Typology of Tattoos Among Russian Inmates in Israeli Prisons

Abstract

According to the import model , the characteristics of the criminal subculture in prisons reflect and represent the values of the prisoners’ original criminal society. The variety of tattoos observed on prisoners’ bodies in Israel can be divided to a number of categories which reflect the normative world of Russian criminals such as various inscriptions testifying to symbols of status and class membership, tattoos of homosexual prisoners, a sign of their inferior standing and of their status as the “women ” of the prison . Tattoos which are used to symbolize the replacement of the biological family with the criminal family, tattoos that represent a challenge to the authorities and pay tribute to values of killing and injuring police officers, judges, and other representatives of the government and law, tattoos that represent the criminal past of the prisoner, the use of drugs and alcohol, prisoner’s emotional and physical endurance, and more.