Anger Management outline

What is anger management?

A form of CBT which is based on the assumption that anger is the primary cause of violent criminal acts and this needs to be controlled to reduce bad behaviour in prison and recidivism rates.

What are the 2 aims of anger management?

To reduce anger and aggression in prisons

and rehabilitating and reducing recidivism in violent prisoners

How does Novaco describe prisons?

As anger factories (cognitive bias - some prisoners think they don’t deserve to be there, kept in the same prison even for different crimes)

How does it work?

Changes the way a person handles anger and aggression, in situations they can change the way they react.

How does Novaco (1975) state aggressive people deal with situations and how can this change?

anger helps them feel in control of a situation, they should be taught not to stop feeling angry but to control and manage their anger.

What is stress inoculation?

seen as a way of vaccinating an individual againsts anger by exposing them to anger provoking situations where they can deal with them better.

What are the 3 stages to stress inoculation according to Ainsworth (2013)

should be run as group sessions with offenders which should contain 3 stages:

Cognitive preparation - asked to think about their patterns of anger and effects.

Skill aquisition - learn effective skills of dealing with anger and situations e.g cognitive (rehearsing thoughts of control) and behavioural (relaxation and assertive training)

Application practice - encouraged to practice skills throughout day

What does stress inoculation require?

Requires an expert who can tailor learning to individuals.

How is stress inoculation CBT?

Recognises processes of anger and practiceses situations.

How does Controlling anger and learning to manage it (CALM) work?

involves 8 2 hour sessions with 7 in the first 2-3 weeks and the last a month later, offenders keep a diary detailing their anger.

What are the aims of CALM?

Increases offender awareness of processes of anger, monitor their own behaviour, educate on benefits, improve techniques of control and practice in role play.

What does CALM require?

Any staff member of a prison who has undergone training but does not require an expert as they are giving standardised procedures.

How is CALM CBT?

Challenges maladaptive thinking, personal assignments role-play and dysfunctional thought diary, teaches understanding of emotions.