Gang Tattoos: Signs of Belonging and the Transience of Signs

RESEARCH PAPERS INTO GANG-RELATED & PRISON TATTOO REMOVAL

Migrant Gangs, Religion and Tattoo Removal (pdf)

Prison Tattoos as a Reflection of the Criminal Lifestyle & Predictor of Recidivism (pdf)

ILLINOIS STATE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - GANG TATTOO REMOVAL BILL

Synopsis As Introduced
Creates the Gang Tattoo Removal Act. Establishes the Gang Tattoo Removal Task Force. Provides for the appointment of members to the Task Force. Requires the Task Force to study the costs and effectiveness of a program for the removal of gang tattoos. Requires the Task Force to submit a report of its findings to the General Assembly no later than January 1, 2009. Provides that Task Force members shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses. Repeals the Act on January 2, 2009.

Senate Committee Amendment No. 1
Provides that the Department of Public Health, the Department of State Police, and the Department of Corrections shall provide the staff and administrative support necessary for the Task Force to complete its work. Effective immediately.

GANG TATTOO REMOVAL ACT

**Note that this Bill failed to pass

PROGRAMS FOR REMOVAL OF GANG-RELATED TATTOOS

www.dermlaser.org/tattoo_removal.htm

www.gangstyle.com/gangs_tattoo_removal.php

www.operationnogangs.org/tattoos.html

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON GANG TATTOO REMOVAL

Long Beach tattoo-removal program helps ex-gang members build on future

TATTOO REMOVAL: ICONS PAINFUL, EXPENSIVE TO GET RID OF (pdf)

Gang Tattoos Are Not Just Skin Deep

Ex-Gang Members Look for Fresh Start sans Tattoos

STATE OF CALIFORNIA TATTOO REMOVAL PROGRAM

List of State Tattoo Removal Programs

Orange County Tattoo Removal Program: Changing Lives, One Tattoo at a Time

Hollywood Sunset Clinic has Removed 1,200 Tattoos Since 1998

Laser Tattoo Removal Machines Transferred to Community Programs

EVEN GANGSTERS GET THE BLUES
As Japan's economy weakens, what are 80,000 gang members to do?
By Justin McCurry | Special to GlobalPost
February 5, 2009

TOKYO - Kazuhiro Yamada may describe himself as an innocent victim of the recession, but he is unlikely to win much sympathy.

Until he lost his job last year, Yamada, who prefers not to reveal his real name, was a member of the Sumiyoshi-kai, one of Japan's most notorious crime syndicates, or yakuza.

As a mid-ranking mobster in greater Tokyo, his duties included shaking down businesses for protection money, chauffeuring his bosses around town and, on occasion, providing muscle when his gang's relations with associates threatened to turn sour.

Then, at short notice, he was unceremoniously dumped for not paying his dues, a non-negotiable condition of yakuza membership from the lowliest mobster to the men at the very apex of their criminal careers. Read the whole article here

THE TATTOO ARCHIPELAGO
By Megan Buskey | The Nation
February 3, 2009

Historians speculate that the modern tattoo arrived in Russia in the nineteenth century care of English sailors, who mixed with Russian criminals when misbehavior got them jailed while docked in Russian ports. The English yen for tattooing can be traced to the explorer James Cook, who encountered tattoos while visiting Tahiti in 1769. Members of Cook's crew acquired tattoos as souvenirs during subsequent voyages to the South Pacific, and tattooed English sailors were soon appearing in port towns throughout Europe. By the twentieth century, artistically inclined Russian convicts were branding their prison mates regularly, using staples or syringes for needles and soot and urine for ink.  Read the whole article here

AUDIO SLIDESHOW:
Body art behind bars
By Mohammed Allie
BBC News: November 24, 2008

The BBC's Mohammed Allie talks to photographer Araminta de Clermont and the subjects of her recent exhibition - former South African prisoners, whose tattoo-covered bodies reveal the story of life inside and its gang culture.
See the slideshow here

TATTOOS HINDER JOB SEARCH, SAYS VAULT SURVEY
Vault Releases Survey on Tattoo and Body Piercings in the Workplace

July 25, 2007 NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the job search? You might want to think twice before adorning yourself with permanent body art. According to career publisher Vault.com's (www.vault.com) new Tattoo and Body Piercing Survey, 85% of survey respondents believe that tattoos and body piercings impede ones chances of finding a job.

