Forensic Psychology - 12. Dealing with Offending Behaviour: 2. Behaviour Modification and Anger Management Flashcards
3 types of behaviour modification
Token economy
Anger management
Restorative justice
Token economy
Encourages prisoners to behave well by rewarding good behaviour and sanctioning bad behaviour
What is the token economy based on?
Based on the behaviourist approach, specifically operant conditioning
Examples of rewards the prisoners may acquire
More time out of the cell
More rob opportunities in prison resulting in more pay
Increased TV use
Conjugal visits (meaning visits from a love one - US only)
Examples of sanctions
Limited/no visits
More time in cell
No TV
No PlayStation
Who carried out a study into the token economy for young delinquents?
Hobbs and Holt (1976)
What did Hobbs and Holt find?
Introduced a token economy programme with young delinquents in 3 behavioural units and a fourth that acted as a control.
Significant improvement in positive behaviour
Who carried out a study into the token economy in an adult prison?
Rice et al (1990)
What did Rice et al find?
Found increase in positive behaviours when token economy programme was introduced in adult prison
What is Blackburn’s criticism about token economies?
He believes they have very little rehabilitative value and any positive changes may quickly be lost when offenders are released
How may staff impact the effectiveness of token economies (Basset and Blanchard)?
When staff apply the rules inconsistently the benefits of token economy were lost
What may prisoners do in a token economy prison? (2)
They may fake behaviour that they know is desirable to get a reward.
They may commit crimes in order to take the tokens away from others
What is anger management a form of?
CBT
What do anger management programmes aim to do?
They aim to change the way a person thinks and therefore the way they act
What does Novaco say about anger management?
It’s a therapeutic programme offered in prisons to identify triggers and allow offenders to deal with the situation in a positive and calm manner
How many steps are there in the anger management programme and what are they?
3 steps:
1. Cognitive preparation
2. Skill acquisition
3. Application practice
Cognitive preparation
They identify situations/triggers that provoke them after reflection
Thought patterns are challenged to help them recognise that their response is irrational
Skill acquisition
New coping skills are learned to enable them to avoid triggers and deal with situations more rationally
What skills may offenders learn in the skill acquisition stage of anger management?
Relaxation techniques
Stop and think
Assertiveness
Effective communication
Application practice
Role-play a variety of scenarios to practice new skills to control anger.
Done in controlled and safe environment
Therapist will deliberately provoke the individual to see how they’d react
How many sessions does anger management tend to be?
Usually lasts around 10 sessions but this may vary depending on the type of crime that has been committed
Who carried out research support for anger management in 2000?
Ireland
Aim of Ireland’s research into anger management
To identify whether or not anger management courses work
Research method chosen by Ireland
Natural experiment
Method of Ireland’s anger management study
Group of 50 prisoners who had completed CALM anger management programme compared to group of 37 who were assessed as suitable but who hadn’t actually completed the course
Results of Ireland’s study into anger management
Prisoners who completed CALM rated themselves lower on the anger questionnaire
92% showed improvements on at least one measure of aggression
Limitations of Ireland’s study
Self report means that social desirability may have affected the findings. Prisoners may have reported improvements just so they could shorted their time in prison/on the course
Limitations of anger management: lack of evidence
Lack of evidence of long-term effects of anger management
Limitations of anger management: relevance
Not all crimes are motivated by anger
Limitations of anger management: motivation
Prisoners must be motivated to attend the programme and must actually want to change their ways
Limitations of anger management: cost
Anger management is expensive as it requires a skilled therapist to deliver it
Limitations of anger management: anger and violence
Anger doesn’t necessarily cause violence
Focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with their victims/victims families
Restorative justice programmes
What do restorative justice programmes involve?
A supervised mediation meeting between the victim and the offender, with a trained mediator also present
What do restorative justice programmes help offenders to do?
They help offenders to see the impact of their crimes
Resotrative justice programmes have to be __________ for all those involved
Voluntary
What does restorative justice allow the offenders to do in terms of their rehabilitation
Allows them to play an active role in their rehabilitation
Strengths of restorative justice: satisfaction rate from victims
85% satisfaction from victims who had taken part in face-to-face restorative justice meetings
Strengths of restorative justice: recidivism of those who had restorative justice compared to those who didn’t in 2007
11% reoffending rate for those who practiced restorative justice
37% reoffending rate for those in matched control group
Strengths of restorative justice: cost
Every £1 spend on restorative justice would save the government £8 through reduced reoffending
Strengths of restorative justice: who is it most effective for?
Most effective for young, first-time offenders
Limitations of restorative justice: cost
High costs involved in training mediators
Limitations of restorative justice: how well it works
Only works well if offender feels genuine remorse
Limitations of restorative justice: victim
Only works when there is an obvious victim
Limitations of restorative justice: stigma
Huge stigma that restorative justice lets the offenders off lightly
