The Criminal Youth Inmate Part #1
When you first start working in a juvenile correctional environment, you get hit with a culture shock. You realize that the inmates are not always locked in their cells, and they get more than bread and water to eat. Your preconceived notions of what privileges inmates should and should not have are challenged. It’s at this point many correctional staff asks themselves, “What have I gotten myself into?” Maybe you’ve asked yourself that today. In that case, a little understanding goes a long way in helping corrections officers keep their perspective and cool. Keeping your cool is particularly important with juvenile inmates, who, like most kids, are likely to test authority figures to the limits. Many of these kids come from extreme hardship and have seldom internalized boundaries or rules. So, in order to effectively communicate expectations in a juvenile correctional facility, we must first understand the reasons behind the aggression that is, what sets juvenile inmates off. Read more…
As the Crips grew in South Central Los Angeles in the early 1970s they began targeting other gangs. It was during this time of conflict that several gangs joined forces to combat the growing Crip threat. The most well known gang within this group was the Piru Street Boys. They lead the revolt against the Crips and were instrumental in creating the Bloods gang in 1972. During the next 10-years the Bloods continued to operate and grow in a fragmented manner. Conflict with the Crips continued and the Bloods found themselves heavily outnumbered. 
A gang is an organization, association or group of three or more persons that has as one of its primary activities the commission of one or more particular criminal offenses, with a common name, identifying signs and symbols or other common characteristics, whose members individually or collectively engage in a pattern of criminal activity or provide support for members who do commit crimes. 
An officer, who is well liked and respected by his peers, returns from a well deserved break at 0230. The malicious darkness looms of what seems like an ordinary and routine third shift in the facility. But for him it’s a restless night and he knows that time will continue to drag. He wonders if his shift will end uneventful and after only eight hours or if he will be mandated to work first shift. He remembers the day an operational manager once told him that he was going to go places within the department. As quickly as the promise of his big promotional chance came, it vanished just a fast. Politics, idle talk, becoming a union activist, and not knowing who the resourceful players are has sent him down another path. In the darkness of a lonely midnight shift that leads to nowhere, he contemplates his current situation, his future. It is then that the exhaustion overwhelms him and even though he is comfortable, he begins to sweat.