Lockdown

Pelican Bay has been at the heart of California's war on prison gangs for two decades. A former gang member reveals the prison's innermost secrets when NGC take you to the frontlines of this terrifying battlefield.

At Ohio's Lebanon Correctional Institution, a new inmate is thrown in with the state's most dangerous criminals. Can he learn the ropes fast enough to survive? NGC takes you inside a prison the public doesn't get to see.

Oak Park Heights supermax combines innovative architecture, cutting-edge technology and a staff trained to control violent prisoners. But the inmates are always looking for ways to fight back and their criminal ingenuity puts the Supermax to the test.

NGC takes you inside the nation's most violent and dangerous prisons: Salinas Valley State Prison in California. Hear firsthand how gang leaders organize inmate fights, stabbings and murder -- and outnumbered officers can be at the mercy of a gang war.

With 3,900 violent female offenders, Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, Calif., is one of the largest and most dangerous women's prisons in the nation. Last year, the prison recorded its first inmate murder, demonstrating that women can be every bit as violent as men. With female inmates becoming one of the fastest growing segments of California's prison population, officers are searching for ways to stop the drug trade and reduce violence.

At the Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville, North Carolina, officers use sophisticated technology -- and unconventional methods -- to keep a "choke hold" on violent prisoners.

Step inside the Utah State Prison where one in four of the state's most dangerous criminals have gang ties. Find out why the imates put their gang first, no matter what -- even if it means losing custody of their children.

Newcomers to prison jobs face the challenges of officer training, manipulative inmates and a murderous work environment. Why do people choose this dangerous work?

A look at how overcrowding at the Maricopa County Jail in Phoenix prompted one sheriff to create an outdoor prison that houses more than 2000 inmates in military-style tents.

Profiling inmates who participate in college correspondence courses at California's Ironwood State Prison.

Profiling male inmates between the ages of 18 and 25, typically a prison's most difficult age group, in Iowa's Fort Dodge Correctional Facility.

Profiling three inmates at the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland, Ore., as they strive to overcome personal struggles, including drug addiction and mental illness, amid the chaos of prison.