Understanding The Factors Associated With The Targeting Of Prison Gangs By Specialized Gang Units (sgus) In The United States

Specialized gang units (SGUs) are prominent in police departments in the United States with their sole purpose to respond to gang activity across the country. SGUs vary in the types of gangs they target, resources available, officer composition, and the types of enforcement activities they use. SGUs have encountered various controversies such as exaggerating the gang problem in the media, for distorted intelligence in their gang databases, and for racial stereotyping and harassment among Hispanics in particular. Research regarding SGUs is limited in general, but even fewer studies exist on the targeting efforts of prison gangs by SGUs. Prison gang activities often extend beyond the walls of correctional institutions and onto the streets. Prison gang research and official reports from state and federal agencies show that multi-agency collaborations to investigate, surveil, and prosecute prison gangs in the community is common, but no empirical assessments exist on which SGUs are involved in the targeting of prison gangs. The overarching goal of this work is to advance understanding of SGUs in the context of prison gang surveillance and enforcement across the country. To fill this gap in the literature, this thesis examined factors associated with the targeting of prison gangs by SGUs using a national survey of specialized gang units in the United States. I examined a range of theoretically and empirically informed factors expected to differentiate SGUs that target prison gangs from those that do not. Findings showed important differences between SGUs focused on prison gangs from SGUs without this focus across contingency theory, resource dependency theory, and social threat perspective factors. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.