Few people know that there is a clear distinction between the law of thieves and prison. So, the first is understood to be a set of unwritten rules and norms of behavior established in certain circles, which is mandatory for the so-called thieves in law. But what are prison concepts and laws?
Prison law
Of course, you don’t want to feel in your own skin what it is. But if the “work is done” already and the person is sent on a stage, that is, to places of deprivation of freedom, he should find out what prison concepts and thieves' laws are.
Naturally, a clear, somewhere spelled out term does not exist. Based on established unwritten rules, prison law is the rules and traditions that are mandatory for all prisoners without exception. It is these norms that govern relations among persons serving sentences.
Thus, prison law is only a certain part of the thieves' law. Their only difference is that the first - absolutely all convicted and prisoners are required to observe. But the specific norms of thieves' law are respected only by "crowned" thieves and prisoners seeking to obtain the specified "status".
What is the law of prison?
Prison concepts and laws, prohibitions strictly respected by “right” prisoners. In fact, the meaning of the rules of conduct in places of deprivation of liberty is the same as the norms of life in freedom. The prisoners simply express this in their own language (or jargon), which they understand better.
So, the basic prison concepts and laws of prisoners are as follows:
- Allocate a share in the common fund, that is, be able to share, give your own.
- Respect the elderly, parents.
- Do not knock, that is, do not inform the other prisoners of the administration of the colony or prison.
- Do not "rattle", that is, do not steal from their own.
- Do not bring charges without any evidence or evidence.
- Do not swear, do not insult for no reason (surprisingly, it is forbidden to use foul language in places of deprivation of liberty).
- Responsible for your words. This means that you can’t just threaten someone: if you already said that, you need to do it. There are no changes in situations, or “inadvertently” in places of deprivation of liberty .
All of the above laws are quite vital and human, as well as easily applicable (with some amendments) in everyday life at large.
There are also prison laws and concepts, rules that are difficult for an ordinary person to understand. For example, you can not intervene. So, if one prisoner decided to commit suicide, it is impossible to dissuade him from the rest of the convicts. If he asks for a blade (to cut the veins or throat) - he will be given.
It will be strange for a law-abiding citizen that in prison it is forbidden to lift anything from the floor. Even if the hat fell on the floor of the prisoner, it is no longer possible to lift and even more wear it.
"Crime and Punishment"
Failure to comply with prison law will not go unnoticed by any of the prisoners. It does not matter if the prisoner belongs to the prison "elite" or is included in the most dishonorable group of "prisoners".
For violation of the established rules, the guilty convict (the one who “screwed up”) may be subjected to:
- Beating.
- A blow to the ears (to give to the ears means to transfer the prisoner from the “thieves caste” to a lower one, that is, to the category of “men”). Only a thief in law or a convict who has the same status can do this.
- Fracture of limbs - hands and feet are broken, as a rule, to persons who have not returned card debt (and he is considered a saint in the zone), as well as to those who without any reason beat the cellmate himself.
- A violent act of sodomy, after which the prisoner automatically falls into the most despised "caste of the lowered"; This type of punishment is widespread in prisons where juvenile offenders are serving their sentences, as well as in general regime zones. In prisons of strict and special regime, these cases are extremely rare.
- A symbolic act of sodomy (in the zone, this expression is replaced by the concept of "paraffin" and consists in conducting the sexual organ along the lips of the offender). The sexual act itself does not occur, however, the convicted person is also transferred to the category of “cocks”.
- To murder (this type of punishment is used quite rarely and only for committing especially serious acts). For example, a prisoner can be killed for major theft from a common fund or for a proven connection with law enforcement agencies. Moreover, the decision to kill is never taken solely by one of the prisoners.
Types of Prison Concepts
Concepts are rules, a kind of code of honor. Conditionally all existing prison concepts and laws They are divided into two large groups:
- positive, that is, those that, in the opinion of the prisoners, are correct and acceptable to themselves;
- negative - those that are guided by the lower categories of “convicts” (for this reason they fall into castes of “cocks”, “goats” and others).
Positive concepts, in turn, are divided into human and thieves. And the negative ones are “gad” and cop (the exact opposite of thieves).
Are concepts the foundation of relationships?
It is on concepts that the relations of persons serving sentences are built. At the heart of their communication are human concepts. They are adhered to by the so-called decent prisoners, as well as other “castes” of prisoners, which will be discussed below.
