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Security Threats in Prisons

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Compare and contrast the following Security Threat Groups (STG) (Gangs): The Aryan Brotherhood, The Ku Klux Klan, The Folks, The Nation of Islam, and MS 13.

Be sure to identify:

Where each gang originated and who its founder was
What its basic beliefs are
The prisons where it is the strongest (geographically)
The prisons where it is the weakest
Whether it is growing or in decline
Its mission and its primary way of doing business
How dangerous it is (explain and give examples)

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Solution Summary

This solution discusses security threats in prisons, specfic gangs, their beliefs, where they are the strongest, weakest and where they are in decline. The solution compares and contrasts the Aryan Brotherhood, The Ku Klux Klan, The Folks, the Nation of Islam and MS13. The solution is approximately 4000 words with 5 references.

Solution Preview

Here is a bunch of research on the five groups you have listed. There wasn't much directly related to the prison system; however, I was able to find plenty of information. You may want to expand on the comparison and contrasting at the end. This is 15 pages of information along with 1 page of references.

Security Threat Groups
Security threat groups are any organization, club, association or group of individuals, either formal or informal (including traditional prison gangs), that may have a common name or identifying symbol and whose members engage in activities that include planning, organizing, threatening, financing, soliciting, committing or attempting to commit unlawful acts which would violate the prison system's polices which detract from its safe and orderly operations (Arizona Department of Corrections, 2008). There are many organizations within a prison system including Border Brothers, Bloods, Crypts, New Mexican Mafia, Old Mexican Mafia, Mau Mau, Warrior Society, Surenos, Nazi Low Riders, Skinheads, The Aryan Brotherhood, The Ku Klux Klan, The Folks, The Nation of Islam, and MS 13. The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast five groups named and to include important information such as their origination, founder, basic beliefs, geographical forces (weak and strong), its growth or decline, mission and how dangerous the group is.
The Aryan Brotherhood
Origination/Founder
The Aryan Brotherhood was believed to have been formed in 1964 at San Quentin State Prison (Coverson, 2006). The group originally began as a way to provide protection from prison rape and from black and Hispanic groups; however, is now more into organized crime. While there is no one person that formed the gang, it is said to have derived from the Bluebird Gang and has several factions.
Basic Beliefs
The "Brotherhood" is a White supremacist organization and although they are known for racial hatred, crime is their first goal. Their belief is that white people are superior; however that is a point that has been argued by many groups as the Brotherhood has a variety of other cultures mixed in with their "white" population. They will consort with the Mexican Mafia; however, will not take so much as a cigarette or candy bar from an African American due to their racial beliefs. Their creed is "I will stand by my brother; my brother will come before all others; my life is forfeited should I fail my brother; I will honor my brother in peace and war".
Strongest Prison Influence
The strongest influences or where the Aryan Brotherhood is the strongest is mostly in the California State Prison system such as San Quentin, Corcoran, Pelican bay, USP Marion, Folsom, Chino and Lompoc (Inside Prison, 2008). There are other groups in various states which have stemmed for the original group in San Quentin. These states are Texas, Connecticut, Nevada, Mississippi, and Arizona. The Arizona and California Brotherhoods are apparently known to be hostile towards each other.
Weakest Prison Influence
The Aryan Brotherhood is weakest in the Mississippi Correctional Facility. This is due to the small amount of members. There is only one prison in Mississippi that houses a Brotherhood group. In fact, the majority of the prisons is only in California and is no prisons that have reported any instances of Aryan Brotherhood activity in 46 of the 52 states.
Growing or Declining?
While the Aryan Brotherhood may have been the first organized prison gang, it certainly is not the biggest or the fastest growing. After close to 50 years, the Brotherhood has only infiltrated five states other than California since its inception.
Mission
The Aryan Brotherhood's mission mainly consists of selling drugs, gambling, male prostitution and racial warfare; however, racial warfare comes second to their criminal enterprise of trafficking drugs and prostitution.
How Dangerous Are They
The Aryan Brotherhood has carried out contract killings for various gangs such as the Mexican Mafia and other individuals who are willing to pay the price they ask. One inmate notably orchestrated a contract murder against two black inmates in a Pennsylvania prison in 1979. In 2006 he also murdered three other black gang members. They are known for their initiation rule of having to assault and murder another inmate to join the Brotherhood. They are dangerous in that they are in the Brotherhood for life once initiated and they continue their activities once released from prison; however, their numbers are not as profound as some of the other prison gangs.
The Ku Klux Klan
Origination/Founder
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was first developed in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War by six educated, middle-class veterans of the Confederate Army as a social club. Four of these men were Captain John B. Kennedy, John C. Lester and James R. Crowe, Richard Reed. These men decided to disguise themselves in sheets and rode through their little town of Pulaski. Initiation was not much more than a college hazing which consisted of blindfolding their candidates and subjected them to ridiculous oaths and a "royal alter". Alters consisted of a mirror and donkey ears. Their rides were more like mischievous deeds rather than violent; however, within a few months after its inception, it turned ugly when whippings and killings of black people started to emerge. As quickly as it began, the KKK lost its force just a few years later. A resurgence began in the 1920's when William J. Simmons and two publicists who were in a business together. The new promoters began an aggressive marketing campaign which consisted of pro-America propaganda which required all members to be anti-black, anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic.
Basic Beliefs
Much like the Aryan Brotherhood, the KKK believed in White supremacy; however, it first was a social club with the goal of resisting the reconstruction efforts after the Civil War and aimed to restore white domination over the enfranchised blacks (Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2008). In the 1920's their belief was that there was a need to exterminate low-standard aliens before "they" cause our doom (meaning White people). Anyone opposing their beliefs of "racial instincts" was against the Klan.
Strongest Prison ...

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