Prison Tattooing
... than the gang tattoo (Gang and Criminals). Prison tattoos are tattooed differently from those by real tattoo artists. Prisoners have to work secretly to make their own tattoo guns and ink. This could take hours, days, or even months. Since prisons can't get to the right kind of tattooing equipment, the making and using of a prison-made tattoo gun is a threat of contagion under unsanitary conditions. In Gangs and Their Tattoos, Bill Valentine writes that when caught in the act, both the tattooist and the inmate receiving the work are sent to disciplinary,... confiscation of all paraphernalia and loss of privileges. Even though of all the consequences, tattooing is the most respected skill in prison. Tattooing is a boast of the convict's ability to break the rules (Lichtenstein 52). Prison tattoos are also always done in blue ink. Sometimes the ink can look purple or black in the sun. The blue ink is important, because it represents prison. "If someone has a tattoo done in red or green and said they got it in prison, they are lying (Antonio interview)." Even though prison tattoos might take a lot of time to do, to prisoners, its worth it. Prison tattoos are very artistic for many reasons. For one, prison tattoos are done freehand. This means that they do not use stencils or pictures. Prison tattoos are also more creative, detailed, and beautiful (if done correctly) since prisoners use their imagination. "It is difficult to ignore the beauty of the design, whose very intricacy has special meaning (Lichtenstein 53)." Prison tattoos can tell you the person's name, where they have been, and what they have done. Prisoners can do this by words, colors, and symbols. Tattoos also tell you a lot about one's culture. Since it is usually violent offenders that spend enough time in prison to get prison tattoos; they usually are apart of either a gang or a group. For the most part, their tattoos will represent this group. Gangsta Disciples, Vice Lords, New Breeds, Black Stones, and, Mickey Cobras are all different types of gangs. Within these gangs they each have symbols, colors, and words that represent their gangs. For example, Gangsta Disciples colors are blue and black and their symbol is a pitch fork (Antonio interview). As for the Vice Lords, their colors are gold and black and their symbol is the five point star. Within a prison, these gangs are separated within the prison walls. The prisoners' associate with no one but the others in their gangs. If a fight was to breakout, the ones in the gang will help the others fight others in different gangs. Many prisoners not only represent gangs on their bodies, they also have life stories on them; experiences, family background, the dead. Many tattoos on prisoners can help people understand what they go through. For example, Chicano tattoos are made as Virgin Mary's, images of Christ, the Virgin of Guadeloupe. These tattoos represent Chicanos' religion. As for other tattoos, a face of female crying represents a prisoner has someone that they may love on the outside. Another popular tattoo on prisoners are tombstones and hearts. In these symbols prisoners placed the name of love ones that they lost or the ones that they love. Prisoners also receive tattoos because of the crimes committed and years done behind bars. In Bodies of Inscription, Margo DeMello states the most noticeable tattoo in jail is the tear. A tear on a man's face is a sign of his years in jail, he is a committed murderer, or he has more than one prison term (DeMello 69). Another example is tombstones with number of years served that represent crimes committed. Prison tattoos can also tell the rank of certain individuals. For the gang Gansta Disciples, their head leader, Larry Hoover, held a tattoo so powerful that no one else could get it within their gang (since I do not belong to the gang, Antonio couldn't tell me what the tattoo was). This tattoo allowed people to respect him differently from others as well as treat him like he was superior than anybody else. That is the positive status of rank tattoos. As like anything else, rank tattoos have a down fall. Certain prisoners can become jealous of the attention shown for the superior prisoner. Because of this, the super...