Tattoos are used to identify people in different cultures. Gang members have gang tattoos to represent many different things and mainly to represent their involvement in a gang. They are sometimes worn if a gang member has spent time in prison, other tattoos such as a tear drop might be worn under the eye, spider webs to indicate prison time or a popular saying as “Thug life”.
Tattoos can be worn and used for intimidation; many members of a gang have their gangs name tattooed in large bold letters to warn off any other gangs.
The tear drop tattoo originated from Hispanic gangs in California in the 1940s. Others say it originated in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Over the years the tattoo has evolved in appearance and meaning. Originally it was believed to mean that the wearer had served time in prison.
There are three different types of tear drop tattoos; the open tear drop meant that the wearer had killed someone, the closed tear drop meant that the wearer had lost a friend or relative, the half-filled tear drop it is supposedly to symbolize the fact that someone close to the wearer was killed and the wearer killed the person who killed their friend/relative.
Also it has been rumoured that inmates in the Australian penal system who are child molesters or sexual predators, are being forced into getting a tattoo of a tear drop to alert others to the crime committed by that person.
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