Previous research has identified membership in a gang prior to confinement as an important predictor of prison misconduct. The importation perspective of inmate behavior holds that gang members import their gang involvement into the prison setting, causing a range of problems such as increased violence, misconduct, and maladjustment. The current study focuses on this importation model of inmate behavior in an effort to further specify this model of inmate behavior and to determine how gang involvement compares to chronic offending in terms of predictors of prison violence. Data on 831 male inmates were drawn from their official prison infraction records; data included social background, criminal history, substance abuse history, and demographic information. Results of negative binomial regression models indicated that the effects of gang membership on prison violence were less significant than other factors related to chronic offending, including history of violent behavior, prior prison confinement, and race. Thus, although gang membership prior to confinement is an important threat to prison order, gang membership is a less important predictor of prison violence than is chronic offending, race, and inmates with weak familial or social ties. These findings stand in contrast to previous findings on the importance of gang membership in prison violence and as such, further research on the importation perspective is warranted. Table, notes, references