Imagining Rikers: A Social History of Rikers Island Jail

• In Event: Rethinking Rikers Island Jail: Failure of a Rehabilitative Ideal and Strategies for Change

Abstract

‘Imagining Rikers’ tells the story of the jail complex on Rikers Island: it focuses on the history of the island itself from the early 1860s when it was used as a training ground for the 20th Colored Regiment and as prisoner of war facility for soldiers during the Civil War, to early debates on prison reform and discussions on the penitentiaries of New York City. The project builds on the debate introduced by E.H. Carr (1961) about the importance of learning from the past. The history of Rikers is a complex one yet there has been little written about it from a sociological historical perspective. This paper considers a number of key questions including whether the dysfunction of the jail can be traced back to fundamental flaws in its founding, which have served to consistently undermine efforts at reform. It is largely based on archival research, including official reports, records, memos, letters and media accounts.

Author

• Jayne Mooney, The Graduate Center, John Jay College