Anger management

• What is anger management in dealing with offenders?

  • Therapeutic programmes offered in prisons to identify triggers and allow offenders to deal with situations calmly and positively
  • Novaco (1975): cognitive factors tigger the emotional arousal (anxiety/threat) that generally precede aggressive acts
  • Becoming angry is reinforced by the individual feeling a sense of control over the situation - anger management allows them to recognise these triggers and implement cognitive techniques that help them avoid anger and deal peacefully
• What is the first stage of anger management?

  • Cognitive preparation - offenders try to identify situations that provoke anger so they can recognise when they might have an aggressive outburst
  • Therapist challenges their irrational thought patterns so offenders can consider the negative consequences of their actions on others, and aim to break irrational responses in the future
• What is the second stage of anger management?

  • Skills acquisition - the offender learns: New coping skills such as "stop and think" and counting to help develop healthy cognitive responses to anger
  • Relaxation techniques are learnt to help fight physiological responses to anger
  • Behavioural assertiveness training helps deals with issues constructively instead of violently to help challenge behavioural responses to anger - teaches the individual controls their emotions rather than vice versa
• What is the third stage of anger management?

  • Application practice - offenders role-play a variety of different scenarios to practice new skills and control their anger
  • Successful negotiations lead to positive reinforcement from the therapist
• What is the acronym for anger management?

  • Calm People Should Avoid Angry People
  • Cognitive preparation, skills acquisition, application practice
• What is one strength of anger management in dealing with offenders?

  • Benefits may outweigh those of behaviour modification: by tackling the causes of offending (cognitive processes that trigger anger) it gives offenders insight into the cause of their criminality and allows them to self-discover ways of managing themselves outside of prison
  • Behaviour modification only tackles surface-level behaviour and not the processes that drive these, so AM is more likely to lead to permanent changes
• What is one limitation of anger management in dealing with offenders?

  • Blackburn (1993) found very little evidence that anger management reduces recidivism in the long term
  • Application phase relies on role-play that doesn't reflect all possible triggers of real-world situations
  • Suggests anger management may not reduce reoffending in the end
• What is another limitation of anger management in dealing with offenders?

  • Individual differences: Howells et al. (2005) conducted an investigation with Australian offenders and found that participation in anger management had little overall impact to a control group
  • BUT offenders who showed intense levels of anger before the programme and those who showed 'treatment readiness' (open to change and motivated from the start) made significant progress
  • Shows anger management may only benefit those who fit a certain profile
• What is another limitation of anger management in dealing with offenders?

  • Likely to be expensive: requires services of highly-trained specialists who are experienced in dealing with violent offenders
  • Many prisons may not have the resources to fund such programmes and the success also depends on the commitment of those who participate - issues with unco-operative, apathetic prisoners
  • Means it may not be accessible or suitable for everyone