Anger management evaluation

What did Loza and Loza-Fanous (1999) say about other studies?

majority of studies finding a link between effective have been conducted in laboratories with student participants

What did Loza and Loza-Fanous find in their study of 271 canadian males?

violent and non violent criminals showed no difference between anger measures.

How does Loza et al criticise AM?

Allows offenders to blame their actions on level of anger rather than taking full responsibility for their own actions (deterministic)

How does Ainsworth (2000) state AM isnt appropriate for all?

anger management is only effective if managed properly given the right resources and targeted at the right offenders.

What does Howitt (2009) state?

Some offenders may act violently not out of anger but to achieve specific goals, therefore not all crime can be treated.

What is the weakness of application of AM?

When an individual finishes their treatment they are left without a therapist which may make them more prone to anger in high stress environments.

What did Ireland (2000) find about the effectiveness of AM?

AM was highly effective in the short term finding after treatment overall 92% of offenders showed improvements in 1 measure of anger and 42% on 2 measures.

What was the percentage of critical deterioration that Ireland found?

8%

How can AM be manipulated by offenders?

Offenders may learn how to control their anger in certain situations to then release it when there are no witnesses.

What did Rice 1997 find?

Psychopaths were more likely to offend afterwards as they gained skills that raised their self-esteem and allowed them to manipulate others.

Law (1997)

only 1 participant showed improvements.

What are the benefits for prisons?

AM can be used to control anger inside prisons.

How can AM be argued to be sexist?

Majority of schemes are targeted towards male offenders and nearly all research into effectiveness is carried out on men. e.g CALM.

How can the sexism be good in research?

In reality most criminals are males, it is representative if we target treatments for male offenders which will show greater reduced recidivism.