Would you join a racist prison gang for survival?

[NobleSavage]

I just had this random thought today. I'm not trying to make a point. I think I'd just try and hang myself or something.

 

[J842P]

Yes.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I couldn't. First time anyone saw me with family visitors, the jig would be up.

 

[Trausti]

What if you were transracial and didn't identify with the race you were assigned at birth? Tough call.

 

[ksen]

you do what you gotta do to survive in prison

 

[OLDMAN]

The key word is survival, I probably could survive a segregation cell. Might go nuts, but I would survive.

 

[TV and credit cards]

I'd have to.

 

[Axulus]

You might enjoy this podcast that discusses prison gangs and the social order in prisons:

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/03/david_skarbek_o.html

People join prison gangs primarily for two reasons: for protection and to obtain smuggled goods.

They tend to segregate by race for two reasons. One is that it is easy to identify which gang you belong to (and therefore which gang to report your bad behavior to) and it also makes it so that you can't switch gang affiliation when you desire.

It also discusses the factors that lead to the formation of prison gangs, which are predominant in CA and TX prisons.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I'd start my own gang. We'd be the inclusive gang that takes in all the people which the other gang doesn't want. Sort like Revenge of the Nerds in prison. Sure, the jock gang would try to beat us up, but we have the guy who eats people.

 

[Axulus]

I'd start my own gang. We'd be the inclusive gang that takes in all the people which the other gang doesn't want. Sort like Revenge of the Nerds in prison. Sure, the jock gang would try to beat us up, but we have the guy who eats people.

You'd have to be careful about taking on the people the other gangs don't want. If any of your members break the social rules or cause trouble, the entire gang is held responsible and has a debt to pay off. The leader has to make things right with the other gangs or you and your top associates become targets.

 

[Alcoholic Actuary]

I think I would avoid breaking the law to begin with. I imagine if I was the type who could regularly rape or murder other humans, I would probably also not have qualms about not liking them for their race (even if I was just pretending).

aa

 

[bilby]

I think I would avoid breaking the law to begin with. I imagine if I was the type who could regularly rape or murder other humans, I would probably also not have qualms about not liking them for their race (even if I was just pretending).

aa

You don't have to break the law to end up in prison.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I think I would avoid breaking the law to begin with. I imagine if I was the type who could regularly rape or murder other humans, I would probably also not have qualms about not liking them for their race (even if I was just pretending).

aa

You don't have to break the law to end up in prison.

Depends on your lawyer. If it's a cop or lawyer procedural, mostly the guilty are the ones who go to jail.
If it's a vigilante show, like the Enforcer or Leverage, then the innocents are usually already in prison when it starts and need to be broken or justified out to freedom.

And in all cases, joining a gang just seems limited to a choice made by a guilty person.

 

[NobleSavage]

I think I would avoid breaking the law to begin with. I imagine if I was the type who could regularly rape or murder other humans, I would probably also not have qualms about not liking them for their race (even if I was just pretending).

aa

Would you break the law if was the only way you could feed your family or provide for the ones you love? What about some kind of felonious civil disobedience similar to helping a bunch of slaves escape?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I'd start my own gang. We'd be the inclusive gang that takes in all the people which the other gang doesn't want. Sort like Revenge of the Nerds in prison. Sure, the jock gang would try to beat us up, but we have the guy who eats people.

You'd have to be careful about taking on the people the other gangs don't want. If any of your members break the social rules or cause trouble, the entire gang is held responsible and has a debt to pay off. The leader has to make things right with the other gangs or you and your top associates become targets.

That's fine. Like I said, I have guy who eats people. Nobody fucks with the guy who eats people.

 

[Axulus]

You'd have to be careful about taking on the people the other gangs don't want. If any of your members break the social rules or cause trouble, the entire gang is held responsible and has a debt to pay off. The leader has to make things right with the other gangs or you and your top associates become targets.

That's fine. Like I said, I have guy who eats people. Nobody fucks with the guy who eats people.

Your cannibal vs. this guy, who wins?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Nobody. That guy ran away before the fight started. Cannibals are scary.

I also have a clown.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Actions taken under duress don't count. I would join.

 

[dismal]

What you do is on your first day in the yard you pick the second* biggest meanest toughest looking guy and go up to him and kick his ass into a bloody pulp.

Then they will leave you alone.

*The biggest meanest toughest looking guy will be expecting it

 

[Keith&Co.]

And if #2 was in a gang, that gang beats you up the next day.