Anger Management

• Anger management 


  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
• CBT in Anger Management

  • Cognitive factors trigger the emotional arousal which happens before aggressive acts
  • Anger surfaces especially in situations that are anxiety inducing and threatening
• What are the 3 stages in Anger Management

  1. Cognitive Preparation
  2. Skills acquisition
  3. Application practice
• Cognitive Preparation

  • Requires offenders to reflect on past experiences and consider their pattern of their anger
  • Is the offender interprets events as irrational the therapist aims to dispute it and help them see it differently
• Skills acquisition

  • Offenders are introduced to a range of techniques to help them deal with anger
  • Cognitive- positive self talk to encourage calmness
  • Behavioural- learning how to communicate more effectively
  • Physiological- dealing with physical reaction to anger through relaxation training
• Application practice

  • Offenders are given the chance to practice skills within a carefully controlled environment
  • Role play may involve offender and therapist in situations that would have created anger
• Positive outcome with young offenders

  • Young offenders ages 17-21 took part in an anger management programme that was eight 2 hour sessions
  • There were initial issues as them not taking it seriously and forgetting routines
  • The final outcome was positive with offenders reporting increased awareness of anger management and self control
• AO3 Anger Management: Better than behaviour modification

  • The benefits may outlast those of behaviour modification
  • Anger management tries to tackle one of the causes of offending which is the cognitive processes that trigger anger
  • Behaviour modification deals with surface behaviour
  • Anger management can give offenders insight into their behaviour
  • Can lead to permanent behavioural changes
• AO3 Anger Management: Anger Management not effective

  • Anger management may have a noticeable effect on the conduct of offenders in the short term there is little evidence to suggest it reduces recidivism in the long term
  • The role play phase may not reflect all the possible triggers that are present in a real world situation
• AO3 Anger Management: Individual differences

  • The success may depend on individual factors
  • Australian offenders took part in anger management and it had little impact compared to a control who got no treatment
  • Significant progress was made by people who experiences intense anger and those who were ready to change
  • It may only benefit some offenders
• AO3 Anger Management: Expensive

  • Anger management is expensive as it requires services of highly trained specialists who can deal with violent offenders
  • Many prisons may not have the resources to fund such programmes
  • Anger management works if offenders are willing to cooperate so may only work in certain prisons