The Study Guide #2 - Prison Systems, Criminology, Surveillance Technology + Tattooing
Looking into the (global) prison industrial complex and its intersection with tattooing through media
Preface:
Before we start on The Study Guide #2, it’s important to make a few notes about the subject matter and my approach to analyzing the content of these materials. According to the abolitionist organization, Critical Resistance, the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) is defined as “the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems.” The term is widely used regarding the United States’s prison system, but it is applicable globally, especially among capitalist countries. It encompasses issues like imperialism, globalization, privacy, immigration, etc. Tattooing, as a practice, and tattoos are very much intertwined with the global prison industrial complex for a variety of reasons - from the criminalization of tattoos in policing to the use of tattooing by prisoners. In this Study Guide, the materials will touch on different aspects of the global prison industrial complex (with a more political/social angle than economic) and how it intersects with tattooing. It’s important to note that these materials are suggestions (not endorsements) to provide more insights/context, but they are not perfect nor above critique. I welcome you to question the messaging and intent behind these materials, the institutions that sponsor their creation, and the spaces they are circulated in.
Important Note: A few articles/reports here are from JSTOR where you can read 100 articles a month on the platform if you sign up.
Without further ado…
The Study Guide #2: Prisons, Imperialism, Technology + Tattooing
Ahora la Luz: Transnational Gangs, Religion and Tattoo Removal by Lois Ann Lorentzen (Nuevas Tendencias y Nuevos Desafíos de la Migración Internacional: Memorias del Seminario Permanente sobre Migración Internacional. Tomo 3, 2009 ).
This was written by Lois Ann Lorentzen, as part of her work with the Religion and Immigration Project at the University
of San Francisco. While the paper is about a tattoo removal program in San Francisco and its impact on the emotional health and social standing of former gang members, it also discusses the imperialist and globalized forces that bred the environment for gang culture to thrive both in the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc) and in El Salvador. It covers the history and emergence of popular El Salvadorian gangs both in the US and in El Salvador, the motivations behind gang membership, the impact of gangs within their communities, tattoo symbolism and religion, and more.
The Convict Body: Tattooing Among Male American Prisoners
by Margo Demello (Anthropology Today, Vol. 9, No. 6, December 1993)
Demello explores tattoos as indicators of social stratification regarding class, race, and ethnicity in the context of prisons. The article explores the process of getting tattoos in prison, the implications of prison tattoos in the dynamic between incarcerated folks and the prison establishment, and the use of prison tattoos to forge a distinct identity for incarcerated people in contrast to those on the outside. While the article is decades old, it aims to assert the message that prison tattoos function as a 'subversive bodily act’ against a system that strips inmates of their identity.
Tattoo Recognition Research Threatens Free Speech and Privacy
by Aaron Mackey and Dave Maass (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2016)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) raises some concerns about the methodology and impact of the automated tattoo recognition program that the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been working on since 2014. EFF raises a lot of questions about biometric data collection, data in the hands of third parties, the criminalization of religious and ethnic symbolism, and the erosion of freedom of speech as literal thousands of images are taken of prisoners and fed into algorithms.
The NIST did respond to the EFF complaints, which you can read here. As of 2018, NIST published an evaluation report on Tattoo Recognition Technology, which you can read here.
From Punishment to Protest: a French History of Tattoos
by Sarah Wood (The Conversation, 2016)
The article that ruined the fleur-de-lys for me forever. Wood chronicles the stigmatization of tattoos in French society in the 19th century as a marker of criminality to its emergence as a symbol of rebellion as convicts and other outsiders took tattooing into their own hands.
The Mark of Cain (Documentary)
by Alix Lambert (2000/2001)
The Mark of Cain is a bit of a rough watch. It’s a very intimate look into the Russian prison system by investigating prison tattooing. The documentary features inmates, prison guards, and other criminology professionals. It shows incarcerated people across generations whose body art contextualizes the changing structure of Russian society. Unfortunately, it shows the poor conditions of these prisons and the treatment that the inmates are subjected to.