Anger management

• anger management

  a type of cognitive behavioural therapy that aims to enable offenders to recognise anger triggers and develop techniques to resolve conflict without violence
• 3 stages of anger management

  • cognitive preparation
  • skills acquisition
  • application practice
• mnemonic for stages of anger management

  Calm People Should Avoid Angry People
• cognitive preparation

  • offender reflects on past experiences and considers the typical pattern of their anger
  • identify situations that act as triggers
  • redefine the situation as non-threatening
• skills acquisition

  offenders are introduced to skills and techniques to help them deal with anger:

  • cognitive - positive self talk
  • behavioural - assertiveness training
  • physiological - dealing with physical reaction to anger eg. medication
• application practice

  roleplay is used which involves the offender and therapist reenacting scenarios that could bring up feelings of anger

  • positive reinforcement is used if the offender deals with the situation successfully
• Keen et al

  young offenders completed an anger management programme and reported increased awareness of their anger management difficulties and increased capacity to exercise self control
• negative evaluations of anger management

  • does not reduce recidivism - the application stage relies on role play which doesn’t reflect triggers in a real life situation
  • cost & commitment - expensive and requires more commitment than other methods of dealing with offending behaviour, also requires trained specialists
• Positive evaluation of anger management

  More holistic - includes cognitive, behavioural and social perspectives and acknowledges the complexity of offending behaviour