Prison Gang Members' Tattoos as Identity Work: The Visual Communication of Moral Careers

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how symbolic self‐completion and moral careers are identity work by examining prison gang tattoos. Data were derived from one author's six‐year full‐member participation as a correctional officer in the California prison system. We examine tattoos specific to members of the Nuestra Familia, a California‐based prison gang. Tattoos make an individual's self‐definition more complete by visually communicating gang membership, status, rank, and personal accomplishments; they reflect a person's past career accomplishments and possible future career objectives. To analyze the moral careers communicated by these tattoos, we identify and elaborate upon five distinct phases in a prison gang moral career: pre‐initiate, initiate, member, veteran, and superior. The article concludes with discussion of the importance of incorporating symbolic self‐completion into an identity work perspective and consideration of some implications for future research on gang tattoos in particular and identity construction more generally.