Anger management

Question 1

Background

Answer 1

Recidivism rates:
Over a quarter of offenders reoffend within a year.
This rises to over 50% if the initial sentence was below 12 months.
Punishments such as prison may work for some, but as a way of rehabilitating offenders to become productive members of society it is failing.

Question 2

Anger in prisoners

Answer 2

Criminals have a tendency towards irrational ways of thinking such as having a hostile attribution bias.

Question 3

Key aims

Answer 3

The aim is to change the way a person handles anger and aggression.
The situation itself may not be changeable but a person can change the way they think about it and as a result change their behaviour.

Question 4

Navarro (2011)

Answer 4

Identified three key aims for any anger management programme:
Cognitive restructuring.
Regulation of arousal.
Behavioural strategies.

Question 5

Navarro (2011) - cognitive restructuring

Answer 5

Greater self-awareness and control over cognitive dimensions of anger.

Question 6

Navarro (2011) - regulation of arousal

Answer 6

Learning to control the physiological state.

Question 7

Navarro (2011) - behavioural strategies

Answer 7

Such as problem solving, strategic withdrawal and assertiveness.

Question 8

Stress inoculation

Answer 8

Can be seen as a way of “vaccinating” an individual’ against anger so that when they come in contact with an anger provoking situation, they are better able to cope and will not engage in angry behaviour.

Question 9

Stress inoculation - three key steps

Answer 9

Conceptualisation.
Skill acquisition and rehearsal.
Application and follow through.

Question 10

Stress inoculation - conceptualisation

Answer 10

Clients learn about anger and how it can be adaptive and non-adaptive.
They analyse their own patterns of anger and identify situations which provoke anger in them.

Question 11

Stress inoculation - skill acquisition and rehearsal

Answer 11

Clients are taught various skills to help manage their anger such as self-regulation, cognitive flexibility and relaxation.
They are also taught better communication skills so they can resolve conflicts assertively without being angry.

Question 12

Stress inoculation - application and follow through

Answer 12

Clients apply the skills initially in controlled and non-threatening situations such as role plays of situations that previously made them angry.
They receive extensive feedback from the therapist and other group members.
Later clients can try out their skills in real-world settings.

Question 13

Taylor and Novaco (2006)

Answer 13

Reports 75% improvement rates (based on six meta analyses).
This shows that anger management programmes are successful in reducing anger.

Question 14

Landenberger and Lipsey (2005)

Answer 14

Analysed 58 studies using CBT with offenders.
20 of these studies looked at therapies where anger control was a key component.
Researchers found that having an anger control element was significantly related to amount of improvement.

Question 15

Limitations of anger management programmes

Answer 15

SOme offenders don’t like to reflect on their style of thinking.
One way to cope with potential dropout is to assess “readiness to change”.
There are scales to measure this such as the anger readiness to change questionnaire.

Question 16

Alternative to anger management programmes

Answer 16

Drama-based courses that are less reliant on verbal ability and more engaging.

Question 17

Loza and Loza-fanous (1999)

Answer 17

Claim that research that has linked anger and crime is based on laboratory studies using students.
In their study - 300 males in prison.
They found no differences between violent and non-violent offenders in terms of anger.
However, this may be because violent offenders mask their anger.
They also suggest that such programmes can be harmful as offenders attribute their violent behaviour to anger rather than taking personal responsibility.

Question 18

Lack of voluntary consent

Answer 18

Many cases - offenders are required to take part in an anger management programme.
Such participation is against the ethical code of therapists.