Cognitive-behavioural treatment - anger management

Question 1

what is anger management ?

Answer 1

a form of cognitive-behavioural treatment in which (violent) offenders are encouraged to recognise what triggers their anger, as well as being taught techniques to help them regulate their behaviour.

Question 2

what does anger management assume ?

Answer 2

that the offender’s inability to control their ager is the root cause of offending.

Question 3

what does Raymond Novaco (1975) suggest ?

Answer 3

that some offenders are more likely to see certain situations as threatening and stressful, and this leads them to react aggressively or violently, rather than rationally.

Question 4

what is anger, from a behaviourist perspective ?

Answer 4

anger is reinforced by the offender’s feelings of control that anger gives them in that situation.

Question 5

why is anger cognitive in nature ?

Answer 5

the offender’s appraisal of the situation acts as the trigger for anger, and so is cognitive in nature.

Question 6

what is important if anger is cognitive and behavioural in nature ?

Answer 6

the cognitive behavioural treatment must tackle both

Question 7

how many phases are there in anger management ?

Answer 7

3

Question 8

what are the phases of anger management ?

Answer 8

1) cognitive preparation
2) skill acquisition
3) application and practice

Question 9

what occurs in cognitive preparation ?

Answer 9

• offender reflects on previous events that have triggered episodes of anger
• they consider if they could have reacted differently

Question 10

give example of cognitive preparation ?

Answer 10

if an individual typically becomes violent if someone makes physical contact with them at a busy bar, they are encouraged to redefine the situation as non-threatening (by rationalising that the person in question could have been pushed themselves).

Question 11

what is the ultimate aim of cognitive preparation ?

Answer 11

the offender begins to see ‘flashpoints’ of the past more rationally

Question 12

what is skill acquisition ?

Answer 12

offenders are taught a range of behavioural techniques to help them cope more effectively with anger-provoking situations.

Question 13

what is an example of a skill taught to offenders during skill acquisition ?

Answer 13

the idea of counting to ten to temper our reaction to a stressful event - this type of self-talk promotes calmness rather than aggression, and is likely to become an automatic response if used regularly.

Question 14

give two examples of behavioural strategies to deal with the psychology of anger and what is the aim of it ?

Answer 14

1) meditation
2) deep breathing
the aim is to control one’s emotions rather than being controlled by them.

Question 15

what is application and practice ?

Answer 15

• the therapist devises situations in which the offender is able to demonstrate the skills they have been taught.
• one way this is achieved is by reconstructing events when the offender lost control in the past.

Question 16

give an example of a simulation made in application and practice ?

Answer 16

the offender and the therapist could simulate the condition of queuing at the bar for a drink - the therapist deliberately provoking the offender (E.g., deliberately shoving the offender against the wall at the ‘bar’ to test whether the new techniques are internalised).

Question 17

what did Jane Ireland (2004) investigate ?

Answer 17

anger management within an institutional setting

Question 18

what was the procedure of Jane Ireland (2004) ?

Answer 18

• offenders randomly allocated to one of two conditions
• one group received cognitive-behavioural anger management, the other acted as a waitlist group
• treatment group received 12 sessions (3 measures of progress)
• there was an interview and questionnaire for the patients and a behaviour checklist to be completed for the prison staff
• the data from these measures was gathered two weeks before and eight weeks after treatment

Question 19

what were the findings of Jane Ireland (2004) ?

Answer 19

• nearly all the treatment group showed significant improvement in at least one of the measures (92%).
• 48% showed improvement in the questionnaire and behaviour checklist.
• the improvement was most marked for those judged to be ‘violent’ before the investigation began.
• the control group failed to show improvement on any of the three measures whilst waiting.

Question 20

what were the conclusions of Jane Ireland (2004) ?

Answer 20

the study would suggest that anger management is clearly more effective for those who have a history of violence

Question 21

what is a strength of anger management ?

Answer 21

• there is evidence that it is effective in reducing offenders’ urge for revenge
• supported by Mark Holbrook (1997)

Question 22

what did Mark Holbrook (1997) do ?

Answer 22

• chose 26 male prisoners with a history of aggression for training in anger management.
• prisoners were required to fill out a vengeance scale (measuring their desire for revenge) before and upon completion of the treatment
• the results showed a significant reduction in post-treatment vengeance scores
• this suggests that anger management may have positive long-term outcomes, including decreasing the desire for revenge

Question 23

what is the competing argument for the supporting evidence of anger management ?

Answer 23

• Ronald Blackburn (1993) argued that anger management may help control their conduct in the short-term, but little in the long-term recidivism
• one explanation for this may be that there isn’t a casual relationship between anger and offending (Loza-fanous 1999).

Question 24

what a weakness of anger management ?

Answer 24

it may have an undesirable effects with particular types of violent offender

Question 25

what happened following an enquiry into the murder of John Monckton in 2006 ?

Answer 25

the then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke recommended that anger management programmes offered in UK prisons should be scaled back on the basis that they are counter-productive for some offenders.

Question 26

who was John Monckton murdered by ?

Answer 26

Damien Hanson - he had managed to convince a parole board to release him, after 24 sessions of anger management

Question 27

what can be deduced from the murder of John Monckton ?

Answer 27

anger management training appears to increased Hanson’s ability to manipulate the situation to his advantage - suggesting that it may assist some prisoners to become more manipulative.

Question 28

what is another strength of anger management ?

Answer 28

it addresses different aspects of offending behaviour

Question 29

what approach does the therapy have ?

Answer 29

it is an interdisciplinary approach that works on a number of different levels

1) cognitive (phase one)
2) behavioural (phase two)
3) social (phase three)

Question 30

what does anger management therapy acknowledge (part of the strength) ?

Answer 30

it acknowledges the fact that offending is a complex psychological activity that requires an eclectic approach to treatment

Question 31

what is a weakness of Jane Ireland (2004) ?

Answer 31

the short-term nature of the study

- the assessment was after eight weeks

Question 32

why is the fact that Jane Ireland (2004) was a short-term study a problem ?

Answer 32

• 8 weeks may not be enough time to realistically evaluate similar programmes, especially once the offender is released from the institutional setting
• this means that it is questionable whether Ireland’s study is a good indicator of how effective anger management would be in the long-term.