Killers of children and rapists of women and children are looked down upon in prison. I hear mixed things about whether girlfriend/wife beaters, elderly abusers and animal abusers are also looked down upon.
I’ve heard a lot less about what crimes are looked upon highly in prison.
I’ve sometimes read that cop killing is looked upon highly in prison. However, if you’re a gang member, I have to wonder if your gang would be too pleased with you killing a cop. Since this crime would probably cause the police to have a big crackdown on your gang, and send more of the gang members to prison.
From what I’ve read over the years, rich people who choose to go to prison rather than cooperate with the government and turn in other people are looked highly upon, because they gave up a cushy life rather than cooperate with the government.
But that’s not the crime, it’s the way the criminal responded to it.
Little Nemo probably has some good info about this.
I worked with prisoners for a while, doing community work as part of a pre-release program in London. One guy was coming to the end of a ten stretch for his part in a raid on a high-end jewellery business and was treated as something of a celebrity by the others. They seemed to appreciate the high stakes audacity of his crime.
Generally it is easier to say what is looked down upon rather than what is looked up to.
It largely depends on the perp and their personality - competent bank robbers are usually up there, the idiot ones are looked on as idiots or naive at best.
Organised crims can be, but it depends upon what you’d call organised - silly little gangsta boys not so much - they are noted for being rock hard when they are in their own crowd and odds are in their favour - catch them on their own and they wilt.
The ones you have to watch out for are not the tough loonies, its the ones who apply their violence carefully and with thought - these are the ones who do things for specific reasons instead of image - they tend to be experienced, and work out the pros and cons of their activities - they are prepared to lose a few points if it either furthers their cause or does not detract unduly from it.
Fear and intimidation only goes so far - because there is always some nutjob that is prepared to up the ante, you do not have to be a man mountain to cause huge damage - just a person willing to do whatever it takes, so that little guy who got shook down the other day might be your biggest danger, suddenly you find you are full of little holes when you were least expecting.
Those of us who have watched a fair number of crime movies would assume that safe cracking would be an admired skill–but I think that safes are so hard to crack anymore that virtually no one does it.
Masterfully stealing from rich people in any form is generally admired especially if it lasts a long time before they are caught. Bernie Madoff (once very rich himself) is supposedly treated like a celebrity in prison himself because of his skill, his ability to dupe other rich people and the fact that he didn’t even have to use physical violence to do it.
Prison tends to be its own microcosm. It matters more if you were affiliated with a gang on the outside and if you are loyal to a gang on the inside. Although there is some truth to certain crimes being looked down upon I’ve always heard that is overblown. The lowest form of life in a prison is a snitch. As for any crimes that are looked highly upon I don’t think that really exists. Someone who is scary and violent will be given the respect and a wide berth even if they are officially only in for shoplifting. Same with someone who is highly connected in a gang or organized crime. The exception is someone who has a bit of celebrity because of their case. Prisoners watch TV too.
I don’t think rapists of adult women are stigmatized in prison, there are far too many of them. As for highly regarded crimes cop killers are the most respected.
I dont think cop killing is regarded highly in prisons. Jailbirds consider cops as doing a job. So I beleive in their mind they should not be targets for doing their jobs. Killing cops is considered quite low in jails i think.
Crime boss. I’m guessing it’s not just the fear of reprisal for messing with one in prison, but the chance is high they could help you with whatever you wanted on the outside so they’re useful.
Though Whitey Bulger got shanked, being an snitch for the FBI tops that.
Growing up in Kingston, Ontario, I knew a lot of people who worked in prisons. My Dad taught college and life skills courses for the prison system, in fact. Knew a few guys who were guests of the prison system, too. As a general rule:
The notion that prisoners are ranked according to their crimes is seriously overblown. There is a little bit of truth to it, but not a lot.
A prisoner’s standing in prison is generally related to his affiliation with gangs and prison bosses. Biker gangs are very big in Canadian prisons; depending where you live what specific organized crime group runs the hierarchy will vary, but that’s what really matters.
Racial divisions are also important, but even they usually derive from gang affiliation.
This sort of thing is more important in high security institutions, less so in lower security institutions.
Irrespective of the above points, snitches get stitches.
