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David Skarbek is a political scientist who studies prison gangs. In a *fascinating* interview with *Asterisk*, he describes the forces that led to the rise of race-segregated prison gangs, from virtually nonexistent for 100 years to ubiquitous:

https://asteriskmag.com/issues/08/why-we-have-prison-gangs

It boils down to this: in small prisons, it's possible to enforce a social code among prisoners to maintain order. Each prisoner can track the trustworthiness of others and of the safety risks they pose.

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