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[In Cold Blood]

Mod edit: while this could have been an interesting topic, it's basically just paragraphs focused on racial division and interactions rather than 'prison culture'.




I find the politics and stories about US prisons really interesting.
The most interesting one is Mainline California.
It's divided by race, ruled by gangs, they have set rules and if you break those rules there is a major price to be paid.

 

[nush]

I've read some books and follow a couple of Youtube Channels about this. It's not politics but prison culture.

Rule one, don't be a chomo.

 

[natjjohn]

More horrified than interested by. US prison system is just terrible. Not much rehabilitation happening

 

[nush]

More horrified than interested by. US prison system is just terrible. Not much rehabilitation happening

yes, by design.

 

[Soltype]

yes, by design.

How so?

 

[HoodWinked]

How so?

I think generally the idea is that if prisons aren't focused on stopping recidivism so they are more likely to return which keeps the prisons funded.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

I've read some books and follow a couple of Youtube Channels about this. It's not politics but prison culture.

Rule one, don't be a chomo.

Yes. "Chomos" are dead people walking.

 

[daveonezero]

non violent criminals forced to live in these circumstances do crazy things

 

[Soltype]

I think generally the idea is that if prisons aren't focused on stopping recidivism so they are more likely to return which keeps the prisons funded.

I worked in corrections, you can't stop recidivism.You can't get kids to care about their education, much less criminals from offending again.I've seen people make it out,but they gave a damn.People are low effort in society, why would it be different in lock up?

 

[In Cold Blood]

I've read some books and follow a couple of Youtube Channels about this. It's not politics but prison culture.

Rule one, don't be a chomo.

They refer to the rules around how the various groups interact with each other as prison politics.
In Cali the yards are separated by race. They call these groups "Cars"
So you have the Blacks, which includes all the various Black gangs such as Crips, Bloods, Kumi and BGF etc which ride together.
Then you have the Whites, which has two major groups being Skinheads and Woods. The skinheads are your Nazis etc and then all the other non skinhead Whites are called Woods, short for Peckerwoods.
You have the Southern Hispanics, which are referred to as South Siders, Southerners or Surenos.
The Northern Hispanics are called Northerners or Nortenos.
You also have the Fresno Bulldogs, who used to fall under the Northerners but broke away to be by themselves.
The last Hispanic group is called the Piscias. This is all the Hispanics that are from Mexico and end up in prison.
The last group segment is called The Others. That's Asians, Samoans, Arabic etc.

With these different groups you have ones that hate each other.
The Southern Hispanics and Northern Hispanics are sworn enemies, both on the streets and in prison.
The Blacks get along with the Northerners and The Others, but do not get along with Whites and Southerners.
The Whites and Southerners rock together and can hang out, do buisness and eat with each other, but they are not allowed to trade with Blacks and Northerners, they can't eat with them, gamble with them or anything. They have to wash their hands if they have to handle something that a Black did. They can't hold the rails in the chow hall because Blacks would of touched it.
And then you have the big boys.
The Whites are controlled by the Aryan Brotherhood. What they say goes with all Whites. Disrespect one and you are dead.
The Mexican Mafia control all the Southerners. They ave the same power over them that the AB does with the whites.
The Northerners are controlled by the Nuestra Familia, or NF gang. Again, they have absolute power over all Northerners.
The Fresno Bulldogs don't have any leadership and they are at war with everyone but the Blacks and others. Whites, Southerners and Northerners are all at war with them.
The Others program with the Blacks and Northerners but the Whites and Southerners can do buisness with them.
The Piscias hang with the Southerners and the Whites.

I could go on but its a really interesting subject and goes really deep into psychology of people.

 

[nush]

They refer to the rules around how the various groups interact with each other as prison politics.
In Cali the yards are separated by race. They call these groups "Cars"
So you have the Blacks, which includes all the various Black gangs such as Crips, Bloods, Kumi and BGF etc which ride together.
Then you have the Whites, which has two major groups being Skinheads and Woods. The skinheads are your Nazis etc and then all the other non skinhead Whites are called Woods, short for Peckerwoods.
You have the Southern Hispanics, which are referred to as South Siders, Southerners or Surenos.
The Northern Hispanics are called Northerners or Nortenos.
You also have the Fresno Bulldogs, who used to fall under the Northerners but broke away to be by themselves.
The last Hispanic group is called the Piscias. This is all the Hispanics that are from Mexico and end up in prison.
The last group segment is called The Others. That's Asians, Samoans, Arabic etc.

