Forensics- Anger management

Question 1

Strength, hamburger

ECLECTIC

Answer 1

Anger management is an eclectic approach.
It works on a number of different levels including cognitive, behavioural and social levels.
This multidisciplinary approach acknowledges that offending is a complex social and psychological activity and any attempt to address it should include these different elements

Question 2

Strength, double whopper

TRIES TO TACKLE THE CAUSE

Answer 2

Anger management tries to tackle one of the causes of offending.
It does not just focus on superficial surface behaviour but the thought processes that underlie offending behaviour.
Experience of treatment programmes may give offenders new insight into the cause of their criminality enabling them to self-discover ways of managing themselves outside of prison.
This is more likely than behaviour modification to lead to permanent behavioural change and reduce recidivism rates.

Question 3

Limitation, hamburger

LONG TERM EFFECTS ARE LIMITED

Answer 3

Follow up studies of anger management tend to suggest that the long-term effects are limited.
Blackburn (1993) suggests that whilst anger management may have a noticeable effect on the conduct of offenders in the short term, there is little evidence that it reduces recidivism in the long term.
The fact that role plays are used may mean the skills learnt cannot be appropriately applied in real life aggressive situations, questioning the effectiveness of the treatment.

Question 4

Limitation, hamburger

ASSUMES CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP

Answer 4

Theories of anger usual assume a causal relationship between anger and offending but this assumption may be false.
Loza and Loza-Fanous (1999) used a range of psychometric measures and found no difference in levels of anger between offenders classed as violent and those classed as non-violent.
If anger is not the cause of offending behaviour, then a treatment for anger management is illogical.

Question 5

Limitation, double whopper

EXPENSIVE

Answer 5

Anger management programmes are expensive to run as they require the services of highly trained specialists who are used to dealing with violent offenders.
Many prisons may not have the resources to fund such programmes.
This means that the opportunity for an offender to access such support may come down to whether the prison has the funding.
This suggests that there are practical issues limiting the effectiveness of the programme.

Question 6

Limitation, double whopper

NEED COMITMENT FROM PRISONERS

Answer 6

Anger management programmes require commitment from prisoners.
For the treatment to work the offenders must be willing to change their behaviour.
The success of the anger management is often based on the commitment of those who participate, and this might be a problem if prisoners are uncooperative and apathetic.
This questions the applicability and effectiveness of the therapy