256 9 Corrections and Prison Practices—Adult Forensicsthe drugs, gambling, weapons, or alcohol, bartering in exchange for turning a blind
eye to the underground activity. Additionally, prison guards play a major role in
smuggling drugs, weapons, alcohol, and food into the prison. Consequently, gangs
have access to a variety of items from this source of importation and guards reap
financial benefits from the sale of these items.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, another economic reason guards might
want to encourage gang activity is because it threatens the security of the prison.
Consequently, prison administrators might recommend an increase in surveillance
and this would lead to overtime work and increased salary for the guards. Addi-
tionally, Sykes (1967) suggests that guards may overlook prison gang activities for
a survival reason. For example, a guard knows that she or he may someday be a
hostage during a riot and that one's life may balance on the settling of old accounts;
an investment of goodwill, compiled by a series of past favors, becomes a valuable
form of life insurance.
Other scholars, however, argue that the control of drugs and other underground
economies can adversely affect the relationship between guards and prison gangs.
Knox and Tromanhauser (1991) found that the problem of gang threats to guards
is related to how much gangs are felt to control the importation of drugs into
the prisons and the extent to which gangs are felt to dominate drug trafficking in-
side the prison. Knox and Tromanhauser determined that when gangs are reported
to have higher control over the importation and distribution of drugs, there is a sta-
tistically higher probability of a threat by gang members against guards. This finding
indicates that the higher the gang drug problem, the higher the risk of violence to
the guard.
Prison overcrowding and more inmates corning in at a younger age have pro-
duced a new generation of prison gangs. Current research indicates that prison
overcrowding and the younger generation of inmate gangs place guards at high
safety risks and adversely affect the traditional guard-and-prison-gang relationship
described earlier. Maghan (1997) found that one explanation for this phenomenon
is because some gang inmates cannot inhibit their impulses even when it is to their
advantage to do so. Other gang inmates perceive an advantage in acting tough
and violent. Maghan suggests that much of the reputation building in which in-
mates engage entails violence toward other prisoners and guards. Psychologically,
an enhanced self-esteem can establish an inmate's reputation as tough and help
neutralize instances of victimization. This situation alters the viability and style of
the traditional reciprocal prison-gang-and-guard relationship. Consequently, guards
experience a growing sense of insecurity and safety risks in their working environ-
ment.
Hunt ct at. (1993) offer another explanation for the change in relations between
prison gangs and guards. These researchers found that the new generation of prison
gangs differed from "old school" prison gangs in their dress, attitudes, and behavior
toward guards. Hunt et al. interviewed traditional prison gang members and de-
termined that they perceived the new generation of inmate gangs as disrespectful