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A Sense of Freedom
A Sense of Freedom | Jimmy Boyle
2 posts | 4 to read
Foreword by Irvine Welsh 'My life sentence had actually started the day I left my mother's womb...' Jimmy Boyle grew up in Glasgows Gorbals. All around him the world was drinking, fighting and thieving. To survive, he too had to fight and steal... Kids gangs led to trouble with the police. Approved schools led to Borstal, and Jimmy was on his way to a career in crime. By his twenties he was a hardened villain, sleeping with prostitutes, running shebeens and money-lending rackets. Then they nailed him for murder. The sentence was life the brutal, degrading eternity of a broken spirit in the prisons of Peterhead and Inverness. Thankfully, Jimmy was able to turn his life around inside the prison walls and eventually released on parole. A Sense of Freedom is a searing indictment of a society that uses prison bars and brutality to destroy a man's humanity and at the same time an outstanding testament to one man's ability to survive, to find a new life, a new creativity, and a new alternative.
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andrew61
A Sense of Freedom | Jimmy Boyle
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#7days7books thanks @Blaire for tag.
rd this having just finished a law degree + the message has stayed with me that no matter how violent or out of control an individual their history and how they are treated is fundamental to their humanity. The author brutalised as a child + in prison reacts as society expects but turns to art when treated as a human being. I remember being affected by the bk + it still remains in my top 5. Lighter bk tomorrow.

Cathythoughts I agree ! Compassionately said 👍🏻 4y
Cathythoughts They were just talking too about domestic violence during this Covid crisis on the radio. ... and someone said “ childhood lasts forever “ ... I‘d never heard that quote before , so very true (edited) 4y
andrew61 @Cathythoughts thanks cathy,, just have to count our blessings. 4y
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Blaire I‘ve never heard of this one. Definitely want to read. I‘m also an attorney and in law school (and after) have been very interrelated in criminal justice and social justice and all these kinds of impacts. #stacked 4y
andrew61 @Blaire i stopped doing criminal work abt a yr ago as i was specialising more in family + mental health cases but don't miss going to the police station in the early hrs of the morning. ive always practised in a town which is not very affluent so Im sure like you blaire it is easy to see how poverty and poor childhood experience feeds its way into our case load. Certainly im sure in the American justice system the extremes are even more evident. 4y
Blaire @andrew61 yes, I live in a state with a high rate of property and yes very easy to see. I also did criminal work until about 3 years ago. I did public defender work in law school and then worked as a prosecutor for almost 8 years. Now I do special education law - assisting families in getting services for kids with disabilities...and the disparities show up early. 4y
andrew61 @Blaire that sounds like a fascinating and rewarding area of law ☺ 4y
28 likes1 stack add7 comments
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shawnmooney
A Sense of Freedom | Jimmy Boyle
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This article, which has just shown up in my Twitter feed, caught my eye. I know nothing about the book or the writer but I aim to find out!

9 likes2 stack adds1 comment