Inside Rikers: Stories from the World's Largest Penal Colony

While the title of this book would indicate that it is a look inside Rikers Island and the prison colonies that are located there, it is so much more. Not only do you get a feel for the size and condition of the prison on Rikers, but you also get to meet inmates and correctional officers. Much of the book revolves around the inmates that participate in a program called Fresh Start. It is a prison program designed to break the revolving door of recidivism. The program is designed to help give inmates a chance at a real job in the community and uses techniques such as writing assignments and job skills. The author documents a number of inmates. Some are very successful, while others are total failures; she lets you see both sides of the story. In addition, she details conditions under which these individuals were born and raised. It is a powerful book with a deep seated message that we aren't doing enough to treat inmates and are spending huge amounts of money on failed polices. The system needs to be examined and rebuilt; continuing this failed policy will only lead to further problems down the road.

Since I've read books written by Correction Officers, Inside Rikers was an enlightening view from the other side of the penal colony. The thinking and mindset of the case studies was an education in itself as well as the mentality of our justice system.

I don't know if you've seen the movie, "Traffic", starring Michael Douglas. What's so great about that film is that it gives an outsider an insider's appreciation of the problems of drugs entering America. It's a movie that changes attitudes. "Inside Rikers" is that kind of book. Jennifer Wynn gives the outsider an insider's appreciation of the problems of people in prison. She gives an intimate look at some of these people, enough to give the reader a new appreciation for the challenges that these prisoners face on both sides of the prison door. It's up-close-and-personal, a great read, and you'll be thinking about this one a long time after you finish reading it. At least that's been true for me. Highly recommended.

Before I start This review a few notes, I have meet the author once or twice having worked in the same jail I also work or worked with all the officers named (a few have recently retired) in this book and know of nearly all the inmates in the book. Jennifer Wynn is liberal and at times overly forgiving of inmates, (She's soft though not as much as I would have guessed) This was expected, she was a journalist and now works to help rehabilitate inmates as they reenter the street ('New York' as they say). In a few passages she uses worn out silly retoric of the left such as: The silly Jesse Jackson misdirect "It cost more to jail the to Yale" This of course is not just comparing apples and oranges it's comparing apples and mack trucks one has nothing what so ever to do with the other. At another point she notes that New Yok city spends about 5 times more per inmate in jail than it does on students in it's public school, again a bad comparision but since most (but no quite all) inmates on Rikers are at best funtional illiterates that rocked out of NYC public schools it probably says more about public schooling than it does about NYC jails. Politics aside it is clear that Wynn has a truly Good heart and is generaly concerned and compassionate about helping inmates turn thier lives around and that is a good thing (and of course it is her job).She has also writen a very readable honest look a the culture of Rikers Island and the innner city. Several passages made me chuckle out loud like her description of prision poetry and trying to teach inmates how to write real poetry. Every once in awhile there are paragraghs where it seems like she almost "gets it" for instance in one chapter she describes how a former inmate is showing off his 30 thousand dollars in ill gotten money to her. He explains to her that when his medicare is approved he will go into rehab at taxpayers expense her response is "'Medicaid? you don't need medicaid, Frank! you could pay for six months at Hazelden with this kind of money'. He didn't get it. he was so used to being taken care of by the state that the thought of paying for drug treatment didn't occour to him." I found this book to more enjoyable the Ted Conovers's "Newjack" because in was not soley focused on the jail setting it takes a much wider view and encompases the everday life of inmates and former inmates as they struggle to stay straight. It is also more balanced in it's treatment of officers and inmates.

Inside Rikers is a thought provoking page-turner even for those that have never been involved in or affected by the criminal justice system in any way. A must read that will enlighten and open a window into a dark world that most people probably know very little about; however, the social ramifications to the average citizen are staggering! Jennifer Wynn takes the reader on a private tour into the lives of people that live in another world and yet perhaps in our own backyard. Jennifer presents an unbiased view of the life of a prisoner and ex-con, and a system that keeps them coming back to prison time and again.