Anger management

Question 1

Novaco (1975)

Answer 1

suggests that some
violent offences occur because
offenders cannot deal
effectively with their anger,
which tends to be expressed in
antisocial ways and displaced
onto inappropriate targets

Question 2

What is anger management?

Answer 2

cognitive intervention that aims to help offenders control their feelings of
anger
- form of CBT

Question 3

Three stages of anger management

Answer 3

1. Cognitive preparation
2. Skills acquisition
3. Application practice

Question 4

Cognitive preparation

Answer 4

• offender reflects on past experiences
• tries to find trigger for anger
• can be done with therapist one-on-one or in a group
• hostile attribution bias or other bias are addressed

Question 5

Skill acquisition

Answer 5

• offender are taught techniques to help them contain anger in triggering settings
• can be cognitive, behavioural, or physiological

Question 6

Application practice

Answer 6

• role plays are used to practice new skills in safe environment
• therapist tries to trigger anger and offender tries to remain calm

Question 7

Ireland (2000)

Answer 7

• compared offenders who had anger management to those who didn’t
• used interviews, questionnaires and a
  behavioural checklist
• 92% of the anger management group showed an improvement on at least 1 measure
• no improvements for the control group

Question 8

Feindler et al (1984)

Answer 8

found that anger management training led to improvements in self-control, more effective
problem solving and a reduction in offending
in young men

Question 9

Not realistic

Answer 9

• role plays aren’t realistic environments
• emotions are often higher in real life
• might be less able to use calming mechanisms in real life situations

Question 10

Not suitable for everyone - reductionist

Answer 10

• not all crimes are a result of anger
• motivated by other things such as sexual desire, financial gain etc.
• offenders have to be motivated to get rid of their anger

Question 11

Long term evidence

Answer 11

Blackburn (1993)
- little evidence to suggest anger management improves long term
- more research needs to be done

Question 12

Cost of anger management

Answer 12

• can be expensive
• highly trained specialists are required
• prisons have limited resources so unlikely to be offered