Browsing by Subject "Prison gangs"
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Item Formation of gangs in the Texas prison system(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 1990) Smithey, Royce W.Item Managing county jail inmates in a gang member climate(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 2009) Schroeder, TwylaItem Resocializing and repairing homies within the Texas Prison System : a case study on security threat group management, administrative segregation, prison gang renunciation and safety for all(2012-12) Burman, Michelle Lynn; Lauderdale, Michael L.This research is a case study focused on the resocialization of prison gang members through the lens of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s (TDCJ) Gang Renouncement and Disassociation (GRAD) process, a nine-month, three-phase voluntary process whereby confirmed prison gang, or Security Threat Group (STG), members renounce their gang membership and disassociate from the gang while still incarcerated. The TDCJ implemented its gang renunciation process to relinquish its dependence on segregating confirmed prison gang members and to provide them a way to transition out of segregation. The GRAD process has been in place since 2000 with more than 2,600 offenders completing it, but little information, other than anecdotal evidence, is available to support or disprove its success or effectiveness at de-ganging and resocializing prison gang members for the long haul. Interviews were conducted with 16 individuals, including GRAD correctional officers and instructors, and law enforcement officers with known expertise and knowledge of prison gang investigations. A limited amount of extant aggregate-level data was provided by TDCJ to supplement the narratives in the qualitative analysis. Findings suggest that the identified goals of the process differ among GRAD staff and non-GRAD staff: GRAD staff focused on offender rehabilitation, and non-GRAD staff focused on gang renunciation. It was also found that resocialization and normative change can and do occur in the closed GRAD environment; however, no tracking mechanism exists to systematically and pro-actively monitor their behavior once they are released from GRAD to determine if they have internalized these new norms and values. Based on the interviews, it also appears that the length of time spent in segregation prior to renunciation renders the offender more grateful and appreciative, and, therefore, more likely to successfully complete the process. Finally, interviews with law enforcement reveal that, upon release to the broader community, these offenders may have renounced the gang – but not the crime. The dissertation ends with limitations to the study, recommendations for future research, and implications for social work.Item The impact of security threat group designation on discretionary parole release decisions(2017-04-17) Glass, Dalton; Blasko, Brandy L.; Franklin, Travis W.; Roth, Mitchel P.The authority and legitimacy of the U.S. paroling system has varied throughout history. Under indeterminate sentencing, parole boards were given high levels of discretion that fostered disparity. As a result, prior research on the influence of parole release predictors has issued varying findings. Further, due to variations in authority and legitimacy, recent research has neglected to consider contemporary predictors of the paroling decision. For example, one factor that has been relatively overlooked in contemporary discretionary parole decisionmaking is security threat group (STG) designation. This factor is potentially a modern predictor of parole decisionmaking because STGs were not prevalent in the U.S. penal system until after the popularity of discretionary parole release declined. Relying on data collected from 21 of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ (PADOC) state prisons, the purpose of this study is to understand the role of STG designation in the discretionary parole release decision. The sample comprised 1,602 randomly selected prisoners eligible for discretionary parole release over a six-month period within the 21 prisons. Information on STG designation was obtained from the official records of each prison’s internal security department. Results from logistic regression analyses found that STG designated prisoners were 40.5% less likely to be granted parole, even after controlling for historically relevant factors, including age, race, offense severity, criminal history, institutional behavior, prison program participation, time incarcerated, and parole guideline score. These findings pose specific implications for parole guidelines as decisionmakers are likely relying on contemporary factors that are not included in decision guidelines.