Bullying among Prisoners Innovations in theory and Research

219 Pages·2013·4.591 MB·English

by  Ireland, Jane

Bullying among
Prisoners
Innovations in theory and research
JANE L. IRELAND
WILLAN
PUBLISHING
Bullying am ong Prisoners
Bullying among Prisoners
Innovations in theory and research
Edited by Jane L. Ireland
WILLAN
PUBLISHING
Published by
Willan Publishing
Culmcott House
Mill Street, Uffculme
Cullompton, Devon
EX15 3AT, UK
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.willanpublishing.co.uk
Published simultaneously in the USA and Canada by
Willan Publishing
c/o ISBS, 920 NE 58th Ave, Suite 300,
Portland, Oregon 97213-3786, USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.isbs.com
© Jane L. Ireland and contributors
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence
permitting copying in the UK issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90
Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE.
First published 2005
ISBN 1-84392-121-9 hardback
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Projcct managed by Dccr Park Productions, Tavistock, Devon
Typeset by GCS, Leighton Buzzard, Beds.
Printed and bound by T.J. International Ltd, Trecerus Industrial Estate, Padstow, Cornwall
To my mother, Shirley, to whom I owe a lot more than a mere
dedication in a book. Not only does she deserve a mention for the
support that she has given me over the years but also for the fact
that she has listened with motherly interest to my tedious
conversations about prison bullying for years.
Note
All proceeds of this book are being donated to the International Society for
Research on Aggression (1SRA), a society of scholars and scientists
interested in the scientific study of aggression and violence. Founded over
thirty years ago, the stated purpose of the society is to encourage the
discovery and exchange of scientific information on the causes and
consequences of violence and to develop knowledge and techniques
which might reduce harmful aggression. The society is non-partisan and
its activities are intended to promote human welfare through enhanced
knowedge of the causes and control of aggressive behaviour
(http://www.israsociety.com).
Contents
List of figures and tables x
Preface xi
Notes on contributors xiii
Part I: Introduction
1 Bullying among prisoners: the needf or innovation 3
Jane L. Ireland
Defining prison bullying 3
Overview of prison bullyingr esearch 5
Problems with the field: where are the gaps in knowledge? 14
Why innovation is needed: the implications of
developing theory and research 18
Conclusion 20
Part II: Research
2 Bullying behaviour among women in prison 27
Nancy Loucks
Women's offending 28
Prevalence 29
Types of bullying among women 31
Reasons for bullying 33
Who are the bullies? 34
Who are the victims? 36
Implications of bullying 37
Conclusion 39
Bullying among Prisoners
3 Bullying and suicides in prisons 44
Eric Blaauw
Suicidal behaviour in prisons: definition and prevalence 44
Suicidal behaviour in prisons: correlates 46
Bullying in prisons: the link to suicidal behaviour 46
A Dutch study on bullying and suicidal behaviour
in prisons 48
Conclusion 56
4 Bullying among young offenders: findings from a
qualitative study 62
Alexandra C. Spain
The nature and function of bullying among young offenders 63
Bullying among young offenders: a qualitative study 68
Conclusion 79
5 Examining bullying among institutionalized young
offenders: triangulation of questionnaires and focus
groups 84
Graham Dyson
Studies using questionnaire/interview, self-report and
official records 84
What are focus groups? 85
Focus groups used in penal settings 86
Comparability of focus groups with other methods 88
Rationale for using focus groups in the current study 89
Current study 90
Strengths of focus groups compared with structured
questionnaires 100
Limitations of focus groups compared with structured
questionnaires 101
Conclusion 104
6 Bullying and anti-bullying policies: a young offender
institution and an adult prison 109
Peter K. Smith, Emma Pendleton and Helene Mitchell
Study I: Yardley Young Offender Institution 111
Study II: Princeton Prison 115
General discussion and conclusion 120
viii
Contents
Part III: Advancing Theory
7 Prison bullying and fear: can fear assist with explanations
of victim responses? 129
Jane L. Ireland
Risk of being bullied and precautionary behaviours 131
Defining bullying: involving fear 133
Fear as a tool for the bully 135
Reacting to bullying: the role of fear 136
Conclusion 143
8 Social problem-solving and bullying: are prison bullies
really impaired problem-solvers? 150
Jane L. Ireland and Elizabeth G. Murray
Social information processing models: development of
approaches 151
Social information processing models applied to
aggression research 152
Linking social information processing to aggression
and bullying in general settings 155
Linking social information processing to prison bullying 159
Problems in applying social information processing models
to prisons 163
How social information processing models might be
represented in prisons 166
Conclusion 170
9 Bullying in prisons: an evolutionary and biopsychosocial
approach 176
Paul Gilbert
Evolution, bullying and intimidation 179
Attraction to the threatening dominant 186
The devaluation of affiliation 193
Conclusion 195
Index 201
ix
List of figures and tables
Figures
1.1 Bully grouping quadrant 12
1.2 Bully grouping quadrant and median splits 14
7.1 An applied fear response model 144
8.1 An applied social information processing model 167
9.1 Biopsychosocial and ecological interactions 179
Tables
1.1 Intrinsic characteristics associated with each bully group 11
3.1 Bullying reported by three groups differing in suicide
risk (per cent) 52
3.2 Characteristics of 274 prisoners across the different
categories of bullying 54
3.3 Types of bullies as identified by the different victim groups 55
5.1 Perceptions regarding the nature, prevalence and location
of bullying, and of those involved (ten questions/themes) 95
5.2 Bullying by staff (two questions/themes) 97
5.3 Combating bullying (three questions/themes) 98
5.4 Personal experience of bullying (four questions/themes) 99
9.1 Variation of status-enhancing and maintaining strategies 189