Anger management AO3

• how is Ireland 2004 support for anger management?

  • found 92% improvement in behaviour of offenders after they had engaged with anger management, compared to those who had not, suggesting anger management is an effective way of dealing with offenders and reducing aggressive behaviour
  • HOWEVER - lack of validity in real world - success in role plays may not translate to anger management outside of prison setting, not properly reflect all possible triggers that are present in real-world situations, lack ecological validity
• how is Blackburn 1993 counter evidence for anger management?

  • recidivism rates don't appear to be reduced in long-term following anger management programmes in prison, however this type of data only includes offenders who have been caught so any research that supports effectiveness of anger management may not be valid
• what RWA does anger management have?

  • alternative treatments like behaviour modification (TE) deal with surface behaviour and not root cause, anger management tries to tackle one of causes of offending - cognitive processes that trigger anger and ultimate offending, this programme may give new insights into managing themselves out of prison setting and lead to permanent behavioural change
  • HOWEVER - many crime like burglary or fraud aren't motivated by anger, so AM wouldn't help prevent, limiting effectiveness
• how is issues and debates an evaluation point of AM?

  • AM seen idiographic approach where each offender engages with a tailored, bespoke approach to deal with their behaviour, this may be more effective than a nomothetic approach like TE which are based on theories for modifying all offenders behaviour
  • although this may be seen as more effective - likely to be expensive option, requiring services of highly-trained specialists who are used to dealing with violent offending, they also take time to implement properly which adds to expense, many prisons don't have resources to fund