Is Borstal boy a true story?

Borstal Boy, autobiographical work by Irish writer Brendan Behan, published in 1958. The book portrays the author’s early rebelliousness, his involvement with the Irish Republican cause, and his subsequent incarceration for two years in an English Borstal, or reformatory, at age 16.

What are borstal boys?

A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school. Borstals were run by HM Prison Service and were intended to reform young people.

What does borstal stand for?

(bɔːʳstəl ) Word forms: plural borstals. variable noun. In Britain in the past, a borstal was a kind of prison for young criminals, who were not old enough to be sent to ordinary prisons.

Who wrote the Borstal Boy?

Brendan BehanBorstal Boy / Author

Do borstals still exist?

Borstals were officially abolished under the 1982 Criminal Justice Act and replaced by institutions called youth custody centres.

What age did boys go to borstal?

Borstal system, English reformatory system designed for youths between 16 and 21, named after an old convict prison at Borstal, Kent. The system was introduced in 1902 but was given its basic form by Sir Alexander Paterson, who became a prison commissioner in 1922.

Was there a borstal for girls?

In addition to upholding strict discipline, prisons and borstals for women and girls had the additional responsibility of inculcating in their inmates respectable femininity, which they were believed to have strayed from in the commission of crime.

What does Borstal stand for?

When did borstals stop?

Borstals were officially abolished under the 1982 Criminal Justice Act and replaced by institutions called youth custody centres. These 27 photographs show the original Borstal centre in Kent in 1902, the year that it was established.

Do Borstals still exist?