Limit search to available items
Book Cover
E-book
Author Skarbek, David, author

Title The social order of the underworld : how prison gangs govern the American penal system / David Skarbek
Published New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2014]
©20
©2014

Copies

Description 1 online resource
Contents Governance institutions and the prison community : men's central jail -- The convict code : death row -- The rise of prison gangs : my brother's keeper -- Governance in the society of captives : background check -- The internal organization of prison gangs : Macarthur Park -- How prison gangs govern the outside : puppet -- What works?
Summary When most people think of prison gangs, they think of chaotic bands of violent, racist thugs. Few people think of gangs as sophisticated organizations (often with elaborate written constitutions) that regulate the prison black market, adjudicate conflicts, and strategically balance the competing demands of inmates, gang members, and correctional officers. Yet as David Skarbek argues, gangs form to create order among outlaws, producing alternative governance institutions to facilitate illegal activity. He uses economics to explore the secret world of the convict culture, inmate hierarchy, and prision gangs
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Prison gangs -- United States
Prison administration -- United States
Prison violence -- United States
Prisoners -- United States.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Penology.
Prison administration
Prison gangs
Prison violence
Prisoners
United States
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780199328512
019932851X
9781306731171
1306731178
9780199378890
0199378894
Other Titles How prison gangs govern the American penal system