Dealing with Offending Behaviour - Anger Management

Question 1

What is anger management?

Answer 1

-a therapeutic programme that involves identifying the signs that trigger anger as well as learning techniques to deal with the situation in a positive way

Question 2

What is the aim of anger management?

Answer 2

-not to present anger but to recognise it and manage it
-can be offered in prison to encourage self-awareness and facilitate rehabilitation

Question 3

What did Novaco suggest?

Answer 3

-that cognitive factors trigger the emotional arousal which generally precedes agressive acts
-in some people, anger is often quick to surface in situations that are perceived as threatening

Question 4

What are the 3 stages of anger management?

Answer 4

1. cognitive preparation
2. skills acquisition
3. application practice

Question 5

How can I remember the 3 stages?

Answer 5

Calm
People
Should
Avoid
Angry
People

Question 6

What is cognitive preparation?

Answer 6

-offender reflects on past experiences and considers the typical pattern of their anger
-learn to identify those situations which trigger it
-if the way they interpret it is irrational - the therapist needs to make this clear

Question 7

What is skill acquisition?

Answer 7

-offenders are introduced to techniques and skills to help them deal with anger-provoking situations more rationally

Question 8

What are the 3 types of skill techniques?

Answer 8

1. cognitive
2. behavioural
3. physiological

Question 9

What are cognitive skills?

Answer 9

-positive self talk to encourage calmness
eg. counting to 10 to temper our reaction to stress

Question 10

What are behavioural techniques?

Answer 10

-assertiveness training in how to communicate more effectively
-become an automatic response if practiced regularly

Question 11

What are physiological techniques?

Answer 11

-deal with the physical reaction to anger
eg. using relaxation or meditation
-the aim is to control one’s emotions rather than being controlled by them

Question 12

What is application practice?

Answer 12

-offenders are given the opportunity to practice their skills within a carefully controlled environment

Question 13

What is an example of application practice?

Answer 13

-role play
-the offender and therapist re-enacting scenes that may have escalated feelings of anger and acts of violence in the past
-requires commitment
-if the offenders deals with it successfully = given positive reinforcement

Question 14

What did Keen do?

Answer 14

-studied the progress made with young offenders aged between 17-21 who took part in an anger management programme

Question 15

What is the national anger management package?

Answer 15

-developed by england and wales prison
-x8 2 hours sessions
-the first 7 over a 3 week period with the last session a month afterwards

Question 16

What were the outcomes of the national programme?

Answer 16

-generally positive
-offenders had increased awareness of management difficulties and increased capacity to self control

Question 17

What is a strength of anger management?

Answer 17

-the benefits of it may outlast those of behaviour modification
-AM tries to tackle one of the causes of offending - the cognitive processes that trigger anger
-alternative treatments only deal with surface behaviour and not the processes that drive such behaviour
-AM may give offenders new insight into the cause of their criminality and allow them to self-discover ways of managing themselves outside of prison
-leads to permanent behavioural change

Question 18

What is a counterpoint to the permanent of anger management?

Answer 18

-follow up studies dont support this assumption
-Blackburn - suggests that whilst AM may have a noticeable effect on yah conduct of offenders in the ST, there is little evidence that it reduces recidivism in the LT
-may be because the application phase of treatment still relies on role play which may not reflect all triggers present in a real world situation
-may not reduce reoffending

Question 19

What is a limitation of anger management? - individual differences

Answer 19

-depends upon individual factors
-Howells - conducted investigation with Australian offenders
-found that P in AM had little overall impact when compared to a control group with no treatment
-not true for all offenders in the programme
-progress was made with offenders who showed intense levels of anger before the programme
-offenders who were open to change experienced similar gains
-suggests that AM may only benefit offenders who fit a certain profile

Question 20

What is a limitation of anger management? - expensive

Answer 20

-programmes are expensive to run as they require the services of highly trained specialists who are used to dealing with violent offenders
-many prisons may not have the resources to fund this
-success of AM is often based on the commitment of those who participate, may be a problem if prisoners are uncooperative
-change takes time and ultimately likely to add the the expense of delivering effective programmes
-suggests that AM are probably not going to work in most prisons