DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-082-5-0171

Prison Tattoos in the Context of Identity and Group Affiliation

Alena Lochmannová ORCID...¹, Ondřej Kolář ORCID...¹

¹  Police Academy of the Czech Republic in Prague, Lhotecká 559/7, 143 00 Praha 4-Kamýk, Czech Republic

This article examines tattooing in prison as a structured social practice rather than a purely individual act of body decoration. Drawing on long-term qualitative research conducted in Czech prisons since 2013, including ethnographic observation, interviews with inmates and staff, and systematic documentation of tattoo motifs, placement, and modes of acquisition, the study analyses how tattoos operate within the social order of imprisonment. Findings show that tattoos function as a coded visual language through which inmates communicate identity, affiliation, credibility, and status. In certain internally regulated groups, access to specific motifs is restricted and their use is tied to an acknowledged position within the group. In this context, tattooing becomes a form of symbolic capital: it is visible, collectively recognized, and subject to enforcement by others rather than controlled solely by the individual. The analysis further demonstrates that the meaning of a tattoo is not defined only by the motif, but also by its placement on the body, its visibility in everyday interaction, and the conditions under which it was acquired. Tattoos obtained at the cost of physical pain and institutional risk are read as evidence of resilience and reliability, whereas coercively imposed tattoos may serve as instruments of humiliation and long-term subordination. These dynamics indicate that tattooing in prison should not be viewed only as an issue of discipline or as a simple marker of “criminal identity,” but as a medium through which hierarchy is maintained, autonomy is negotiated, and power is exercised on and through the body.

Keywords: Tattooing in Prison, Symbolic Capital, Inmate Hierarchy, Bodily Marking, Carceral Identity

pages: 171-176, online: 2026