Prisons, similar to gangs are found in any country, thus prison tattoos and gangster tattoo are not new to many of us. In fact it has become a phenomenon. Studies reveal some reasons why individuals, especially the young are attracted to become members of a gang that is usually referred to as subversive and destructive. Aside from being mostly young, gang members usually live in urban environment, male, Hispanic or Asian in origin, usually comes from dysfunctional family background and significantly, a gang member has a gangster tattoo on his body. The gangster tattoo in particular usually is a uniform mark on all the members. This symbolizes not only loyalty and dedication but also provides a sense of belongingness, as if belonging to a big family. In most cases, we can say that ink is thicker than blood because we often see gang members fighting back for his gang brother, who is not necessarily a blood relation.

Even with the increasing social awareness and acceptance of tattoos, the stigma brought about by gangster tattoos cannot be denied. Yet, another negative aspect of the tattoo that cannot be forgotten is connotation as prisoners and criminal marks and label—the prison tattoo. Japanese used prison tattoos as part of a punishment for a criminal offense. This is to brand the person who had committed a crime. Finally, another negative aspect is that tattoos are used by people who do not get high status in society or worse, considered a menace to society such as carnival performers, bikers, pirates and gypsies.

Unlike the artistic or strategic location, gangster tattoos or prisoner tattoos do not follow the usual location of a tattoo. These are usually in a more conspicuous and less popular areas such as hands, face, neck and skull. The location indicates or shows rebellion and a means of expression of turning against society.

A gagster tattoo usually tantamount to criminal activity such as weapons, drugs and sex trade members engaged in. Because of these illegal ways, gang members eventually get into prison. Gangster tattoos or prison tattoos serve as an identification of the type or name of the gang one is a member of. Gangster tattoo or prison tattoo also shows the status of a person. This indicates credibility and toughness that could deter enemies that may provoke a fight. A prison tattoo is also a source of survival in the prison or in society. Therefore, it cannot be avoided that when you are a gang member or in prison, for these reasons, you must have a gangster tattoo or a prison tattoo.

Most common gangster tattoos indicates the gang’s name and/or their gang territory. Another common gangster tattoo is a simple crucifix called that Pachuco cross, with three little dots above it. It is usually placed on the hand between the index finger and the thumb. Hispanic gangs primarily employed this gangster tattoo design, which means “mi vida loco” or “my crazy life”. The three dots on the hand is more common among Southeast Asian gangs that means “To O Can Gica” or “I care for nothing”. This is also the same symbol that marked Cuban gangsters as competent thief.

Though the negative connotation of gangster tattoos and prison tattoos had lessened today, still it remained recorded in history as well as the stigma it brought. However negative it is, gangster tattoos and prison tattoos proved to be one of the coolest body markings of all time. You may be surprised that the person who has these markings considered negative by society is the most gentle of all. Gangster tattoos and prison tattoos sometimes do not mean that the person is bad, especially today when tattoo is already considered an art.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 6:37 am and is filed under Special Tattoos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.