It is no secret that when a gang member is sentenced to prison, he doesn't leave that life behind. Among the state of California's approximately 162,000 inmates, the most dangerous serve their time in Level IV maximum-security facilities where it is estimated as much as 97 per cent are gang affiliated. The gangs rule life behind the cement walls the same way as out on the streets, but for those who choose to leave the criminal families behind, the California Department of Corrections offers a chance at a different way of living on the inside. New order: Jeffrey Burkes (ex-Black Guerilla Family), Rubin Davis(ex-Mexican Mafia-Southern California), Norman Wayne Willhoite (ex-Aryan Brotherhood) and Dimas Deleon(ex-Nuestra Familia-Northern California), have spent collectively 55 years hating one another. In the past, standing next to each other would have meant kill or be killed.  Now, all four  reside in a Sensitive Needs Housing Unit . New unit: A former member of an Aryan Brotherhood gang walks through the prison yard in the Sensitive Needs Housing Facility at the California Department of Corrections, a section of the prison where gang behaviour is banned . Mixing it up: Inmates of different races and gang backgrounds play basketball together in the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit yard under the supervision of correctional officers in stark contrast to the segregation that generally governs prison life . Since 1999, the CDC has seen a dramatic increase in requests from inmates seeking special protection for dropping out of prison gangs, and as a result has set up several Sensitive Needs Housing Units. A Sensitive Needs Housing Unit can be found inside Level IV maximum-security facilities and is set to protect former members from the gangs, some of the more prominent being the Black Guerilla Family, Aryan Brotherhood and rival hispanic gangs Nuestra Familia from Northern California and the Mexican Mafia from the south. The exclusive units inside Sensitive Needs Housing provide a safer environment, free from gang activity, and the transition out of gang membership is dramatic. As these images show, inmates of different races and gang affiliations mix during their daily exercise and in the cafeteria during lunch. Prisoners who would previously have killed each other on sight due to their race or gang, now jokily tackle each other during a friendly basketball game on the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit's court. Building bridges: An ex-Mexican Mafia (southern California) gang member exercises with  former members of the Nuestra Familia (northern California) in the the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit. Historically, members of these two rival gangs would have killed each other on sight . The other side of things: Prisoners who still remain in the 'normal' parts of the prison, outside the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit, refuse to exercise simultaneously, inmates alternate their workout routines until members of other gangs race have finished . Former leader: Dimas 'Diablo' Deleon,  was one of the most feared enforcers for the Nuestra Familia (Northern California) prison gang. He explains how, in his world he was the self-proclaimed God; his word determined who lived or died. After spending almost 16 years in solitary confinement, he chose to drop out and now resides in a Sensitive Needs Housing Unit . Dining together: Inmates share meals in a cafeteria setting, which is a freedom allowed in Sensitive Needs Housing Units . One of them is Dimas 'Diablo' Deleon, formerly one of the most feared enforcers for the Nuestra Familia. In his world, he was the self-proclaimed God - his word determined who lived or died. After spending almost 16 years in solitary confinement for his gang leadership, he says lost respect for the collective decision-making and chose to drop out. He now resides in the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit, where corrections officers, as well as inmates, report a considerable reduction in racial violence and segregation. Although inmates of the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit are no longer gang affiliated or validated, the fact remains that they are some of the most hardened and dangerous men behind bars. Some racial segregation is still self-imposed by the inmates, and they are routinely stripped and undergo full-body cavity searches for weapons and narcotics. A gang dropout in the Sensitive Needs Housing Facility participates in a 'joint venture program,' a collaboration between the prison and a private sector company. Outside of Sensitive Needs Housing, inmates with jobs earn 20 cents an hour. Those who have renounced gang membership have the opportunity to work for the federal minimum wage. The money he earns is distributed among his family, the family of the man he murdered, personal savings, and an inmates' fund . Break with tradition: Free of body shackles, inmates in a Sensitive Needs Housing Unit walk to the prison yard for their daily exercise . Still issues: Several packets of black tar heroin, a razor blade, a homemade syringe, and a cooking spoon were wrapped in artwork. The contraband was probably smuggled into the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit in the anal cavity of a visitor and passed to an inmate . For those living outside the Sensitive Needs Housing Unit, old rules apply. Every gang has a hierarchy, and members and affiliates follow orders from the leaders who are deemed 'validated' by outside powers. Only the most feared and brutally confident inmates within a Level IV prison reach validation status. Leaders of gang hierarchy manage daily operations such as murders, assaults and narcotic trafficking inside the prison. With racial tensions running high at Level IV facilities, validated gang members and other residents of Administrative Segregation Housing Unit spend their exercise time in 15ftx7ft cages, called 'dog runs.' Even though inmates are segregated and separated by the cages, they refuse to exercise simultaneously. Instead, inmates alternate their workout routines, waiting until members of rival gangs have finished. Two worlds - one prison: Handcuffs are removed from an inmate housed in a vertical cage in the Administration Segregation Unit in preparation for a full cavity search at the Calipatria State Prison, left, and right; an inmate receives a haircut in a Sensitive Needs Housing Unit . Strict rules: Until he passes three bowel movements, this inmate, suspected of hiding a weapon or drugs in his anal cavity, is confined in a special Administration Segregation holding cell containing nothing more than a bare mattress in Calipatria State Prison . Two worlds on the inside: A prisoner known as 'Gumby' is standing in an Administration Segregation Housing cell in Calipatria State Prison. He is subject to 22-hour-per-day solitary confinement for the alleged murder of a rival prison gang member, and right, are two former members of the of the Mexican Mafia(Southern California) An inmate waits in a holding cage to be transported to his solitary confinement cell in Calipatria State Prison. The California Department of Corrections (CDC) houses approximately 162,000 inmates, the most dangerous of whom serve their time in Level IV facilities .
These men reside in a special prison unit set up inside maximum-security facilities to protect gang drop-outs .
This Sensitive Needs Housing Unit in a California prison forces former members of rival gangs to mix .
Although there is still some self-imposed racial segregation among inmates, the unit is free from gang activity .
Up to 97 per cent of Level IV maximum-security inmates in California are gang affiliated .