Lockdown - Episode Guide

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.

Life inside Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet, Ill., one of the country's most dangerous maximum-security prisons, is examined.

After a 14-year prison sentence for armed robbery, a 37-year-old ex-con is profiled as he attempts to start his life over on the outside.

A look at efforts to rehabilitate troubled female offenders at Detroit's Wayne County Jail.

A look at Colorado's Youthful Offender System (YOS), where violent juvenile felons are given a chance at rehabilitation before they're sent to adult prisons.

State troopers are followed on the job in the isolated Alaskan bush, where crime rates are among the highest in the state despite its extremely small population.

A look inside the Maryland Correctional Institute for Women, the state's only all-female prison. Included: firsthand accounts from inmates and guards.

Convicted sex offenders discuss the challenges they face inside Colorado's Fremont Correctional Facility, where they find themselves at the bottom of the prison hierarchy.

Profiling four inmates at Colorado's Sterling Correctional Facility, including a white supremacist whose aggressive behavior often lands him in solitary confinement; a drug dealer who's trying to start over; and a pair of convict twins.

Documenting life inside St. Louis County Jail in Clayton, Mo., which houses both small-time offenders and career felons.

Profiling inmates in a notorious Mexican prison, including a couple who fell in love behind bars, and an American who rarely leaves his cell, for his own protection.

A look at life inside Ohio's Cuyahoga County Jail, where men and women arrested on felony charges in Cleveland await trial.

Go behind bars at the Denver County Jail, where the officers are charged with transferring gangbangers to a brand-new facility across town. Witness how some prisoners have manipulated their dangerously outdated surroundings to make homemade weapons. Visit the mental health unit as employees struggle to reform a career criminal with severe mental illness. And go inside with deputies as they face an accused triple murderer who discovered a way to keep his maximum-security cell from locking.

Witness the brutal gang wars raging inside Bexar County Jail near San Antonio, Texas. Meet the officers in the middle of the war, who must anticipate their next moves, and the informants who open up about drugs, extortion and murder. See how a gang member lied his way out of prison only to plot the murder of his rival. Meet remorseful killers too fearful to leave their gangs, and witness the trusting bond formed between two ex-members as they struggle to make a new start behind bars.

It's a constant battle as the guards of Hillsborough County Jail fight to stay one step ahead of the prisoners. Death threats, homemade weapons and orchestrated escape attempts are all in day's work for these officers. The prison goes on high alert after a mysterious phone call threatens the safety of a guard, and an officer responsible for monitoring a pod of inmates learns just how dangerous it can be to turn your back.

With more than 5,000 inmates packed inside eight floors of a downtown skyscraper, Sacramento County Jail is the ultimate urban jungle. NGC takes you behind bars to meet a couple charged with torture and a woman who appears to be getting back on track when her addition to methamphetamines lands her in jail. Amid rumors of an imminent attack against officers, the understaffed wardens prepare for a takedown. But once the suspected prisoner is secured, one question remains: Where is the weapon?

An El Paso county detention officer and his wife are brutally murdered just moments away from the U.S. border. The rise of violent murders such as this have made Juarez the murder capital of Mexico. Inside the El Paso County Jail, detention officers are hit hard by the tragedy, holding the line hour by hour against the deadly gang accused of the murders. The jail's special response team is on constant alert ready to respond to outbursts of the gang bangers, housed in a volatile unit of the jail.

Behind bars, there are two sets of rules: the prison protocol and the convict code. To survive one, you may have to break the other. In a system bent on making inmates better, it's filled with felons who might already be worse. Each inmate must find his place, and with it, a hustle.