ABSTRACT The present thesis is a detailed examination of bullying behaviour in Young Offender Institutions and assaultive behaviour in adult prisons and Young Offender Institutions. An amalgam of methods of enquiry were used throughout, which comprised i) questionnaires, ii) structured interviews. Hi) focus groups, iv) standardised measures of personality, intelli^ ce and social background, v) analysis of official discipline report records, vi) analysis f f official assault incident report records and vii) analysis of computerised prisoner records. This mixture of methods, known as 'triangulation', was adopted in an attempt to achieve a more reliable and valid representation of bullying and assaultive behaviour occurring within penal establishments. Information was obtained from a variety of subject groups, including convicted young offenders, young offenders on remand, convicted adult prisoners, adult prisoners on remand, prison officers, prisons management and specialist staff working in the prisons. Data were analysed by means of parametric and non-parametric statistical techniques. Seven cross-sectional studies were designed and conducted, the results of which are reported herein. The first five studies examined only Young Offender Institutions. Concerning young offenders, the levels of bullying ivere comparatively high when compared with studies done on analogous populations. Among young offenders, the most common types of bullying were similar to those shown in previous studies, such as taxing, threats and name calling. More staff in Young Offender Institutions perceived bullying as a problem both nationally and in their own establishment than did young offenders. While staff and young offenders had discordant opinions as to the levels and types of bullying taking place within Young Offender Institutions, they had concordant views as to the characteristics of 'bullies' and 'victims'. The types o f bullying (i.e. covert and overt) varied considerably according to type of Young Offender Institution and type of young offender under study. The introduction o f an anti-bullying initiative in one Young Offender Institution appeared to change the way bullying was manifested, as noted in the prison records, by reducing overt bullying behaviour and increasing more subversive and covert bullying. The remaining two studies in the thesis examined assault in both adult prisons and Young Offender Institutions. Results revealed that the typology of assaults in adult prisons and young offender establishments were dissimilar in important respects. In Young Offender Institutions the assaults on prisoners were more likely to be 'spontaneous' and result in less severe injury to the victim, whereas in adult prisons the assaults were more likely to be 'planned' and result in more severe injury to the victim. When looking at sub-groups within Scottish prisons and Young Offender Institutions using discriminant function analysis, victims of assaults on prisoners were distinguishable from both perpetrators of assaults on staff and perpetrators of assaults on other prisoners, using a range of social background factors. Victims of assault in adult prisons were more accurately identified (91% correctly identified, compared with 43% at 'chance') than victims in Young Offender Institutions (73% correctly identified, compared with 47% at 'chance'). The introduction of anti-bullying initiatives into young offender establishments, and in particular, how they might effect overt and covert bullying in contrasting^ ways, is reflected upon. Moreover, the importance of obtaining information from a variety of subject groups and an amalgam of data gathering techniques ts highlighted. The utility of using factors relating to an inmate's social background, personality and intelligence to predict involvement in bullying is discussed. Finally, the main findings from the thesis are discussed in relation to the relevant literature, practical implications for intervention and areas where future research may be necessary. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES LIST OF APPENDICES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PREFACE CHAPTF.R1: BULLYING IN SCHOOLS, THE WORKPLACE AND PENAL ESTABLISHMENTS: A CRITIQUE OF THE RESEARCH 1 1.1 Historical perspective 2 1.2 Definitional issues: What is Bullying? 8 1.2.1 Definitions from the literature: School studies 8 12 2 Examples from the literature: British penal studies 10 1.2.3 Definitions from the literature: North American studies 13 1.2.4 Main problems establishing a definition of bullying 16 1.3 An Overview of Studies of Bullying in School Settings 19 1.3.1 Factors associated with being a 'bully'and a'victim 20 1.3.2 Models of bullying behaviour in schools 23 1.3.3 Conclusions: Bullying in school settings 27 1.4 Methods of Assessment in Penal Studies of Bullying /Victimisation 28 1.4.1 North American studies using self-report 1.4.2 British studies using self-report 1.4.3 Summary of results from self-report studies , . , 1.4.4 Studies in North America and Britain using 'triangulation 1.4.5 Summary of results for studies using 'triangulation' 1.4.6 Focus groups 1.4.7 Summa^ of previous studies using focus groups 1.4.8 Studies Examining factors related to being a 'perpetrator' or 'victim' of bullying/victimisation 1.4.9 Summary of results from studies examining the factors distinguishing 'bullies', 'victims' and 'other inmates 1.5 Overall Conclusions ASSAULT IN PSYCHIATRIC AND PENAL ESTABLISHMENTS: A CRITIQUE OF THE RESEARCH 2.1 Historical Perspective 2.2 Definitional issues: What is Assault? 