Anger management:

• CBT:


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

  • Argument is that in some people anger is often quick to surface especially in situations that are perceived to be anxiety-inducing or threatening

  In behaviourist terms, becoming angry is reinforced by the individual's feeling of control in that situation

  • Anger management programmes are a form of CBT - individual is taught how to recognise the cognitive factors that trigger their anger and encouraged to develop techniques which bring about conflict resolution without violence
• Stages

  1. Cognitive preparation:

  • Requires an offender to reflect on past experience and consider the typical pattern of their anger
  • The offender learns to identify those situations which act as triggers to anger and, if the way in which the offender interprets the event is irrational, the therapist's role is to make this clear
  • For instance, the offender may view someone looking at them or their partner as an act of confrontation. In redefining the situation as non-threatening, the therapist is attempting to break what may well be an automatic response for the offender.
• Stages:


  2. Skills acquisition

  • Introduced to a range of techniques to help them deal with anger-provoking situations more rationally
  • Techniques may include:
  • Cognitive - positive self-talk to encourage calmness ie counting to ten to temper our reaction to a stressful event
  • Behavioural - assertiveness training in how to communicate more effectively which will become an automatic response if practised regularly
  • Physiological - deal with the physical reaction to anger ie using relaxation trainingThe aim is to control one's emotions rather than being controlled by them
• Stages:


  3. Application practice

  • Offenders are given the opportunity to practise their skills within a controlled environment
  • Role play is to involve the offender and the therapist re-enacting scenarios that may escalated feelings of anger and acts of violence in the past
  • Requires a certain amount of commitment from the offender they must see each scenario as real
  • Requires a certain amount of bravery from the therapist whose job it is to wind up the offender in order to assess their progress
  • If they deal successfully with the role play this is given positive reinforcement by the therapist
• Positive outcome with young offenders

  Keen et al has studied the progress made with young offenders aged between 17 and 21 who took part in a nationally recognised anger management programme

  • First devised in 1992 and updated in 1995 the National Anger Management Package was developed by the England and Wales Prison Service
  • The course comprises 8 two-hour sessions the first 7 over a three-week period with the last session a month afterwards and the content broadly follows the stages
• Positive outcomes with young offenders:


  There were initial issues ie offenders not taking the course seriously and forgetting routines ie the requirement to bring their diary the final outcomes were generally positive

  Offenders reported increased awareness of their anger management difficulties and an increased capacity to exercise self-control.