Bullying Among Scottish Young Offenders: Inmates' Self-Reported Attitudes and Behaviour

✍ Scribed by K. G. POWER; G. P. DYSON; E. WOZNIAK

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 134 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1052-9284
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1298(199706)7:3<209::aid-casp419>3.0.co;2-3

✦ Synopsis

Questionnaires were distributed to inmates in all Scottish Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) in an attempt to ascertain the nature and extent of bullying. From a total of 756 distributed, 707 were returned completed, indicating a response rate of 94%. Overall, 29% of inmates reported having been bullied during their current sentence. The most common method of bullying involved verbal threats and spreading untrue rumours. Inmates were self-identified in one of four categories, as either bully, bully and victim, neither bully nor victim, and victim. Self-reported bullies were shown to have spent a greater total amount of time in prison than self-identified victims. Self-reported victims were shown to be less likely to have a record for violent offences than other inmates. The main characteristic identified by inmates as predisposing towards being a bully was knowing a lot of inmates, while the main factor that predisposed toward being a victim was type of offence. Inmates who had spent a greater total amount of time in prison were more likely to be bullies, regardless of current prison location, prison regime, or whether currently on remand or serving a short-or long-term sentence. Results are discussed in relation to factors influencing bullying in YOIs.