Tattoos can be a way to communicate to other criminals their status, gang affiliation, religious beliefs, and so on (Wolheim). According to criminologist Arkady Bronnikov, the more tattoos a criminal has, the longer he spends in prison; therefore, he or she (Banerjeee) is given more respect. Some examples are a cat tattoo which shows that the person is a thief. Another example is a star showing how long they have been in prison at each point on the form (Organized Crime Section). There are also tattoos to show a hierarchy of prison gangs. Some leaders include: president, vice president, lieutenants, and sergeants (Fong 40). However, women usually don't get tattoos in prison (Bales 22). Even white-collar criminals are not allowed to have any marks on their body ("Revealing tattoos in Russian