Tattoos that are done in prison are usually freehand with ink from a pen. A sewing needle is used to form a word or an image. Convicts also made a tattoo machine out of a guitar string, a ball point pen and a nine volt battery.
Police sometimes use a tattoo image to identify suspects and parolees. For instance, a gun drawn downwards means that the man prefers to be armed. Tattoo images of towers, walls and barbwire means that a person has been in prison for a short time. For prisoners, their decision of having tattoos reminds them of dangers and difficulties inside the prison.
Below are the lists of some of the symbolism associated with classic prison tattoo images:
1. A clock without hands, spiders and cobwebs on shoulders means doing time
2. Gravestones with numbers on them means the number of years they will be or were in jail
3. Gravestones with R.I.P. and numbers represent mourning for the death of a friend who died inside the prison.
4. 8 balls means being behind the eight ball or a bad luck.
5. A laughing face and a crying face symbolizes that the wearer is a member of a gang, play now, pay later.
6. The anagram SWP also means Supreme White Power
7. The word featherwood means Female White Pride while the word Peckerwood is Male White Pride
8. 100% Pure is a symbol of White pride tattoo
9. A female face crying represents there is a person he loves waiting for him to get out of prison.
10. An image of a cell window with a sun or a bird means waiting to get out.
11. Bricks falling outward signifies that a prisoner on the inside wanting to get out.
A tattoo image of a prisoner not only signifies the sins they have to pay in jail but also holds a deep meaning to them. A person's tattoo is not just a reflection of one's being but also a person's expression or feelings that describe the phases of their lives.
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