Apparently, tattoos have been part of prison culture for some time. Tattoos in prison are often used to identify an inmate’s loyalty to a particular gang. Additionally, tattoos are also used to identify skills, specialties, or beliefs. Generally, tattoos are banned in the prison system, making it a bold and daring practice, as well as a potentially risky one. In this article, we will explain how prisoners get tattoos.
Overview of the Prison Tattooing
In short, prison tattooing can be defined as the practice of creating and displaying tattoos in a prison environment. Based on the survey, currently, through tattoos, American and Russian prisoners can show their gang membership, hidden codes or meanings about where they come from, and the criminal they have committed. However, prison tattoos pose potential health risks due to the lack of proper and sterile equipment in the tattooing process.
Rules of the Prison Tattooing
There are no tattoo rules in prison. That means, inmates cannot get tattoos officially in prison. Tattooing in prison is usually done by inmates with their own homemade equipment. To make the tattoo equipment, they use their belongings and materials found in the prison environment. The inmates of course use homemade ink, which does not guarantee sterilization. The inmates usually hide the equipment and ink for the tattooing process from the prison officials. Since the equipment used in the tattooing process is not sterile, it is likely that tattooing in prison will cause some health risks. However, many inmates ignore this. They still get tattoos on their body parts to show their identity. As we said before, through tattoos, prisoners can show their gang membership, hidden codes or meanings about where they come from, and the criminal they have committed.
Process of the Prison Tattooing
The inmates did not have the right equipment and a sterile environment to carry out the tattooing process. Usually, the inmates make their own tattoo equipment from their belongings and materials found in the prison environment. The tattoo equipment is assembled from materials such as:
- Mechanical pencils
- Magnets
- Radio transistors
- Staples
- Paper clips
- Or guitar strings
In addition to tattoo equipment, the ink used in the tattooing process must also be improvised, it can be from ink taken from:
- Fountain pens
- Melted plastic
- Soot mixed with shampoo
- Or melted Styrofoam
Tattooing in prison is generally not done for free. It is usually done in exchange for cigarettes, food, stamps, phone time, or request for help, such as sex or targeted violence.
How Do Prisoners Get Tattoos?
The prisoners use their own methods to make tattoos even though the equipment is limited. Here’s how inmates can get tattoos in prison:
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Tattoo Guns
To get tattoos, prisoners usually make tattoo guns using their personal belongings and materials they find in the prison environment. These tattoo guns are made from electronic devices with motors such as electric toothbrushes, CD players, beard trimmers or other small motorized devices. In some federal prisons, beard trimmers are prohibited in the commissary for this reason. For your information, the police officers have a CD player where the prisoners can check out the CDs and listen to them on the CD player. However, many prisoners steal CD players to use as tattoo guns.
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Hand Piercing Technique
Some inmates use hand piercing techniques instead of tattoo machines or tattoo guns. This technique involves manually piercing the skin with a needle attached to a handle. Inmate tattoo artists carefully create tattoo designs or motifs by repeatedly inserting a needle into the skin. Then, the ink is rubbed into the punctured area. This technique requires more time and precision, but it is a viable alternative for those who do not have a tattoo machine or tattoo gun.
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Tattoo Ink
The prisoners used tattoo ink made from a mixture of oil, soot and a little water. Usually soot is obtained from burning something such as burning paper or wood. Apart from that, prisoners also use ink made from melted plastic or Styrofoam. Usually prisoners burn the Styrofoam cups they get from prison facilities.
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Tattoo Needles
The needles used by prisoners in the tattooing process are usually made from everyday items such as paper clips or staples. Apart from that, they also often use guitar strings that they steal from the music room to support the tattooing process. The prisoners use plastic containers as containers.
That’s how prisoners get tattoos in prison. For prisoners who are tattooed, they consider tattoos to be the wisest work of art. The reason is because prisoners use tattoos to show their identity. For example, a prisoner who has a cross tattooed on his hand is a Christian. However, prisoners also use tattoos to show more than just their religious beliefs.
Designs of the Prison Tattoos
There are many kinds of tattoo designs or motifs that are commonly used by prisoners to show their identity and tell their stories. Here are some prison tattoo designs:
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Three Leaf Clover Tattoos
In American prisons, three-leaf clover tattoo designs are often worn by inmates as members of the Aryan Brotherhood. This tattoo shows neo-Nazi ideology combined with their ideas of white supremacy. However, in Irish prisons, this three leaf clover tattoo shows three meanings; hope, faith, and love.
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Prison Face Tattoos
This prison face tattoo shows how hard a person is who commits a crime. If you see a prisoner who has a large number of these tattoos on their face, it means that the prisoner has committed many crimes. The greater the number of these tattoos, the more crimes have been committed.
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Prison Star Tattoos
The prison star tattoo shows hope, ambition and success. However, for some prisoners, this tattoo design has a religious or nationalist meaning. And, some prisoners also think that prison star tattoos depict a sense of individuality.
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Black Gang Tattoos
Black gang tattoos are commonly worn by inmates to demonstrate their identity as members of the African-American community. This black gang tattoo has the meaning of a symbol of unity and integration. This tattoo design provides strong motivation to its members to fight for their goals.
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Scorpion Tattoos
Scorpion tattoo designs convey fear and intimidation. Prisoners who get this tattoo on their bodies often consider themselves as evil as the angel of death. Here the scorpion is interpreted as loyalty, power and strength.
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Teardrop Tattoos
This teardrop tattoo design has different meanings from one place to another. Most prisoners interpret this tattoo as a small teardrop that appears to fall from the eye. For your information, teardrop tattoos are one of the most common prison tattoo designs worn by prisoners throughout the world.
Risks of Tattooing in Prison
There are many health risks involved from prison tattoos. The main risk is the transmission of blood-borne pathogens (BBP). As we know, the common way to get a tattoo in prison is using regular ballpoint pen ink and crude replacement needles. Tattoo machines are homemade, and efficient sterilizers are not available.
Through shared needles, deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS can be transmitted from one person to another. Also, tattooing in prison will potentially lead to the transmission of Hepatitis B and C. In addition, dirty tattoo equipment, such as the ink used for tattooing can also damage the skin, leading to skin infections. Other complications of the dangers of prison tattoos are allergic reactions to the pigment, worsening skin infection diseases, and keloid scarring. You may have seen this during a prison visit where an inmate developed a skin infection due to a tattoo.
From the above, we can say that prison tattoos should not be done to avoid the health risks that will occur. Interestingly, however, we learned that the Minnesota DOC is working to incorporate tattooing into its facilities as an apprenticeship program. Thus, tattooing in prison will be regulated in the system. The rules provide information on proper tattooing techniques or methods, as well as sterilized equipment that can be used, which will prevent disease transmission and BBP infection. In addition, the tattooing skills learned through the apprenticeship program will also serve as basic knowledge for employment opportunities in the community.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
