Literature Reviews on White Prison Gangs

Literature Reviews

            Bill Valentine is the author of a well-known book called Gangs and Their Tattoos. In this book he goes into intricate details about each type of gang across the United States prison system. Robert Schober did original illustrations for the book of the gang tattoos among other things. It goes on to say, what to look for to notice gang members behind bars as well as in the free world, what they are known for, what their tattoos look like, and how prison tattoos are even available. As far as the reviews for the book goes, most readers thought the author did a great job depicting what a prison gang member would look like ranging all the way across the board. However, one of the readers questioned the author’s angle; stating that all people of the races he mentioned may not be gang affiliated just because they have some of the tattoos. I believe this to be a masking technique by the gangs to blend in and be more incognito in order to remain with the gang instead of discovered and pulled out.

            The Aryan Brotherhood is known inside and outside of prison for extreme violence against all other “un-pure” races as well as homosexuals. They wear certain tattoos to show their allegiance to the Aryan nation, some of which are even done inside the jailhouse. Inmates are able to take a small needle and make a tattoo gun with the motor of an old Walkman. Some of the noticeable tattoos would be an Irish three-leaf clover with a six in each leaf and the letters “AB” under it. There is also a hawk holding a rose up in one claw, with the phrase “Sinn Fein” under it. This means “we ourselves” in Irish. A bald eagle behind a shield, swastika on its tail feathers, and a banner across the bottom with Aryan Brotherhood on it surrounded by a border design with the 3 leaf clover mentioned before above the whole picture with an “A” to the left of it and a “B” to the right of it is another known tattoo which is more elaborate. One of the more simple tattoos would be a 3-leaf clover with the initials A.B.H., one in each leaf, and a swastika in the background. The book also lists all 11 rules that are required to join the brotherhood.

            There is also an article from a newspaper publication called “Denver Westward News” available online. Back in February of 2011 they published an article entitled “Raped & extorted by a prison gang, Scott Howard was called a ‘drama queen’ by correctional officers.” The information shared in this article went on to discuss that this openly gay man, Scott Howard had been repeatedly harassed and raped by the 211 crew which is a white supremacist prison gang located in Colorado for his whole 2 year stretch done in prison. When writing to the board of the prison asking for help, they did nothing to protect him. They only told him that he should expect to be targeted by one gang or another because he was openly gay. His story was finally heard upon his release from prison and he was actually taken seriously.

There is also this video that I found on how correctional officers go about finding prison gang members…