Why is it that women in prison arent as likely to form "hardcore" gangs based on race while in prison?

Question

I was watching an MSNBC report about people in jail. And I noticed the men where divided into race gangs- Aryans, blacks, Hispanics, etc....but the women's prison didnt seem that way at all. Why?

Answer 1

My husband is typing this up for me because I don't have internet access.  Sometimes we discuss some of the questions on Yahoo Answers and he types up a response for me.  

My name is Michelle and I have been incarcerated for twenty years, since I was fifteen years old.  It is true that women's prisons are not near as divided by race or gangs as the men's prisons.  In fact, there are no gangs where I am held, and while there is a certain level of self-segregation between races, it is not entirely unlike society.  

It has been my experience and observance that women are more driven to create family and social structures while men are more driven to create hierarchal structures and that this predisposition extends to prison.  Typically, as long as women are willing to work within the social rules imposed by the larger group, there will be a place for that woman within the inmate population.  When a woman refuses to work within the social framework, she tends to be ostrasized rather than violently opposed.  

It may be worth questioning though: for a woman - is ostrasization from the group equal to violence?

Answer 2

Maybe because some of the women aren't as stubborn as the men and have decided to not get landed back in prison once they get out. Or what the first person said about subtly.

Answer 3

Women are more peaceful and far more organized when it comes to conflict. They are not so quick to run blindly into battle and would much rather think it through.

Most men are war bound. Their sense of order is dominated by their emotions.

Answer 4

Women are just as divided as men it's just that it is more subtle.

Answer 5

I am not sure. It is definately a pervasive problem in prisons, but men are also more likely to join gangs on the street as well, women do too, of course, but often times are the partner of a gang member.