In 1986, Dodge proposed a social-information-processing model similar to that of Newell and Simon (1972) that conceptualized an individual's behavioral responses to a social situation as following a series of information-processing steps that generally occurred outside conscious awareness. This model emerged as the most influential in applied aggression research, and was one of the first to provide an information-processing analysis of aggression. Dodge argued that biases or deficits within any of the processing steps of their model could lead to an aggressive behavioral response. A link has been found between chronically aggressive behavior in children and biased patterns of aggressive social-information processing, hostile knowledge structures, and hostile attribution; however, no empirical research has addressed the role of social cognition in adult bullying in the general population. Dodge and Somberg (1987) suggest that social cognitive performance is adversely affected under conditions of negative affect, arousal, and threats to the self. This is especially relevant to the prison environment. Research into social cognition and prison bullying, however, is still in its early stages. Thus far, there is some evidence that social cognition does distinguish between aggressive and nonaggressive inmates. The arguments of this chapter point to a need for research into prison-based bullying to pursue empirical evidence that tests the applied social problemsolving model outlined in this chapter. The model does have implications for the management of prison bullying, in that it suggests individual approaches that view prison bullies as deficient in social skills should be avoided. Rather, the focus should be on the filtering processes attached to solving problems. 1 figure and 55 references