yeah, bolts are one of the most common
in penitentiary the whites are usually either A brotherhood
or A circle
then there is whats referred to as "independent woods" (pecker woods) who arent an official organization really - organizations have offiicial structure - chains of command and codes of conduct, bylaws, dues, all kinds of rules and obligations
something to understand in that scenario is that corrections facilities are extremely racial in their socialization structure
people associate with their race because thats the way its done - the supremist rhetoric is there for those who think that way and to be honest the setting is extremely conducive to the promotion of racist ideology for everybody (all the gangs except one (in texas) that i know about are racist in their recruitment and focus) but actually being racist is not a real requirement for recruitment/initiation
whites are expected by the organizations to represent the white race and the organizational rhetoric but under the surface many understand that this is just the way things are so to speak and as long as you meet the more practical obligations it really doesnt matter what you think of other races, although some of the obligations of all the gangs include rules about how you socialize and with who
in tx now there is the "safe prisons" program designed to prevent sexual assault particularly and violent assault in general and at the institution i was in it made a difference
peckerwoods are allowed to "bolt up" as long as they are seen to be representing the race appropriately
which does not actually require hating other races
but is more a matter of having self respect and following the appropriate disciplines and expectations of corrections life - like personal cleanliness for example and not allowing anyone to take advantage of you - doing things to help out other members of your race is another thing respected across the board by the more decent people in all races
woods have "speakers" which is basically a person who is agreed to speak for the group in matters where everyones interest is affected (certain instances of contraband for one or the handling of disputes between individuals as examples)
but its overall a pretty loose organizational structure compared to a.b. or a.c.
skulls and bolts are common
so are vikings and axes
clovers are another one
shields and midieval armour and arms
numbers a lot of times represent letters - like 13 (thirteen) for the letter M is well known - area codes sometimes but thats more of a street thing
although if youre housed at a facility on say fm 969 you might see 969 tattoos - i didnt but ive heard of it
a lot of things have very specific meanings but i was lucky to not haveto do a lot of time in a really bad place and going in i had already had an incident in my previous facility that the warden asked me about during proccessing
because of my age (over 23 or 24 at the time) and my response to his questions he put me somewhere that wasnt overly rowdy - some people - especially youngsters like the idea of getting tough and kicking ass
i liked the idea of being left alone and finishing my little bit of time without catching further charges
theres a little bit of slack for coincidence tatoos depending on what they are and where you get housed but yeah theyll make you get rid of anything that steps over a certain line
being real vicious about how you have to get rid of them is more a situation of punishment for doing something that violates the rules or expectations
like if you go in and you just happen to have a tat that has some meaning to the setting they might let you slide altogether or they might make you cover it with something else
usually they wont do anything violent just over a coincidental tattoo unless you have some history with someone or you just really badly represent yourself
penitentiaries are definitely violent places by their nature but its not quite as random as people assume from movies and entertainment
i can only speak for my pretty short term experience in one small area of one facility so i dont present myself as an expert by any means
sorry to stray off topic
People are complicated.
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