Bullying among incarcerated young offenders: developing an interview schedule and some preliminary results

In the light of past research on bullying and victimization among school children (which is reviewed), questions to measure bullying and victimization among incarcerated young offenders are developed. On the basis of two pilot studies, it is concluded that the anonymous, group-administered, self-completed questionnaire has problems, and that more complete and valid data can be obtained by asking questions about bullying in the context of an individual interview. The preliminary results are based on a small sample (n=20) of incarcerated young male offenders in Ontario, Canada. They show that most residents (70%) were involved in bullying, several times a week or more often, either as bullies (45%) or victims (25%). Larger-scale research on bullying among incarcerated young offenders is recommended, using individual interviews, and key issues to be addressed are set out.