CJMS 620 Assignment 4 (7 full pages, 6 references) Background: The events of 9/11 resulted in new interest regarding threat groups and a renewed vigilance for the potential violence and disruption of civil society from prison gangs. Prison gangs have proven to be a rich breeding ground for terrorist recruitment (radicalization) as well as a serious corrections problem that saps fiscal, personnel, and physical facility resources from correctional systems. All correctional administrators need to address the threat of such groups in the facility, which encourages further study of this important criminal justice issue. Assignment: The objective of this assignment is to select one (1) of the prison threat groups listed below from those operating in an adult U.S. state prison system of your choice with one exception. You may not select the State of Maryland. • Aryan Brotherhood • Black Guerilla Family • Mexican Mafia • Nuestra Familia • Mara Salvatrucha Provide background information including the history and development of this group including an emphasis on the history and development within the state you have chosen to investigate. For example, if a gang began in a state such as California (as the Aryan Brotherhood did) then there should be a detailed section concerning the history and development in California. If you are researching another state, however, then you should also discuss how that gang began and developed in this other state under study (this speaks to proliferation of the gang). This discussion would include the membership characteristics, gang goals, mission, reason for the group’s existence, etc. This is a good issue to use peer review journals in addition to the departmental web sites for documentation. Avoid web sites with no authors, etc. because there is no way to confirm or challenge that data. Evaluate the degree to which this group is a threat to that prison system and the communities of the particular state you have selected for study. Discuss the strategy used in that state to identify and control gang membership and activity. In addition, discuss a variety of options and strategies used by at least two other specific states you must name (best practices) to control and contain threat groups. Identify the names of their programs, names of their specific databases, etc. Be specific in their approach to gang control. Finally, arrive at a conclusion as to whether the current strategy is working in the jurisdiction you have selected for study and provide any alternative approaches that have a proven track record that the state should consider. (These alternative approaches would come from the other states you have considered). To this end, the instructions for this assignment follow: Students are to use library resources to find at least Five peer review, academic or refereed journal articles (or other reference documents once this minimum requirement is achieved) which can be used to identify and validate the history and characteristics of the selected threat group, definitions of threat groups (gangs), or the variety of strategies implemented to contain and control threat groups in a prison environment. It is also recommended that you document the management approach from the web site and rules and regulations of the agency you are studying as well as possible statutes implemented to assist in gang control. One of the purposes of this assignment is to develop the student’s ability to do graduate level research on this topic. The essay must be a minimum of SEVEN complete pages of text. You may not use an abstract or any subheadings in your essay. The title page and the reference page(s) do not apply to this minimum requirement. This is an exercise in academic research, graduate level thinking and academic writing ability. Do not discuss jail gangs at all in this essay. This essay is focused on prison gangs which may be quite different in operation and controls from a jail system. The laws governing detention facilities can be quite different from a prison that houses convicted felons. Do not discuss juvenile gangs in this essay. This course focuses on adult corrections. The following elements should be included in your essay’s rhetoric (Remember not to use any subheadings! These are identified merely to assist you in developing a framework for your response). • Cover page: Include the title of the paper, your name, class title and date of submission. Please see the sample essay provided in the Course Content for additional assistance. Remember not to use an abstract! • Introductory paragraph(s): Make an introductory statement about the topic of your paper and what threat group you intend to examine. These first paragraphs should provide the purpose of your paper (the thesis). This is also an excellent place to define your terms such as prison threat group, prison gang, etc. Avoid using generic dictionaries. Federal research sites can be useful here where definitions are often included in their studies. • Rhetorical content: discuss the history of the group (perhaps some definition and history of prison gangs). Include a discussion of the strategy employed by the state under study to identify membership and to control gang activity. What strategies does the research of at least two other specific states recommend and to what degree have they been effective? How do they differ and where have the competing strategies been ineffective? How do you measure program success for an intervention program such as this? • Conclusion content: This paragraph(s) is based on your research. Based on your analysis of the threat group, the articles and their conclusions, and information regarding the efforts of the jurisdiction under study, what are your conclusions as to the solutions currently in place? Can you provide a viable alternative if you are not satisfied with the status quo? Remember not to have a subheading of “Conclusion” etc. Just move right into the final discussion and let your rhetoric carry the day. Your choice of wording will make the conclusion clear to the reading. The better your writing, the clearer your conclusion will be to the reader. Reference Page: References must be correctly cited on a separate reference page in perfect APA format.