Anger management

• Cognitive behaviour therapy

  Novaco suggests that cognitive factors trigger the emotional arousal which generally precedes aggressive acts

  in some people anger is quicker to surface in situations that are anxiety inducing or threatening so anger is reinforced by the individuals feelings of control in that situation, anger management programmes are a form of CBT 

  the individual is taught how to recognise cognitive factors that trigger their anger and loss of control and are taught techniques to bring resolution without violence
• Cognitive preparation

  offender relefcts on their past experiences and considers the typical pattern of their anger.

  They learn to identify the situations which act as triggers to the anger, if the way the offender interprets events is irrational the therapist makes this clear by redefining the situation 
• Skills acquisition

  introduced to a range of techniques to help them deal with anger-provoking situations in a more rational and effective way.

  cognitive - positive self talk to encourage calmness

  behavioural - assertiveness training in how to communicate more effectively which will become an automatic response

  physiological - dealing with the physical reaction to anger, aim is to control emotions rather than be controlled by them
• Application practice

  offenders are given the opportunities to practice their skills within a controlled environment.

  The therapist and offender role play scenarios that may escalate to anger and violence, if the offender reacts well it is positively reinforced 
• Positive outcome with young offenders

  Keen studied the progress made with young offenders between 17 and 21 who took part in an anger management program. 

  There were 8 2-hour sessions

  at first the offenders didnt take the course seriously, but the final outcomes were generally positive, the offenders reported increased awareness of their anger management difficulties and an increased capacity to exercise self-control
• A limitation is success may depend on individual factors 

  Howells conducted an investigation with Australian offenders.

  He found that participation in an anger management programme had small impact when compared to a control group who had no treatment 

  This wasn’t true for all offenders, those who had intense levels of anger and those who were open to change and highly motivated showed significant progress.

  Suggest anger management may only benefit offenders who fit a certain profile 
• A limitation is anger management is an expensive option

  requires the service of highly trained specialists who are used to dealing with violent offenders, so prisons may not have the resources to fund these programmes.

  Success is often based on the commitment of those who participate, so this is a problem is they are uncooperative.

  Change takes times so this adds to the expense of delivering an effective programme

  Suggests that anger management programmes can’t be used in every prison
• the benefits may out last those of behaviour modification

  tackles the cause of offending behaviour and cognitive processes that trigger anger. Behaviour modification only deal with surface behaviour and not the processes that drive such behaviour.

  Anger managements allows a new insight into the cause of their criminally and allows them to self-discover ways of managing themselves outside of the prison setting, suggesting behaviour management is more likely to lead to a permanent behaviour change
• follow up studies don’t support the assumption that its better than behaviour modification

  whilst anger management has a noticeable affect on the conduct of offenders in the short term, their is little evidence that it reduces reoffending in the long term.

  This may be because the application phase relies on role play which may not refectory all possible triggers in a real-world situation.