Tag Index: Willie Whitelaw

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Short, Sharp, Shock

In the mid-1980s radical photographer Carlos Guarita gained access to two youth detention centres, Glenochil and Kirklevington Grange, part of the 'short, sharp, shock' system introduced in 1979 by the Tory Home Secretary, Willie Whitelaw. Through a fascinating series of images supported by the insights of detainee Colin Adamson this exhibition exposes the living conditions for inmates subject to the harsh, quasi-military discipline. Carlos Guarita and Colin Adamson will guide us through the […]
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Incarceration – Short Sharp Shock

Youth detention centres in the 1980s

In 1979 the new Tory government led by by Margaret Thatcher and Home Secretary, Willie Whitelaw, abolished borstals for young offenders and introduced a new system of 'youth detention centres' employing harsh, quasi-military discipline. They proudly claimed in their party manifesto that they were going to "experiment with a tougher regime as a short, sharp shock for young criminals". Using a series of fascinating images taken inside two such institutions in the mid 1980s, Glenochil and […]
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