Prison gangs week 2 forum paper 2 PROF VALDEZ PDF

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WE WERE GIVEN 5 WRITING ASSIGNMENTS THROUGHOUT THE QUARTER. WE HAD TO CHOOSE FROM 1 OF 3 WRITING TOPICS EACH TIME...

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The Mexican Mafia is not only one of the seven major prison gangs in California, but it is also the first prison gang formed in California. Within these seven gangs, the Mexican Mafia falls under the category, “Big Four”. In 1957 the gang phenomenon began at the Deuel Vocational Institution, 13 different Hispanic inmates from East Los Angeles street gangs, predominantly from the Maravilla area, joined together and formed the Mexican Mafia (Valdez 2011, Lecture 1). The gang was originally established inside of prison by Luis “Huero Buff” Flores, who used the Italian Mafia as a model. The primary purpose of the creation of the Mexican Mafia was for protection. That is protection from other inmates in California prisons. The Mexican Mafia or also known as la Eme can be considered a ‘transnational gang’ because of it’s international drug trade business and involvement with other international criminal activity, including murder for hire” (Valdez 2011, Lecture 3). This is why they are known to be one of the most destructive gangs. The Mexican Mafia is comprised of a horizontal leadership structure. Meaning there is no proper hierarchy structure with a leader. However, the gang does have “Shot Callers” and these individuals are

known as the leaders of the gang. Area leaders rise to power on the basis of fear, respect and personal ruthlessness” (Valdez 2011, Lecture 1). Despite of the gang’s lack of leadership, all members are aware of the rules they must follow. The reason the California chapter utilizes a horizontal leadership is because within this leadership, there is an equal treatment of members and everyone has a voice. There are multiple ways La Eme maintains its reputation as an exclusive, elite and ruthless organizations. What makes them so ruthless is that they turn on each other using violence, which leads to murder. Additionally, if you happen to be that individual that doesn’t follow the Mexican Mafia rules, then someone will be hired to kill you. What makes them exclusive is that the Mexican mafia chose and still chooses its members based on their practice of the Mexican gang culture (Valdez, p. 363). As part of membership, a blood oath is required and if you failed this task then the consequences were death. The difference between La Eme and the Surenos is that La Eme was created in a prison, and they operate in prisons and some Surenos were formed on the streets. Since they were formed on the streets, this gives the Mexican Mafia the advantage to carry on street operations with the help of the Surenos. La Eme depends on the Surenos to carry out their acts of violence (Valdez & Enriquez, p. 42). The Surenos are

known to fall under the control of the Mexican Mafia, meaning they are not as powerful as La Eme. They mimic La Eme in ways such as, they identify themselves with the number 13, just like the Mexican Mafia.

The relationship between these two organizations is simply to combine resources and exert power through criminal activity. As mentioned, the Surenos are on the outside, therefore, they keep the Mexican Mafia updated on any activity outside the prison. They use the Surenos to collect their taxes and if a gang refuses then they under the green light list, which leads to death. The reason their relationship is important is because they help one another operate both inside and outside of prison. However, since the Surenos are known as “foot soldiers”, this allows La Eme to exert control over them by having them carry out their criminal activities. The Surenos follow these orders from La Eme because they wish to be affiliated with the gang and even gain membership into the gang at some point....