Being in a gang, has become a way of life for incarcerated criminals and does not only promote violence inside the prison facilities, but outside in the general population. These gangs plague communities in many different states because of their callous and care-free violence. Different gangs include: The Mexican Mafia, The Norteno Movement, The Aryan Brotherhood, and many others. .
A major reason for gangs in prisons is because everyone wants to belong to a group. A prisoner, who is alone, has little or no chance of survival in prison. If a prisoner chose to leave a gang in prison, most likely he would be hurt badly, or killed.
The Mexican Mafia (La EME) is the most powerful gang in prison today, and now run the streets of Southern California. Murder and intimidation, have helped the gang become the most powerful. The gang started in East Los Angeles in the 1960's, their main purpose was controlling the prison narcotics trade. .
The gang is powerful enough to tax local Hispanic street gangs who sell narcotics. This taxation of the local gangs is also a way of recruitment for the gang. .
Within the prison walls La EME's leaders direct other Hispanics to assault other inmate groups and staff. The group that is usually told this is the Surenos, another Southern Californian gang. The Surenos are involved in many of the prison riots and incidents. The Mexican Mafia is indirectly involved with these incidents, but for the most part, La EME is causing all of the incidents.
Another strong prison gang is The Norteno Movement. This gang is from Northern California and is a rival gang of La EME. The Norteno Movement is a combination of the Nuestra Family, and the Northern Structure. The reason they joined togther is because the Nuestra Family was prosecuted for controlling various crimes in Northern California in and out of prisons. .
The Norteno Movement has also started another group within the group called the Generation of United Nortenos (GUN).