Anger management - MM

• A lot of criminal behaviour stems from anger issues. When an individual is angry, they make poor decisions, lose control of their behaviour, and may not be able to judge the consequences of their behaviour accurately
• Anger management is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which attempts to change the way a person think
• Anger management as a treatment for crime has two main aims

  • The short-term aim of anger management is to reduce the levels of anger and aggression in prisons.

  • The long-term aim is to reduce rates of Recidivism
• If anger can be controlled, and its effects limited, then offenders who are prone to angry outbursts may be able to reduce the likelihood that their anger causes them to engage in criminal (most often, violent) behaviour
• As this is a cognitive approach, the aim is to change the way a person handles anger and aggression. The situation itself may not be changeable but a person can change the way they think about it and change their behaviour.
• Novaco identified three additional key aims for any anger management programme

  • Cognitive restructuring: Gaining self-awareness and control over thoughts, making the irrational more rational.

  • Regulation of arousal: Learning how to control physiological state, relieving tension.

  • Behavioural strategies: Learning problem-solving skills
• why is anger management needed

  Being imprisoned is likely to increase the amount of anger expressed by prisoners for several reasons:

  • Prisons are often overcrowded

  • Other prisoners tend to be violent

  • Prisoners would feel the need to act tough
• how does anger management work

  Anger management programmes follow a stress inoculation model.

  Stress inoculation can be seen as a way of ‘vaccinating’ an individual against anger, so that when they encounter an anger provoking situation, they are better able to cope and will not engage in aggressive behaviour
• one example of anger management is the calm programme

  This stands for - controlling anger and learning to manage it
• calm ; relaxation 


  • An important part of anger management is helping the offender to know how to release any tension they may feel.

  • In turn this could prevent them from letting the tension build up and be released as aggression
• CALM ; thought stopping scenario 


  Within this session, participants attempt to put their newly learnt cognitive skills into practice
• CALM ; ABC model

  • This task links to the hostile attribution bias often made by offenders.

  • Offenders must consider alternative attributions and the impact this would have on their behaviour