Dealing with offending behaviour: anger management

Anger management

A therapeutic programme that involves identifying the signs that trigger anger as well as learning techniques to calm down and deal with the situation in a positive way

The aim is not to prevent anger but to recognise it and manage it. Anger management can be offered in prison

Cognitive behaviour therapy

Novaco suggests that cognitive factors trigger the emotional arousal which generally precedes aggressive acts. His arguments is that some people anger is often quick to surface especially in situations that are perceived to be anxiety - inducing or threatening

In behaviourist terms becoming angry is reinforced by individuals feeling of control in that situation. As such anger management programmes are a form of CBT the individual is taught how to recognise the cognitive factors that trigger there anger and loss of control

Three stages of anger management

Calm People Should Avoid Angry People

• cognitive preparation

• Skills acquisition

• Application practise

Cognitive preperation

• requires offender to reflect on past experiences and consider the typical pattern of there anger

• The offender learns to identify those situations which act as a trigger to anger and if the way on which offender interprets the event is irrational the therapists role is to make this clear

Skills acquisition

• offenders are introduced to a range of techniques and skills to help them deal with anger provoking situations

Techniques may include:

• cognitive - positive self talk to encourage calmness

• Behavioural - training in how to communicate why they are angry effectively

• Physiological - deal with the physical reaction to anger such as using relaxation training or medication aim is to control one’s emotions rather then being controlled by them

Application practice

• in the final phase offenders are given the opportunity to practice their skills within a carefully controlled environment

• Such as role play is likely to involve the offender and the therapist reenacting scenarios that may have escalated feelings of anger and acts of violence in the past

• It requires a certain amount of commitment from both offender and therapist and bravery from therapists whose job is to ‘wind up’ the offender to order to access their progress

• Therapist is there to give positive reinforcement leads to rehabilitation because it helps to control anger

Positive outcome with young offenders

Keen eg al has studied the progress made with young offenders aged between 17 and 21 who took part in a nationally recognised anger management programme

The course includes 8, 2 hour sessions, the first seven over a three week period with the last session a month afterwards

Better than bvr modification

P. One strength of anger management is that the benefits may outweigh the last those of bvr modification

E. Unlike bvr modification anger management tries to tackle one of the causes of offending that is the cognitive processes that trigger anger and ultimately offending behaviour

E. Experiences of anger management may give offenders new insight into the cause of criminality and allows them to self discover ways of managing themselves outside of the prison setting

L. This suggests that anger management is more likely than bvr modification to lead to permanent bvr change

Individual differences

P. One limitation of anger management is that success may depend on individual factors

E. A study Howell conducted an investigation with Australian programmes has little overall impact when compared to a control group who reviewed no treatment

E. Significant progress was made with those offenders who had showed intense levels of anger before the programme also offenders who were open to change and highly motivated from the outset experience similar gains

L. This suggests that anger management may only benefit offenders who fit a certain profile

Practical restrictions

P. A limitation of anger management is that it is likely to be an expensive option

E. Anger management programmes are expensive to run as they require the service of highly trained specialists who are used to dealing with violent offenders. For this reason many prisons may not have the resources to found such programmes

E. The success of anger management is often based on commitment of those who participate and this may be a problem if prisoners are uncooperative. Change takes time and this ultimately likely to add to the expense of delivering effective programmes

L. This suggests that effective AM programmes are probably not going to work in most prisons

H. Effectiveness makes it worth it