Inside the Lives of Inmates: How Some Prisoners Escape Gang Life Behind Bars
The United States carries the unfortunate distinction of maintaining the highest imprisonment rate among advanced countries, with a projected 1.5 million nationals currently incarcerated. Such statistics generate a multitude of inquiries into life in confinement, an existence that continues to be veiled in secrecy for most Americans. “I’d rather talk to you than sit in my cell.” This sentiment, expressed by prisoners with and without gang affiliations, embodies the readiness of those behind bars to open up about their experiences and illuminate the mysterious realm of prison gangs. As criminology researchers, we undertook an intensive nine-month investigative journey inside a