Mexican Mafia free essay sample

Examines prison gangs recruitment, illegal activities, code of conduct, leadership hierarchy, communications system. The Mexican Mafia, or La EME (the Spanish phonetic for the letter M), is one of the oldest gangs in the United States, originating in 1957 when several east Los Angeles inmates from the barrio formed the gang of gangs. Once a protection group for gang members, the Mafia expanded to include extortion, gambling and homosexual prostitution. As a result, many of the drug-dealing Chicano gang members wind up in prison, where the barrio economy becomes a prison economy: it turns on a sophisticated matrix of barter activity. This paper will focus exclusively on the Mexican Mafia and will use statistics where available. As with any illegal organization, few are willing to talk; even fewer are willing to give names. However, the Mafia is run not unlike any legal, nationwide corporation with constitutions, recruiting, marketing, personnel hierarchies and