Bullying behaviours among mentally disordered offenders in a medium secure unit
| Pages | 156-165 |
| Date | 06 May 2014 |
| Published date | 06 May 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-03-2013-0020 |
| Author | Baldeesh Gakhal,Sharon Oddie |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Forensic practice |
Bullying behaviours among mentally
disordered offenders in a medium
secure unit
Baldeesh Gakhal and Sharon Oddie
Baldeesh Gakhal is a Specialist
Forensic Psychologist, based
at HMP Belmarsh and Bracton
Centre, Oxleas NHS
Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Sharon Oddie is a Chartered
Forensic Psychologist, based
at Wathwood Hospital RSU,
Nottinghamshire Healthcare
NHS Trust, Rotherham, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore thenature and prevalence of bullying behaviours and
victimisation experiences among mentally disordered offenders within a medium secure unit (MSU).
Design/methodology/approach – In all, 35 adult male patients completed the Direct and Indirect
Patient behaviour Checklist-Hospital Version (DIPC-H).
Findings – Indirect aggression was reported more frequently than direct aggression, although there was no
statistically significant difference between the prevalence estimates. The most prevalent DIPC-H categories
were the pure victim and not involved categories followed by bully/victim and pure bully.Membership of the
pure bully category was predicted by being on a particular ward.
Research limitations/implications – Given that the study was a preliminary investigation into the nature
and prevalence of bullying behaviours in a MSU, the sample size is limited. Consequently, it is difficult to
generalise the findings. It would be useful for future research to focus on differences between levels of
security using larger sample sizes to enable a greater understanding of the prevalence of bullying in secure
settings and associated factors.
Practical implications – Further evidence is provided by the current research that indirect bullying
and victimisation behaviours are reported more frequently by patients. The importance of anti-bullying
procedures and interventions in secure settings is emphasised and recommendations that can be applied
across various forensic settings are described. Better-informed interventions can then be implemented with
the aim to manage bullying behaviours in secure settings. The one “pure bully”in the current study was on a
rehabilitation ward. This highlights that such behaviours occur on lesser secure wards and serves as an
important reminder to ensure that staff do not become complacent.
Originality/value – As there is only one published study to date that has focused on bullying behaviours in
a MSU, the current study will contribute to the dearth of literature in this area and assist professionals
working in secure settings to better understand the nature and prevalence of bullying behaviours among
mentally disordered offenders.
Keywords Direct and Indirect Patient Behaviour Checklist-Hospital Version, Medium secure unit,
Nature and prevalence of bullying, Patient-to-patient bullying
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Definition
Bullyingbehaviours in forensic settingshave increasingly becomethe focus of academic research
over the past 25 years,with the first study on prison bullyingbeing published in 1991 by McGurk
and McDougall. Despite there being numerous definitions of bullying proposed
in the literature, no consensus about these has yet been reached (Allison and Ireland, 2010).
Ireland(2002) attempted to accountfor such issues by incorporatingfactors which had previously
been overlookedwhen defining bullying (e.g.frequencies of behaviour, power imbalances, issues
PAGE 156
j
JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PRACTICE
j
VOL. 16 NO. 2 2014, pp. 156-165, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2050-8794 DOI 10.1108/JFP-03-2013-0020
To continue reading
Request your trial