Said one survey respondent: "Regardless of who the real person may be, stereotypes associated with piercings and tattoos can and do affect others. In general, individuals with tattoos and body piercings are often viewed as 'rougher' or 'less educated.'"

Despite such prejudice, only 16% of employers have an official company policy on tattoos and piercings. Vault found that over half of employees with tattoos and/or body piercings opt to cover up when they are at work.

Forty-two percent of those surveyed admitted to having either a tattoo and/or body piercing (besides "pierced ears"). Of that group, 40% had one or more tattoos and only 20% had one or more piercings.

Consistent with Vault's first Tattoo and Body Piercing Survey conducted in 2001, the most popular place to get a tattoo is the arm at 25%.

Vault's 2007 Tattoo and Body Piercing Survey, conducted earlier this month, is comprised of 468 responses from employees representing a variety of industries across the U.S.

SYMBOLS OF LOVE AND HATE:
Messages Behind Allgier's Tattoos
by Robert Walz
June 26, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Curtis Allgier wears the symbols of white supremacy on his face but he told a prison Board of Pardons that he did not belong to the Aryan Empire Warriors or any other prison gang despite what the tattoos say on his body.

"I am an Aryan, I'm of Aryan descent, that's not a gang, that's a culture," said Curtis Allgier during his last meeting with the Utah Board of Pardons on April 6, 2006.

Allgier got busted for getting tattoos on his face last year and had to spend time in the Utah State Prison isolation area after a conviction on conspiracy charges. Getting a tattoo is against the rules in prison, but the inmates do it for protection and intimidation. The tattoo on the top of Allgier's forehead says "Property of Jolene," an apparent romantic reference to his wife Jolene Allgier. But the other tattoos he wears reflect an ideology of hatred espoused by white supremacy groups...  more

HATE ON DISPLAY:
A Visual Database of Extremist Symbols, Logos and Tattoos
Prison Tattoos
Although many people entering the prison population are affiliated with the hate movement before their incarceration, prisoners from different ethnic backgrounds often join racist gangs once inside the penal system. They join these groups not only because they adhere to the gang's racist ideology, but also for protection and as a way to participate in criminal activity within the prison. These inmates' tattoos offer important information about gang affiliation, personal history and criminal activity... more

MORE SKIN, LESS INK
Tattoos are trendy but permanence is passé, thanks to laser removal
Paula Brook, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, October 16, 2006

A short history of tattoos.

12th Century B.C.: Polynesian cave dwellers carve symbols into their flesh to ward off demons.

18th Century A.D.: Captain Cook's crew get hip to mutilation on their South Pacific voyages.

Late 1960s: Janis Joplin lances the tribal barrier and gets branded in the name of rock.

1974: Cher splits from Sonny and celebrates with a big butt-erfly.

2004: Laser technology allows Cher to Turn Back Time.

Update: Two years later, Cher is still trying to turn back time at the laser studio, discovering that it takes a lot longer and can be more painful to remove tattoos than to get them. She is not alone.

Now that tattooing has crossed over from the mark of Cain to a full-blown hipster fad, with an estimated one-quarter of young North American adults thus branded, the race is on to remove, revise and rebrand. Isn't that the perfect definition of pop culture? Permanence is now officially passe and commitment only skin deep.  (read the whole article here)

WHEN A TATTOO NO LONGER SUITS YOU
Know potential employment, removal costs before getting inked
Sporting a tattoo or two is no longer the taboo counterculture act it once was. But it can still present employment, health and financial concerns, experts said.

Once the exclusive domain of bikers, gangs and other rough riders, tattoos have gone mainstream with the help of TV programs such as "Miami Ink." Today, brokers and secretaries are just as likely as bartenders and street punks to have one. (read the whole article here)

PRISON TATTOOS
Although many people entering the prison population are affiliated with the hate movement before their incarceration, prisoners from different ethnic backgrounds often join racist gangs once inside the penal system. They join these groups not only because they adhere to the gang's racist ideology, but also for protection and as a way to participate in criminal activity within the prison. These inmates' tattoos offer important information about gang affiliation, personal history and criminal activity. See various prison tattoo symbols and explanations here

GANG SYMBOLS & IDENTIFICATION
The goal of this website is to provide law enforcement and corrections personnel, parents, teachers, and concerned citizens, the assistance and knowledge necessary to determine if street or prison gangs are in your community or corrections facility. see site