Fwd: Russian Criminal Tattoos

[Graham Wilkins]

The student could check out the documentary film The Mark of Cain.  It isn't
explicitly about Russian mafia and their tattoos (I think Vor v Zakone is
what they are often called), but there is some explanation of their
meanings.  The overall focus is on prison life in Russia.

On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 7:37 AM, <gfowler at indiana.edu> wrote:

> Greetings!
>
> A student in my second-year Russian class asked me yesterday about Russian
> criminal tattoos. Of course I know nothing at all about this, but I asked
> her to write up her question in forwardable form. If anyone can help her,
> I'd be delighted to pass along any information sent directly to me or posted
> to this list. Thanks in advance!
>
> George Fowler
>
> The student writes:
>
> I've had a few questions about Russian criminal tattoos pop up recently.
> First of all I'll make the disclaimer that I don't know exactly what the
> proper name for the Russian Mafia/Mob/Cartel/Bratva is, so I'll just be
> using Mafia as a catch all - feel free to specify or to not get into it (I'd
> like to learn, but my point in asking is the tattoos)
>
> My first question is: at what frequency these are given in prisons versus
> those who get them done outside of prison. For example, the stars on the
> collar bone and knees seem to be done mostly outside of prison (from my
> extremely limited understanding, do correct me if I'm wrong), while
> something like shackles would be more likely than not acquired during
> incarceration. The tattoos I have specific questions about are the hands
> holding the Kremlin, the stars for ranking, and the epaulets on the
> shoulders (more specifically with the imperialist rankings over the soviet,
> but any information will do) What are the exact meanings of these tattoos,
> in what organizations/rings of crime are people more likely to get them,
> and
> how are they likely to be acquired? Is prison most likely for them all, or
> are they concevably gained while outside of jail?
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
>
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