There are those who follow the vile concepts that are the exact opposite of the human. Usually these are “rats”, “hens” and “lawless” - that is, prisoners who have committed offenses significant enough for prisoners. This may be the theft of something from his own cellmate, denunciation of another prisoner to prison or prison staff, as well as the unjustified beating of a prisoner.
Colonies and prisons are places of imprisonment in which mistakes are not forgiven. In this regard, a prisoner who violated the norms of “human” coexistence is deprived of the opportunity to atone for his guilt. Such a prisoner, throughout his entire term of imprisonment, is likely to be humiliated and harassed by cellmates.
Thus, prison concepts and laws, rules of conduct are the platform on which the relations between prisoners are built. At the same time, human concepts, in meaning, are aimed at self-sacrifice, the desire for mutual assistance, sympathy, humanity and mutual understanding. Whereas the gadians are the exact opposite and are based on the desire to satisfy only their needs and interests, to put themselves above the rest.
Basic concepts
Many prison concepts and laws have smoothly entered life in the wild. In modern society, you can often hear such terms as “cant”, “zapadlo”, “parasha”, “present”, “stuffy”, “steer”, “bullock” and many others. Moreover, people who use prison jargon in their vocabulary do not always know the correct meaning of concepts.
So, not everyone knows that the term “stuffy” means the creation of conditions unbearable for a normal existence. But the “cant” is not just a random oversight, but a serious violation of prison law.
In general, almost all words often used in everyday life in a zone are designated by “their” terms. For example, street robbery is “gop-stop”, murder is “wet business”, language is “broom”, especially dangerous recidivist is “mansion”, prison corridor is “lengthwise”, clarification of relations is “dismantling”, to escape or hide - "get on wheels" and others.
Without knowledge of prison terminology, it is practically impossible for a prisoner to exist in places of deprivation of liberty. Therefore, if the convict does not want to have unnecessary problems, he, as a rule, while still in the pre-trial detention center, begins to comprehend the “thieves tongue”. Indeed, without knowledge of specific prison terminology, one cannot understand, for example, the expression: "The beholder with a mandate presents an authoritative thieves." In the “translation” into simple language, it means that “the head of the zone transfers important information contained in the note, revered and respected in the zone to the group of prisoners”.
Thus, prison concepts and laws of thieves (or rather, prison) are the mandatory knowledge that a prisoner acquires while still in places of pre-trial detention (SIZO).
However, the convicted person needs to know not only the prison concepts and laws, rules of conduct, but also the so-called castes, that is, the categories of prisoners (one of which the convicted person himself will necessarily enter).
Prison Castes
There are no prisoners who would not fit into any of the categories of prisoners. All persons held in prison are conditionally subdivided into groups or, as the prisoners themselves say, “castes”. A transition from a privileged category to a lower category is possible (for example, in connection with the commission of an act that imprisoned concepts and laws, the behavior of prisoners refers to the "jamb"). But the transition from the lowest to the highest is excluded.
So there are four main prison “castes”:
- thieves;
- men
- goats;
- outcasts.
The first "caste" is thieves. These are the so-called professional criminals with experience. Representatives of this group themselves do not call themselves thieves, but use such concepts as “brothers”, “prisoners”, “tramps”, “traveling”.
The indicated group is the top of the hierarchy, which not everyone can fall into. There are strict requirements for prisoners in this caste. So, the "tramp" will never be the one who in the wild held leadership positions, had anything to do with power structures, and served in the army. Those who worked in the service sector (for example, as a waiter, delivery man, taxi driver) will not fall into the “caste”.
A few decades ago, “thieves,” while at large, were not supposed to work a day at all. They were also forbidden to marry, to perform compulsory work in the zone. Now these requirements are not applied in most prisons.
In addition to a “clean” biography and the status of a professional criminal, a prisoner who wants to get into this “caste” must observe absolutely all prison concepts and laws, traditions.
Thieves possess tremendous power in the zone and in the prison (or, as the prisoners themselves say, “in prison”). It is they who solve all conflict situations and disputes that arise between prisoners, make sure that none of the convicts is groundlessly offended or humiliated.
They have representatives of this group and special privileges. So, they may not work and make their own decisions about what can be left to themselves from the so-called common fund.
