Prison Tattoos

Prison tattoos can symbolize toughness or refusal to accept authority. They can also be gang symbols or racist signs. Before choosing a prison-style tattoo, make sure you understand its meaning.

How Prison Tattoos Are Done

Prison tattoos are done with home-made needles and tattoo guns. The "needle" might be part of a paper clip, a staple, or a bit of metal guitar string. An empty ballpoint pen holds the needle. The device may be rigged up to a small motor which makes it move up and down like a professional tattoo gun.

Ink for a prison tattoo might come from a pen, or it might be made from melted plastic, burned Styrofoam, or whatever else the prisoners can find.

Safety Issues

Although many prisoners get tattoos without any complications, prison tattoos can be dangerous. Sterilizing the equipment is difficult or impossible. The tattoo artist might not understand that sterilization is important. Skin infections are one risk of unsterilized equipment. More important, deadly diseases like hepatitis and HIV/AIDS can be passed from one prisoner to another when needles are re-used.

Legitimate tattoo shops use special inks that will not irritate the skin and are not likely to cause allergic reactions. The makeshift inks used in prison tattoos may not be safe. They can cause damage to the skin and permanent scarring. They can also contain chemicals that are dangerous.

A few Canadian prisons have their own tattoo shops as an experiment to see if HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases can be prevented. The tattooists are specially trained inmates, and all prisoners are taught about tattoo safety.

Appearance

The makeshift equipment used in prison doesn't always allow for the precision of a professional tattoo, and the work may be done by someone without a lot of experience. The ink may be placed too deep, which gives the tattoo a raised surface and can cause scarring. The lines may be crooked, and the design may appear crude.

On the other hand, some prison tattoo artists are quite skilled. In fact, the style of tattooing called "fineline" may have originated in prisons. It reflects prison artists' use of thin lines, made with single needles, to create detailed, realistic-looking drawings. Talented prison artists can create shading, as well.

A prison tattoo will usually have only one color. It is most often blue or black, because those are the easiest colors to make, but if someone in the prison is able to smuggle in real tattoo ink, multi-colored tats are possible.

Symbols and Meanings

Many prison tattoos represent racist beliefs, gang affiliation, or violence. Some common symbols are:

• Double lightning bolts. This is a symbol borrowed from Nazi Germany.
• The number 88. "H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Double 8's stand for "Heil Hitler."
• Teardrops. In some places, a teardrop means the wearer has killed someone. It may also mean he or she has lost a close friend or family member.
• Ornate lettering spelling out the inmate's gang name.

Other symbols have to do with drug use.

• The number 13 stands for the letter "M" (the 13th letter of the alphabet). It's sometimes used as a reference for marijuana use, but this design has also been linked to a street gang called MS13.

And some just show that the wearer has done time in jail.

• Chains and locks represent loss of freedom.
• Hourglasses stand for "doing time."
• A string of numbers may be the inmate's prison I.D.

If you're choosing a prison-style tattoo, make sure it doesn't have a meaning you don't intend. You can find more information about racist symbols and their meanings at the web site of the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to stopping bigotry. Check local law-enforcement sites for gang symbols in your area and elsewhere.

Pictures of Prison-Style Tattoos

There aren't many online galleries for this type of tattoo. A web search will turn up individual pictures or small photo collections. Some interesting ones are:

• The Marked Men article in Idaho Issues Online.
• The Prisoner Tattoos section of EvilTattoo.com. (Warning: this is an ad-heavy site.)

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