6.3.4 Contemp- Howells et al (2005)

Question 1

Aims?

Answer 1

• 1. Whether or not anger management is more effective in producing behavioural changes than no treatment
     
     2. If pre-treatment offender characteristics can predict any improvement in treatment

Question 2

Sample?

Answer 2

> Male, Australian offenders
418 total, 86% from prison based anger management programmes
Mean age 28.8yrs
Sentences served 1m - 26yr 4m
42% violence w/o bodily harm
30% violence w/ bodily harm
Vast majority of offenders had convictions for violence!!
Lowest %- 6% injuries causing death
73% hadn’t completed anger management programme before

Question 3

List 3 examples of the questionnaires and what they measured.

Answer 3

STAXI - How offender’s anger is expressed
WAKS- Understanding how to deal w their anger
STRS- Treatment readiness

Question 4

What was the IV and DV?

Answer 4

IV
> Anger management v no anger management
DV
> Effectiveness + progress of programme

Question 5

Briefly describe the procedure of this contemporary study.

Answer 5

• 418 male Australian offenders were put on an anger management programme 73% of which had never been on one before
• The AM programme lasted x10 2 hour sessions that were focused on the cognitive approach, trained facilitators conducted
• It was based on Norace (1997) with structured exercises looking at skills of identifying provoking situations, relaxation, assertion, prevention of relapse and restructuring
• During this time some ppts completed a checklist of the content covered
• Ppts in experimental and control answered 6 different questionnaires through self-report (such as WAKS to measure understanding of how to deal with anger and STRS to measure treatment readiness)
• Those in the control group were put on the waiting list received treatment after the study

Question 6

Why was it important for a facilitator and participant to complete a checklist of each of the sessions conducted?

Answer 6

To demonstrate and check what was covered to ensure the sessions were carried out as per the manual to provide the content they should.

Question 7

Describe the results of Howells’ study.

Answer 7

> Treatment group showed slightly better improvement post treatment (except for anger out, anger arousal, monthly self rated MOAS)
2mnths later: slight improvement in treatment group, could still see good changes to anger management
Quantitative
Controlling their anger- treatment improved 1.5 incr > control 0.5 incr
Understanding their anger- treatment improved 1.8 incr > control 0.95 incr

Question 8

Describe the conclusions.

Answer 8

> Overall impact of the programme was small
Offenders who has motivation to change improved greatly, those w little to no motivations improved the least/ no change

Question 9

GRAVE- G

Answer 9

P - High
E - 418 ppts is a large sample
E - Generalisable to wider population
P - Low
E - Only used men
E - Sample is androcentric and so not representative of females.
P- Low
E- All-Australian sample
E- Ethnocentric, not representative of criminal offenders anger managemnt in other countires/ access to AM

Question 10

GRAVE- R

Answer 10

P - High
E - Standardised programme that involves 10 two hour sessions with focus on identifying triggers
E - Can be replicated easily to test for consistency as all programmes were delivered the same way, therefore researchers can prod similar findings on ___, incr test-retest reliability
P - Low
E - Control group showed similar improvements as treatment group
E - Questions reliability of whether treatment works and so may be ineffective

Question 11

GRAVE- A

Answer 11

P - Yes
E - Showed that there were no significant differences pre and post treatment however those who were motivated to change showed greatest improvement
E - Therefore this could be useful to inform those designing the programmes about the importance of treatment readiness

Question 12

GRAVE- V

Answer 12

P - High
E - Range of scales like WAKS and STRS to measure things such as aggressive traits, the intensity, and motivation to change
E - This means that data is rich in qualitative and quantitative forms
P - Low
E - Uses self-report data such as ppts stating their understanding of how to deal with aggression effectively in the WAKS scale
E - This data will be open to social desirability as many want to look better than they are because some may have been forced onto the programme

Question 13

GRAVE- E