Prison Gangs

The Wonderful World of Prison Inventions << Return to Blog Someone once said that necessity is the mother of all invention. Prison is one of the few places where very few common wants and needs are fulfilled; resources are incredibly limited and ardently regulated. Prisoners, who are not content to only posses what "the man" tells them they can have, are forced to use their critical thinking skills (prison-genuity, anyone?) to craft what can be some very MacGyver type shit. As many of us know from experience, situations in prison sometimes call for something a little more intimidating than a whittled down toothbrush shiv, ... Read Full Story

In yet another startling example of bodies that matter, a report released today accuses Corrections Canada of negligence in the death of  Martin Blackwind, a Native inmate.  Blackwind intentionally severed a major artery in his arm, and then hit the emergency button in his cell.  It took ten minutes for staff members to call an ambulance. According to CTV : The report, which is based on two separate investigations, found that: Staff failed to extend first aid. Staff did not determine what Blackwind's injuries were. They left him alone and locked in his cell, bleeding to death, for long stretches. They did not call ... Read Full Story

Comparative prison stats from a New York Times story titled "Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’" : Number of prisoners per 100,000 people United States 751 Russia 627 England 151 Germany 88 Japan 63 Median among all nations 125 Washington Post A1 story titled "New High In U.S. Prison Numbers" : More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that is costing state governments nearly $50 billion a year and the federal government $5 billion more, according to a report released yesterday. With more than 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States ... Read Full Story

A terminal database crash took out about 700 post in December, but I see this post is popular with Zimbio readers so I reposted it to my site March 10 2008. The linkage is fully functional now. Yeah… It’s a slow news day… A terrifying sight for ANY prison official: Inmates cooperating!   Related @ Technorati: Alternative Society , Art , Behavioral Psychology , Cognitive Dissonance , Comedy , Dance , Diplomacy , Filipino , Gang-related , Gangs , Group Hug , Health and Wellness , Human Rights , Insurrection , Jurisprudence , Law Enforcement , Lifestyle , Philippines , Paradox , Penal System ... Read Full Story

Gangs have long been viewed as a result of a failure to achieve social equality among certain populations, an outgrowth of oppression that leads to disconnection and alienation. But a new study led by biosocial criminologist Kevin Beaver of Florida State University shows that variants of a specific MAOA gene play a significant role. The warrior gene theory created a controversy a few years ago when claims surfaced that the indigenous Maori in New Zealand were “violent” because of this gene, an idea that seemed preposterous to me at the time. I’ve been to New Zealand, and the Maori were–without exception–a wonderful and respectful ... Read Full Story