With these different groups you have ones that hate each other.
The Southern Hispanics and Northern Hispanics are sworn enemies, both on the streets and in prison.
The Blacks get along with the Northerners and The Others, but do not get along with Whites and Southerners.
The Whites and Southerners rock together and can hang out, do buisness and eat with each other, but they are not allowed to trade with Blacks and Northerners, they can't eat with them, gamble with them or anything. They have to wash their hands if they have to handle something that a Black did. They can't hold the rails in the chow hall because Blacks would of touched it.
And then you have the big boys.
The Whites are controlled by the Aryan Brotherhood. What they say goes with all Whites. Disrespect one and you are dead.
The Mexican Mafia control all the Southerners. They ave the same power over them that the AB does with the whites.
The Northerners are controlled by the Nuestra Familia, or NF gang. Again, they have absolute power over all Northerners.
The Fresno Bulldogs don't have any leadership and they are at war with everyone but the Blacks and others. Whites, Southerners and Northerners are all at war with them.
The Others program with the Blacks and Northerners but the Whites and Southerners can do buisness with them.
The Piscias hang with the Southerners and the Whites.

I could go on but its a really interesting subject and goes really deep into psychology of people.

from what I've read there are gangs but you don't have to be part of a gang and it's advised not to join them. Although your interactions with each gang will be dictated by the rules to a major degree.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I worked in corrections, you can't stop recidivism.You can't get kids to care about their education, much less criminals from offending again.I've seen people make it out,but they gave a damn.People are low effort in society, why would it be different in lock up?

And yet Scandinavian countries succeeded due to the system - wait for it - designed to stop recidivism. Is this an argument similar to ‘we can’t stop shootings’?

 

[In Cold Blood]

from what I've read there are gangs but you don't have to be part of a gang and it's advised not to join them. Although your interactions with each gang will be dictated by the rules to a major degree.

US prisons are different by geographic area. West Coast, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico are divided by race. East Coast is not.
The big gangs like Mexican Mafia, Aryan Brotherhood and Nuestra Familia are very different to join. You have to invited. There is only about 100 members in each.
Those 100 members control 1000's.
In Cali when you go into General Population you will ride with your race. Say you are white, when you get into the prison block a white person will come up to you, ask you who you are, where are you from and what your charges and sentence is. You will have to get them copies of your "paperwork" which is your trial sheets. If your charges were anything like rape, child abuse or abusing elders, you will be stabbed off the yard. You may due or may not, depending how it goes down, but they will be trying to kill you. If you are a snitch and helped law enforcement then the same fate awaits you.
You don't have to join a gang, but you will be a wood, which just means white. You will hang with the whites, you will put in work for the whites (carrying letters, holding weapons, stabbing people etc) when asked. And you will fight with the whites against any other race if a riot goes down. If you don't join in the fight you will be stabbed off the yard.
You won't just go into General Population and say that you don't want to hang out with your race or you don't want to fight other races if called upon. You will be stabbed off the yard. They don't want a position on that yard to be held by a weak person so they would rather you go and a new white person comes in who will do what they are told.
The same goes for the other races as well.

 

[nush]

Say you are white, when you get into the prison block a white person will come up to you, ask you who you are, where are you from and what your charges and sentence is. You will have to get them copies of your "paperwork" which is your trial sheets. If your charges were anything like rape, child abuse or abusing elders, you will be stabbed off the yard.

This is true from the books I've read from former inmates.

The other things you say are different depending on the geographic area. I don't think everything is an absolute rule.

This is a good book to read, written by an English guy that spent ten years in an Arizona prison.

Amazon.com: The Mafia Philosopher: Two Tonys eBook : Attwood, Shaun: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: The Mafia Philosopher: Two Tonys eBook : Attwood, Shaun: Kindle Store

www.amazon.com