinking. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 1,354 youth (1,170 males, 184 females) from the Pathways to Desistance Study served as participants in this study, and a causal mediation path analysis was performed on proactive and reactive criminal thinking, gang affiliation and subsequent offending. Findings Using three waves of data, it was determined that the pathway running from reactive criminal thinking to gang affiliation to proactive criminal thinking was significant, whereas the pathway running from proactive criminal thinking to gang affiliation to reactive criminal thinking was not. A four-wave model, in which violent and income offending were appended to the three-wave model, disclosed similar results. Practical implications Two separate targets for intervention with youth at risk for gang involvement: proactive and reactive criminal thinking. The impulsive, irresponsible, reckless and disinhibited nature of reactive criminal thinking may best be managed with a secondary prevention approach and cognitive-behavioral skills training; the planned, cold, calculating and amoral nature of proactive criminal thinking may best be managed with a tertiary prevention approach and moral retraining. Trauma therapy may be of assistance to youth who have been victimized over the course of their gang experience. Originality/value These findings reveal evidence of a gang selection effect that is independent of the well-documented peer selection effect, in which reactive criminal thinking led to gang affiliation in youthful offenders, particularly non-White offenders, and a gang influence effect, independent of the frequently observed peer selection effect, in which gang affiliation contributed to a rise in proactive criminal thinking.

“For Me, They Were the Good Old Days”: Retrospective Narratives of Childhood Experiences in ‘the Gang’

Much of the existing scholarship on gang membership predominantly focuses on adolescence as being the formative time period for the development of gang identities; however, there has thus far been more limited attention towards the childhood experiences of gang members, (i.e., pre-adolescence). The organising principle of this paper is to articulate the retrospective accounts of gang members’ childhoods, and how these recollections form a central role to the emergence of gang identities. The data presented in this paper were collected during fieldwork in two adult, men’s prisons in England; interviews were conducted with 60 active and former prison gang members, identified through prison databases; a small number (n = 9) of interviews were conducted with ‘street’ participants, such as ex-offenders, outreach workers and gang researchers. This paper aims to show that many gang members romanticise accounts of their childhoods, in spite of often having experienced adverse childhood experiences:, so too do many gang members view their childhood experiences as part of their mythologised narrative of life in ‘the gang’. Nevertheless, a tension exists between how gang members seek to portray their childhood experiences around gangs and the negative labelling and strain they experienced during their childhood; often, romanticised accounts seek to retrospectively neutralise these harms. In so doing, the lens through which childhood gang membership is viewed is one which conceptualises childhood gang involvement as being something non-deleterious, thus acting as a lens that attempts to neutralise the harms and vicissitudes of gang affiliation.

Race, criminalization, and embedded discrimination in immigration court

Purpose As the US criminal justice system and immigration system increasingly interconnect, even immigration policy that is facially race-neutral may involve biased practices. The purpose of this paper is to examine how institutional racism in criminal legal processes creates particular barriers for many individuals of Latin American and/or African descent facing deportation proceedings in US immigration courts, particularly in assertions regarding gang affiliation. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on ethnographic observation. The work utilized a grounded theory approach. The observation took place at public master calendar hearings at a Midwestern immigration court between 2013 and 2015, yielding over 400 pages of fieldnotes that were coded and analyzed for patterns. Findings Non-citizens in the USA, including lawful permanent residents, are subject to deportation if labeled “criminal.” Racial profiling and criminalization of communities of color create heightened risk of deportation. Assumptions that common tattoos or urban fashion indicate criminality, reliance on Facebook posts to “prove” gang membership, and the use of arrest records as evidence of criminality even if charges were dropped all put immigrants of Latin American and/or African descent at heightened risk. Research limitations/implications The ethnographic method used has strong validity but weaker reliability and generalizability. Practical implications This paper can help analysts, policymakers and advocates consider how to adapt systems to increase equity. Originality/value This research provides direct examples and ethnographic evidence of how race and cultural bias in criminal legal processes and immigration policies can affect people in deportation proceedings.

Gang Influence: Mediating the Gang–Delinquency Relationship With Proactive Criminal Thinking

Controlling for basic demographic variables, parental knowledge, prosocial peer associations, and precursor measures of each outcome, the current study sought to compare two putative intervening mechanisms for the gang affiliation–participant delinquency relationship: a social learning mechanism (proactive criminal thinking) and a self-control mechanism (reactive criminal thinking). The two mechanisms were explored in 3,136 (1,519 male, 1,612 female) early adolescents (mean age = 12.14 years) from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) study. A three-wave path analysis of Waves 1 to 3 of the G.R.E.A.T. study revealed a significant social learning pathway (gang affiliation → proactive criminal thinking → delinquency) and a nonsignificant self-control pathway (gang affiliation → reactive criminal thinking → delinquency). These findings were then replicated using data from Waves 4 to 6. From these results, it is concluded that gang affiliation may increase future delinquency by providing youth with increased opportunities to learn proactive criminal thinking.

Positive Parents and Negative Peers: Assessing the Nature and Order of Caregiver and Friend Effects in Predicting Early Delinquency

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the nature and direction of the relationship between parenting and peer effects in predicting early delinquency. The parenting–peer relationship was evaluated in 1,734 (811 male, 923 female) early adolescent members (mean age = 12.10 years) of the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) study. A seven-equation path analysis was performed across three waves of data. The statistical significance of 16 indirect effects was evaluated using the Monte Carlo Method for Assessing Mediation. Two of the three pathways predicted to be significant were, in fact, significant (i.e., parental support to gang affiliation to participant delinquency; parental support to peer delinquency to participant delinquency), and all 13 pathways projected to be nonsignificant were, in fact, nonsignificant. Consistent with the research hypothesis for this study, prior parental support acted as a buffer against the delinquency-promoting effects of negative peer associations in early adolescent children.