The meaning behind prison tattoos

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Like other body modification trends, the number of prisoners getting tattooed is on the increase but what do they varying designs actually mean, and why do some convicts have certain tattoos and others do not?

The history of the prison tattoo can be traced back all the way to ancient Greece, where convicts were marked in order for them to be easily identified should they escape, leading to their incarceration once more.

Nowadays the main reason behind a convict being tattooed has nothing to do with easy identification in case of escape, but more to do with status and social ranking within the confines of the prison. There is a lot of gang culture in prisons these days with an almost military style ranking system present in some of the gangs in some prisons. Other tattoos can also denote how long a prisoner has been incarcerated, how many convictions and what kind of skills they believe they have etc.

It can be quite interesting to discover just how much symbolism is present in prison tattoos and how they vary from nation to nation, although there are some tattoos that are to be found in prisons all over the world.

In Mexican prisons for example, their convicts tend to have more tattoos the longer they have been incarcerated although if someone is found to have a tattoo that the others feel they do not deserve, the other gang members may actually remove the tattoo themselves.

The majority of tattoos that are completed inside prison are done without too many complications; however, there can be situations where problems arise, such as infections that can lead to further complications such as blood poisoning. There is also an increase chance of catching a virus such as Hepatitis and even Aids than there would be if the tattoo had been done by a professional tattooist. It seems that many forget this is a permanent bodymodification.