Before proceeding further, discard any ideas you have of regimented, standardized, and mutually agreed-upon procedures that prisoners use to ink each other. Inmates make it up as they go along, and methods and materials vary from place to place, time to time, and circumstance to circumstance. Suffice it to say — and this is the key takeaway here — the ubiquity of prison tattoos illustrates precisely how important they are to inmates, their senses of self, and the cultures that crop up behind bars. What else but art could prove so critical to expression and rehabilitation?
Convicted murderer Chris Dankovich at Thumb Corr Facility articulates on Prison Writers — a website featuring stories written by inmates – “The art of tattooing is a pillar of the underground economy and an understanding of prison tattoos an important part of surviving prison. Done in secret, with breaks to hide from the staff, they are then displayed proudly by those with them.” Tattoos are also a way to demonstrate one’s background, family ties, and beliefs. And importantly, Dankovich implicitly points out that there’s no one master tattooist behind bars. He’s gotten tattoos, he says, same as he’s done them for others.
Another imprisoned person, Dan Grote, told The Marshall Project that motivations for getting tattoos vary, but include bare-bones defiance, “Not too different from in the world.” He also says that getting tattoos is a way of “saying thank you” for the support received by other inmates.
