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The Psychology of Prison Gangs: When Belonging Becomes a Survival Strategy · Inside The Criminal Mind

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, everybody. Today we're heading into the prison world.
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  Speaker 1: So let's check it out. Entering a world where almost
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  Speaker 1: every ordinary source of security has disappeared, you cannot choose
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  Speaker 1: when to leave, privacy is scarce, resources are limited, and
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  Speaker 1: your reputation matters. And the people surrounding you may determine
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  Speaker 1: whether your daily life is predictable or filled with uncertainty.
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  Speaker 1: Under those conditions, belonging to a group can take on
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  Speaker 1: a very powerful meaning. This helps explain one of the
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  Speaker 1: most important features of a prison social organization. Gangs can
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  Speaker 1: provide more than criminal opportunity. They can provide protection, identity, resources,
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  Speaker 1: and a sense of predictability, which is huge for human beings.
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  Speaker 1: From the outside, joining a prison gang can look irrational.
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  Speaker 1: Membership may expose someone to violence, disciplinary actions, criminal charges.
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  Speaker 1: Yet human decisions are made within environments. Change that environment
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  Speaker 1: and behavior that appears irrational in ordinary life may begin
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  Speaker 1: to feel rational. Protection is one powerful incentive, and a
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  Speaker 1: threatening environment affiliation can communicate that harming one person may
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  Speaker 1: produce consequences from others. The group becomes a form of
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  Speaker 1: social insurance. But protection can come with a price. Once
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  Speaker 1: someone receives the benefits of membership, the organization may expect loyalty, obedience, participation,
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  Speaker 1: or even retaliation. Identity is another factor. Prison strips away
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  Speaker 1: many of the identities people previously had. Someone who was
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  Speaker 1: a father, an employee, a student, becomes identified primarily as
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  Speaker 1: an inmate. Group membership can restore a sense of belonging
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  Speaker 1: and status pretty quickly. Social identity psychology helps explain why.
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  Speaker 1: People naturally categorize themselves, we all do, and others into groups.
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  Speaker 1: Under conditions of conflict and scarcity, distinctions between us and
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  Speaker 1: them can become especially powerful. Think about it. Christian, non-Christian, Democrat, Republican,
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  Speaker 1: Dodger fan, Padre fan, Giant fan. We're constantly categorizing ourselves
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  Speaker 1: into different groups. Rich, poor, you name it. Prison environments
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  Speaker 1: can intensify the process because people repeatedly encounter the same
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  Speaker 1: individuals within a restricted social world. Reputation becomes extraordinarily valuable.
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  Speaker 1: The psychological component is that reputation for responding aggressively to
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  Speaker 1: disrespect may encourage future challenges. Violence, therefore, isn't always simply
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  Speaker 1: an impulsive act. Within prison environments, the threat of violence
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  Speaker 1: can become a form of social currency. Also, just remember,
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  Speaker 1: on a side note, many inmates suffer from emotional dysregulation issues,
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  Speaker 1: harder to control their impulses. This does not mean every
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  Speaker 1: incarcerated person joins a gang or is aggressive, nor does
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  Speaker 1: it mean every correctional institution operates according to the same rules.
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  Speaker 1: Prison populations, security levels, individual circumstances vary considerably. But the
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  Speaker 1: larger lesson extends beyond prison. Human beings adapt to their
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  Speaker 1: social systems around them. Place people in an environment characterized
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  Speaker 1: by uncertainty with limited resources, potential danger, and everything changes.
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  Speaker 1: A more interesting question is what happens when psychology, scarcity, fear,
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  Speaker 1: identity all operate inside a closed environment? Well, that's what
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  Speaker 1: we've been sharing with you in our podcast. That's it
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  Speaker 1: for now.