http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2005/06/the_gentle_gian.php

This powerful article and how art acted as a catalyst, here is part of the article by Jimmy Boyle

It was 1973 when I arrived in the Barlinnie prison special unit from
the Cages in Inverness prison. I was, to put it mildly, animalised
after seven year of solitary confinement. The special unit was a
special place where people like me were given the opportunity to
become humanised in a community setting, albeit in a maximum security,
prison setting. Three of the five prisoners in the unit were
considered "the worst." Besides me, there was Larry Winters, and a
Craigmillar guy, Ben Conroy. The three of us were difficult people to
handle and that was an accepted fact. In this new situation we were
given an opportunity to change. Easier said than done, change to what
and for what?

It was a time when I was bursting with rage and energy and incapable
of doing anything positive. Art was something for the toffs, not
people from my working-class background, or so I thought. One day I
picked up seven pounds of clay that was lying around and did a
sculpted portrait of Ben. It was the first real positive thing I'd
done in my life and it was like a creative damn bursting inside me. In
that one moment I had crossed over a threshold. As a result of this
the arts began to play a big part in the unit. At the same time the
community side of the place was coming together as prisoners and
prison screws began to work together. It was a revolutionary period.

As part of the safeguards to stabilise the place, we prisoners
demanded that outside groups be invited in. One of the first groups to
come in was the Easterhouse Community group. They were led by an
energetic group of young people who wanted to improve things in their
community. We all had something in common in that we were all
developing communities, recognising the arts as an effective tool in
enhancing that change. It was a magical time. It was an important
period when local members of the community were coming together to
empower themselves. The Easterhouse community had strong ties with
Craigmillar and it was through them that Helen Crummy, Neil Cameron
and others came up to visit us in the Barlinnie special unit. It was
as a result of this that they asked me to design a sculpture for young
people.

The original idea for Gulliver was more sophisticated that what is
currently in situ. Making a public sculpture, especially when children
are involved, is severely restricted by Health & Safety regulations.
In the original design I had lots of little "hiding places and
slides," but these had to be taken out for safety reasons. The
compromise is what is currently on site. I can tell you that the
sculpture is a symbol of that particular period when disadvantaged
communities were for the first time, demanding to be heard. That
collective voice was and remains powerful.