2.3 Previous studies in psychiatric institutions 2.4 Assaultive behaviour in penal establishments: Self-report & 79 official records 2.4.1 A study from North America using self-report 2.4.2 North American studies using official records 2.4.3 British studies using official records 2.4.4 Studies using 'triangulation' of methods to investigate assault in prison . 2.4.5 Summary of studies investigating the crowding-violence relationsnip 2.4.6 Problems with studies using official records and implications for future research 2.5 Overall Conclusions CHAPTF.R3: SELF-REPORTED ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES OF YOUNG OFFENDERS 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Aims 3.3 Setting 3.4 Participants 3.5 Questionnaire 3.6 Procedures 3.7 Results 3.7.1 Extent of bullying 3.7.2 Background characteristics 3.7.3 Bullied by members of staff 3.7.4 Feared for your safety? 3.7.5 Is bullying a problem? 3.7.6 Characteristics of bullies 3.7.7 Characteristics of victims 3.7.8 Frequency of bullying 3.7.9 Numbers of bullies involved 3.7.10 Location of bullying 3.7.11 Type of bullying ru n 3.7.12 Changes necessary to reduce the prevalence of bullying 127 3.8 Discussion CHAPTER 4: COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES OF STAFF AND YOUNG OFFENDERS 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Aims 4.3 Method 4.4 Results 4.5 Discussion CHAPTF.EL5: OFFICIAL RECORDS AS INDICES OF BULLYING 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Aims 5.3 Procedures 5.4 Results 5.4.1 Establishment profiles for the three month period 5.4.2 Discipline reports per 100 average daily population 5.4.3 Discipline reports for each establishment 5.4.4 Discipline reports as per 100 receptions 5.4.5 Discipline reports as a percentage of annual reports 5.4.6 Discipline report results for Glenochil YOl retrospectively for the last four years 5.5 Discussion CHAPTERS: BULLYING IN YOUNG OFFENDER INSTITUTIONS: RESULTS FROM FOCUS GROUPS 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Aims 6.3 Establishments 6.4 Procedures 6.5 Method 6.6 Results 6.6.1 Attitudes to bullying 6.6.2 Additional information provided by the focus groups 184 6.7 Discussion CHAPTER 7; SELF-ESTEEM AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND VARIABLES AS DISCRIMINATORS OF BULLIES, VICTIMS, AND OTHER YOUNG OFFENDERS 1Q2 7.1 Introduction 194 7.2 Aims . 194 7.3 Participants 195 7.4 Measures 1QR 7.4.1 Personality measures 7.4.2 Intelligence measure 7.4.3 Measure of social background factors 197 7.5 Procedures 199 7.6 Results 207 7.7 Discussion CHAPTERS: CAUSES CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING AND CONSEQUENCES OF, ASSAULTS IN PRISON: ADULT COMPARED WITH YOUNG OFFENDER INSTITUTIONS 212 214 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Aims 217 8.3 Setting & Procedure 8.4 Results 219 8.4.1 Number of assaults 219 8.4.2 Time series analysis 219 8.4.3 Locations of the assaults 8.4.4 Actions taken against perpetrators 8.4.5 Presence of a staff witness 8.4.6 Reasons behind the assaults 8.4.7 Fighting and assaults 8.4.8 Treatnrent given after the assaults 8.4.9 Timing of me assaults 8.4.10 Severity of the assaults 8.4.11 Perpetrator identification 8.4.12 Weapons used in the assaults 8.4.13 Number of perpetrators involved 8.4.14 Types of injury sustained by the victims 228 8.5 Discussion rH A P T F R 9: COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TYPOLOGIES OF ADULT PRISONERS AND YOUNG OFFENDERS INVOLVED IN PRISON ASSAULTS 232 235 9.1 Introduction 238 9.2 Aims 238 9.3 Procedure 239 9.4 Results 9.4.1 Types of offence 9.4.2 Background variables 9.4.3 Multivariate analyses from Young Offender Institutions 9.4.4 Multivariate analyses from adult prisons 263 9.5 Discussion rH A P T F R in: MAIN FINDINGS, PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH DECLARATION OF THESIS PUBLICATION REFERENCES APPENDICES LIST OF TABLES TABT.FS CHAPTFJL3; Table 3.1 Features of Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) derived from a three month period (1/10/94-31/12/94) Table 3.2 Response rates for all establishments under study Table 3.3 Percentage of 'Yes' responses and summary of differences between me groups: bully, bully-victim, victim and other for type of offence committed (3 =Df) 122 CHAPTER 4: Table 4.1 Comparison between the responses of Young Offenders and staff regarding extent of bullying problems in Young Offender establishments 141 CHAPTER 5: Table 5.1 Discipline report groupings relevant to bullying by establishment as per 100 of the adp.