Anger Management

• what is anger management?

  - a form of CBT aimed at identifying anger triggers and learning techniques to deal with the situation in a positive way

  - not aimed at preventing anger but learning to recognise and manage it

  - can be administered inside and outside an institutional setting
• what is Novato's anger triggers?

  - e.g. CALM (controlling anger and learning to manage it)

  - cognitive factors e.g. hostile attribution bias - heightened emotional arousal -- aggression

  - people with cognitive distortions are quicker to anger as they interpret more situations as anxiety inducing/threatening

  - anger is reinforced by feeling in control (positive reinforcement)

  - anger management (CBT) programmes teach individuals to recognise cognitive factors that trigger anger + deep conflict resolution techniques
• what are the three stages of anger management programmes?

  - cognitive preparation

  - skills acquisition

  - application practice
• what is the cognitive preparation stage of anger management programmes?

  - offender reflects on past experiences to find pattern of anger + identify triggers

  - if the offender displays irrational thoughts the therapist challenges them to redefine the situation in order to break the automatic response
• what is the skills acquisition stage of anger management programmes?

  learn a. range of techniques to deal with provoking situations rationally + effectively

  - physiologically - deal with physical reaction to anger e.g. meditation / relaxation training

  - behavioural - assertiveness training to teach effective communication : if practiced enough will become an automatic response

  - cognitive - positive self-talk to encourage calmness
• what is the application practice stage of anger management programmes?

  - practice newly learnt skills in controlled environment through role-play : re-enact triggering scenarios

  - given positive reinforcement by therapist if successful
• what was Keen et al. research into anger management programmes?


  - studied youth offenders (17-21 year olds) who took part in the National Anger Management Package

  - offenders had a 8 two hour sessions, the first 7 over a three week period and one session a month later

  - found initially offenders did not take the course seriously + forgot important elements for programme e.g. diary

  - generally led to positive outcomes : offenders reported increased awareness of their anger management problems + increased capacity to exercise self control
• how does Blackburn criticise long term effects of anger management programmes?

  - it may not lead to lowered recidivism rates

  - found that whilst anger management did have a positive effect on the behaviour of offenders in the short term, it did not actually reduce their reoffending rates long term

  - counteracts the claim that they may be most effective long term way of dealing with offending behaviour

  - other ways may be more effective
• how does anger management programmes have long term effects?

  - effects may last longer than that of behaviour modification in custody

  - anger management aims to tackle the underlying cognitive causes of offending such as hostile attribution bias, rather than just reducing the instance of undesirable behaviour

  - important as they are more likely to lead to a more permanent change in offending behaviour leading to more positive outcomes
• how are anger management programmes expensive?

  - for example, in order to be implemented in custody they require the service of highly trained specialists for a long period of time who are used to dealing with violent offenders

  - prison service is highly under funded and is unlikely to be able to invest in anger management programmes, particularly when the evidence for its utility is mixed

  - so they are not a realistic way for most prisons to effectively deal with offending behaviour so usefulness is limited

  - BUT if they reduce recidivism rates they will be cheaper in the long term
• how does Ireland have supportive evidence for anger management programmes?

  - found that when comparing offenders who took part in the National Anger Management Package programme with a non treatment control group that the offenders showed significantly more improvement : 92% improved on at least one measure of behaviour compared to 48% of controls

  - improves the validity in programmes so can be more confident in the effectiveness