It is from this “caste” that the “godfather” is selected - the main one in the zone. Moreover, if in prison there is a recognized "thief in law", then he must occupy the indicated "position". By the way, thieves in law are a privileged, highest group of prisoners. It includes only lawbreakers recognized by the criminal world that meet all of the above requirements.
If there is no “thief in law" in the zone, then a person who is fulfilling his duties is sent there, that is, "watching." It performs all the functions of "godfather."
At present, in some places of deprivation of liberty, the so-called godfathers secretly cooperate with the administration of the colony: they establish in the zone the order that the leadership needs. The colony authorities for such a collaboration turns a blind eye: for example, the fact that vodka, anasha and so on fall into the “godfather”.
It is worth noting that the development of market relations in the country did not go around the place of imprisonment. Recently, you can become a “thief in law” for money, that is, buy this title. And, despite the fact that prison concepts and laws of clarity do not fit in with this fact, it is still impossible to exclude it. Such newly minted and not very ideological thieves in the law are called "oranges."
Who is more in the zone?
The “peasants” caste is the largest, and as a rule, it includes about 60-70 percent of all prisoners. This group includes the most ordinary prisoners who are serving sentences for minor (by the standards of criminals) sentences: fights, minor thefts and other similar acts.
The “men” do not have the right to vote in “showdowns”, they don’t make any decisions in the zone, in a word, they are just serving their time, trying not to interfere anywhere, and after their release they plan to return to the life of an ordinary law-abiding citizen.
Who are the "goats"?
The next caste is "goats." It includes prisoners who, of their own free will or under duress, cooperate with the camp administration. They can hold the post of librarian, supply manager, commandant of the zone, that is, any position that is actually in the staff of the correctional institution.
People who are serving their sentences either on their own initiative (for example, so that in the personal file the administration writes that the convicted person has taken the path of correction) or by the will of the colony administration, fall into this group. So, a prisoner can be persuaded, intimidated or forced to work for the benefit of the prison administration.
It can be extremely difficult to refuse this work, so many prisoners can only accept their fate and follow the instructions of the colony authorities.
The remaining convicts of the representatives of this “caste” are negative: they are considered certain “traitors”. And this is no coincidence, because many “goats” inform the prison administration about everything that happens among the prisoners, that is, in their language, they “knock”.
"Kozlov" is not allowed to the "common fund", but at the same time, other persons serving their sentences can be greeted with them, talk, and touch them.
The most horrible
The last one in terms of both account and status is the cast of the “omitted”. The persons entering it are also called “cocks”, “offended” and other similar terms. Those prisoners who were “omitted” fall into this group (in this case, an act of sodomy does not have to happen at all; this process can be carried out purely symbolically).
Prison concepts and laws are not for this category of convicts. They are not considered people in the zone at all. So, it is forbidden to touch them (if some object needs to be transferred to the “lowered” one - they just throw it on the floor so that the prisoner lifts it), they use separate dishes, they should not touch the things of other convicts. In general, they live a separate group that does not have any rights.
Statistics show that most prisoners fall into the indicated group in zones intended for juvenile prisoners. Their prison concepts and laws, duties, and sometimes even more severe than in real prisons and “adult” camps, dominate there.
Epilogue
In places of deprivation of liberty, life does not stop. It continues to flow ... There are simply certain prison concepts and laws. The book, which would contain all the norms of behavior of prisoners, has not yet been written. And it is unlikely that such a thing will ever appear.
Despite the many nuances and amendments, the camp life is still based on universally recognized principles: do not steal, do not report, do not lie, do not violate the established norms and the order of communication between prisoners.
Prison concepts and laws, the advice of experienced prisoners is what helps the prisoner adapt in prisons and camps. Following the established standards of behavior and communication, the “side man” will be able to acquire “strong rear”, “sidekicks” in the zone and is in relative safety.
By fulfilling all the “precepts”, the person (if, of course, he has such a desire) will be able to achieve certain “heights” in camp life and even enter the category of privileged prisoners.
Respecting prison concepts and laws, the advice of "authoritative" prisoners, a convicted person who has ended up in prison, most likely, will be able to find a common language with "brothers in misfortune" and will not become an outcast. And no matter how strange it may sound, "criminals are also people," most of which adhere to the rule: "in any situation, you must remain human."