Data indicate that the overwhelming majority of inmates in U.S. prisons are not gang-related; however, gang members and security-threat-group members are responsible for most prison security problems and pose a significant challenge for prison managers. Racial and ethnic identities distinguish most prison and street gangs, and racial integration in prison housing presents special problems for prison managers as they attempt to break long-held racial boundaries among prison gangs. A host of strategies have been tried in efforts to control prison gangs. They include inmate moves among prisons designed to dilute the concentration of gang members in certain prisons; gang renunciation and debriefing programs; rival-gang-member integration programs; informants; free-world and in-prison prosecutions; and identification, tracking, and information-sharing systems. Although there has been no systematic research that can inform and guide policymakers on what works in countering prison gangs, apparently the isolation of gang members has been the most successful gang-control strategy in terms of reducing violence and disorder, as has been shown in Texas prisons. Such a policy has made it more difficult for gang members to influence and prey upon other inmates. Still, this strategy should be used selectively in accordance with the severity of the threat posed by individual gang members; and it should be supplemented with limitations on privileges, the prosecution of in-prison violence and gang-related crimes, and enhanced penalties for gang-related behavior in prisons. 19 notes