Gangs are another form of expressing dominance and control over one’s rights and beliefs, and a prison gang is made as a last resort to expressing these emotions since an incarcerated individual has no other likely choice. The absence of female gangs is a resultant of the operatives of a female mind. While incarcerated males have a need of expressing their domination in one way or the other, females, on the other hand, are devoid of such feelings. Moreover, gangs are a source of gratification of a set of people’s beliefs and ideas, and this is satisfied in prisons by many males (Skarbek 69). Thus, in my opinion, an absence of female gangs expresses how women do not mean to express domination over others or to subjugate others and pressurize them into following a certain set of beliefs in order to get accepted into a prison gang.
A basic reasoning of why female gangs are non-existent needs to be understood; as of the findings from 2011, there are virtually no female prison gangs in the United America. This is linked to female behavior and their vision of violence and aggression. Women are generally prone to behaving well in prison, as they believe that violence inside the prison can only mean there is more trouble lying ahead for them. Hence, they tend to be on the best behavior while they are incarcerated so that there are minimal chances of their incarceration or any other mishap while in custody. Hence, only if certain females are subjugating enough, a female prison gang can be formed.
The main reason why certain females would join gangs is for performing certain activities, illegal of course, but solely for monetary gains (Carrasco, 1999). Since male domination is absent, females can look for their own way to make money. Hence, this provides an opportunity to those females looking for an economic security outside of prison (if they have no other job opportunities outside) to operate in the form of gangs, which will work in unison to keep their system going.
There are many cases where female incarceration occurs due to petty crimes like theft or possessing drugs. In such a case, females are often forced to spend time in prison with other females who have a view that life needs to be spent the way they want to and not to be dictated by prison rules (Carrasco, 1999). Hence many end up in prison gangs as the need of time dictates and not because they generally wish to join, once they land in prison.
As far as the reasons for forming gangs are concerned, many young people, particularly females, might be willing to join gangs if they have no strong family ties or have no families at all. Gangs are at times taken as symbols or replacements for families and members begin to display their loyalty and regards to their gang members instead. There is also a stress which curtains the need to form a gang such as coming from an abusive home, weak financial background and having alcohol or drug related issues.
In the end, I believe that women are prone to thinking through matters. They realize there is a chance of a good life after prison, and they look forward to it. Violence in or out of prison has no escape for them hence embracing it means that a person is stuck in that vicious cycle. Since they have no desire to express dominance or physical power as opposed to males, female prison gangs are less likely to appear anywhere in the future.
Work Cited
Carrasco, Valaree. 1999. “Female Gang Participation.” EDGE: Ethics of Development in a
Global Environment. 2 Jun. 1999. Web. 26 August 2016.
Skarbek, David. The Social Order of the Underworld: How Prison Gangs Govern the American. 69-70. Oxford University Press. 2014. Web. 26 Aug. 2016.
