6.1.5 CBT/AM & Howells 2005 Flashcards
Who do anger management programmes focus on?
Controlling someone’s aggressive behav to prevent them from harming others
Why would someone be placed on an anger management programme?
Behav could be putting others in danger(knowingly/ unknowingly) +/ bc they committed a criminal offence
What is anger management a form of?
Cognitive Behavioral treatment (CBT)
What might the cognitive element of AM be?
Reasons behind the aggressive behaviour.
What might the behavioural element of AM be?
Alternative ways to react to a situation that would have led to anger previously.
List the 3 key steps that anger management involves.
1) Cognitive preparation
2) Skill acquisition
3) Application and practice
What does the first step involve?
Cog preparation
Focus on cog side
- Identifying situations that cause anger + recognise when aggressive outbursts could occur
- Consider negative impact of their anger on others
What does the second step involve?
Skill acquisition
Focus on behav side
- Learn strategies to control physiological reactions eg counting to 10, replaces anger w relaxation
What does the third step involve?
Application and practice
Focus on behav side
- Try out skills learnt via role play eg minor genuine provocation, positively reinforced for appropriate responses
- Conducted in controlled envirs to protect from harm
List 5 details of how anger management programmes work within the UK.
1) Occurs twice-weekly for an average of 6 weeks with a trained practitioner running it - often a forensic psychologist
2) Happens in groups to increase cohesion of people, encouraging them to listen
3) Often start with ‘check-ins’ and gradually evolves to a conversation of what makes people angry
4) Uses strategies such as identifying what triggers anger and learning to control them
5) Focuses on progress
Give 2 examples of topics that a course might cover.
1) How to stop anger affecting you
2) The difference between anger and rage
DESSERT- Diff treatment
P - Hormone therapy is an alternative treatment
E - It aims to reduce criminality by inhibiting the production of testosterone and may be seen as a faster acting treatment
E - This is because biological treatments start working immediately whereas anger management programmes may take up to 10 weeks to complete with a waiting list beforehand
DESSERT- Expense
P - More expensive than hormone treatment
E - The sessions are run by a trained professional and can involve group and one-to-one work
E - Therefore more expensive due to the practitioner needing to be paid and tax payer money is used
DESSERT-Supporting studies
1.P - Hunter (1993)
E - Found considerable reduction in the impulsiveness following an AM programme
E - Thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment for criminal behaviours; if it leads to decr in impulsitivity, make lead to decor in opportunistic crimes
2.P - Howells et al (2005)
E - Found that AM programmes don’t guarantee improvement unless the ppt is motivated to change
E - Therefore showing that they should only be given to those who are willing to change and that when they are, they work- accounts for individual diffs
DESSERT-Side effects
1.P - No side effects
E - Whereas hormone treatment could lead to side effects such as drowsiness
E - If there are no side effects then this means that the treatment will be more likely to be completed with lack of harm caused
2.P - Can lead to domestic abuse
E - Men who were convicted of domestic violence were found to be less physically violent following an AM programme but were more verbally abusive
E - Therefore the programmes may highlight other ways offenders can hurt people, questioning their effectiveness
