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The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is an agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ). It consists of 122 institutions throughout the United States, including Hawaii and Puerto Rico, 6 regional offices, a Central Office (headquarters), 2 staff training centers, and 22 Residential Reentry Management offices. The BOP is responsible for the custody and care of approximately 160,000 adult Federal offenders. Approximately 91 percent of these inmates are confined in BOP-operated facilities, while the balance is confined in secure privately managed or community-based facilities and local jails.

Of the 160,000 estimated inmates in BOP custody, approximately 95% will release from incarceration and reenter society. These individuals will face many challenges such as obtaining employment, building healthy and pro social relationships, seeking housing and becoming productive citizens. Frequently, these individuals have engaged in lengthy criminal lifestyles which have led them to make impulsive and permanent decisions impacting their futures. One of these is tattooing. While tattoos have gained mainstream acceptance, prison tattoos, gang related or extremist related tattoos, and prominently placed tattoos denoting an anti-social lifestyle and socially inappropriate tattoos frequently hinder an individual’s reentry into society.

The BOP has targeted several groups of inmates who are prioritized for tattoo removal. The groups include those separating from a gang or terrorist affiliation, mentally ill inmates who already face reentry barriers, and inmates with prominent tattoos (on the face, head, neck or hands) that could impact employment. Tattoo removal is focused on eliminating and reducing the stigma attached to these tattoos. While outwardly these tattoos may be seen by society as off-putting, indicative of criminal behavior, or a curiosity, they also hold deeper meaning for the individual. Mentally ill individuals often associate them with psychotic or other distressing episodes and extremists or gang member’s associate tattoos with significant events in their criminal lifestyle. Removing them both increases the societal support of successful reintegration and helps the individual begin to step away from a criminogenic identity.