Prison Gangs and Racism Behind Bars:VIDEO, Prisons have become incubators for hate, where ethnic and white supremacist enclaves vie for control through violence and coercion directed along color lines. In part one of this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel talks with prisoners doomed to solitary confinement due to their gang affiliations. They discuss the dangers that drove them to join—and that keep them looking over their shoulders even in the so-called protective environment of a supermax prison. In part two, Mr. Koppel spends a night in solitary confinement to observe firsthand the effects of supermax on inmates—and to document the type of ex-convict that will one day be returned to society: racially intolerant, unrehabilitated, and psychologically and emotionally broken.

Criminology

Prison Gangs and Racism Behind Bars

Prisons have become incubators for hate, where ethnic and white supremacist enclaves vie for control through violence and coercion directed along color lines. In part one of this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel talks with prisoners doomed to solitary confinement due to their gang affiliations. They discuss the dangers that drove them to join—and that keep them looking over their shoulders even in the so-called protective environment of a supermax prison. In part two, Mr. Koppel spends a night in solitary confinement to observe firsthand the effects of supermax on inmates—and to document the type of ex-convict that will one day be returned to society: racially intolerant, unrehabilitated, and psychologically and emotionally broken. (40 minutes)