A Life in Pieces – School Resource launched

A graphic novel which aims to bring life to a Scottish woman’s story of trauma, substance abuse and prison has now been turned into a series of educational resources for Modern Studies students.

‘A Life in Pieces’ is the work of Dr Marguerite Schinkel, a lecturer in Sociology based at the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, University of Glasgow and illustrator Morag Kewell, and follows the story of ‘Alison’ as she experiences a number of traumatic events and is repeatedly imprisoned for drug and alcohol related offences.

Marguerite first met ‘Alison’ (not her real name) when she was carrying out a series of interviews for her research project ‘Lives Sentenced’ which examined how people gave meaning to repeatedly going to prison for short periods of time.

The graphic novel has now been turned into a series of educational resources including PowerPoint presentations, teacher notes and activities for Modern Studies students studying at National 5 and Advanced Higher level. The resources were developed in collaboration with Modern Studies teachers Michael Shanks and Samia Carmichael.

You can access the resources on this section of our website.