This article focuses on Hispanic street and prison gangs, which – along with other gangs – constitute a significant and iconic phenomenon of contemporary political discourse in the United States, as well as social and economic life in this country.

In the XXI century, the prison systems of most countries continue to be characterised by the growing role of informal prison hierarchies. Under these conditions, the traditional classical goals of criminal punishment are increasingly turning into a fiction, with the goal of rehabilitating criminals being particularly marginalised. That is why in this article we aim to analyse the phenomenon of Hispanic street and prison gangs as a special form of criminal organisations in the prison systems of the United States, which, in addition, operate outside of prisons.

This study was conducted using inter alia the formal legal and content analysis methods, where the research is based on the US court decisions on Hispanic street and prison gangs, which are an important source of views of political elites and other social groups on the preconditions for the emergence, historical transformations and current state of the phenomenon of street and prison gang in the USA.

The study is based on the traditional leaders of influence – the Mexican Mafia and Nuestra Familia, around which many other Hispanic street and prison gangs move in their corresponding orbits of social and economic relations. In addition, in the structure of power relations between different Hispanic street and prison gangs in the United States, a significant place is occupied by the relations of vassalage established between the main actors (Nuestra Familia, the Mexican Mafia) and auxiliary power blocs of the respective prison gangs. The main place in this context is occupied by the Sureños and Norteños gangs, which have long been in deadly competition.

As of today, a comprehensive analysis of Hispanic gangs in the United States cannot be imagined without Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, which is one of the largest and perhaps the most violent street gangs in the world. From its relatively humble beginnings in Los Angeles in the 1980s, it has spread to more than half a dozen countries and has become a central focus of law enforcement in both hemispheres. Despite these efforts, MS-13 remains a persistent threat and is showing signs of expanding its criminal portfolio.

Following Mara Salvatrucha, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua has become the main ‘star’ of the moral panic in the USA about street and prison gangs. Since then, the gang has expanded its activities throughout Latin America and the United States due to the Venezuelan refugee crisis, with the growth of the gang accompanied by the migration of Venezuelans to host countries. Due to the severity of its crimes, combating this gang has become a priority for many of the countries where Tren de Aragua has infiltrated.

The issue of race is one of the most important issues in the functioning of Latin American prison gangs, where it can be characterised by both openness and a significant conservative element.

For the most part, Hispanic gangs are highly militarised organisations with a corresponding quasi-military hierarchy.

As in any informal hierarchy, the stability of street and prison gangs depends on the system of punishments imposed by gang members through the informal courts. Therefore, the foundations of such stability are provided by an extensive apparatus of coercion, often operating on the basis of written constitutions.

Moral categories play an important role. The subculture and associated symbols of Hispanic prison and street gangs play a special role in their functioning and sustenance.

Hispanic street and prison gangs constitute a significant and iconic phenomenon of contemporary political discourse in the USA, as well as social and economic life in this country. Most of them are social communities in the first place, not gangs. Hispanic gangs in the United States are an extremely complex political and social phenomenon characterised by dynamic development. Hispanic gangs operate not so much for profit (although the latter is certainly a priority), but rather to create a collective identity that is constructed and strengthened by shared, often criminal, experiences, especially acts of violence and manifestations of social control. Most of them rely on a mythical notion of community, a team concept, and an ideology based on bloody struggle against their main rival (or rivals) to maintain a vast, loosely organised social and criminal organisation.

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