Lesson 11: Anger Management

Question 1

What did Novaco (1975) suggest?

Answer 1

He suggested that COGNITIVE FACTORS trigger the EMOTIONAL AROUSAL which usually precedes aggressive acts.

-In some people, anger is too quick to surface, especially in situations that they perceive to be THREATENING but actually are not

Question 2

What is Anger management?

Answer 2

it is a form of COGNITIVE behavioural therapy whereby the individual is taught to RECOGNISE when theyre losing control + DEVLOP techniques which bring about conflict-resolution

Question 3

What are the three phases of anger management?
(Cognitive, Skill, Application)

Answer 3

1. Congitive preparation
2. Skill Acquisiton
3. Applicational practice

Question 4

What happens in the congitive preparation stage?

Answer 4

1) Offenders learn to identify the TRIGGERS for their anger

2) REFLECT on events in the past where they became angry + consider RATIONALITY

3) THERAPIST helps to RE-DEFINE a situation as NON-THREATENING

Question 5

What happens during the Skill Acquisition stage?

Answer 5

Offender is introduced to a range of techniques to help them handle ANGER-PROVOKING situations more RATIONALLY

these techniques could be CONGITIVE e.g positive self-talk to encourage calmness

BEHAVIOURAL- assertiveness training to communicate more efficiently

OR

PSYCHOLOGICAL- methods of relaxation + meditation

Question 6

What happens during the PRACTICAL application stage?

Answer 6

The offender is given the opportunity to practise the skills they learned in the SKILL ACQUISITION stage in a carefully MONITORED environment

Role plays are used to re-enact scenarios in the past that led to the offender commiting an act of violence.

Question 7

What do offenders receive if they engage in the role-play + take it seriously

Answer 7

Positive reinforcement

Question 8

State a POSITIVE evaluation of anger management
(Hint: Multidisciplinary approach)

Answer 8

+ Anger management is a multidisciplinary approach (cognitive, behavioural and
social elements are included) which acknowledges that offending is a complex
social and psychological behaviour, and any attempt to address it must include
these different elements.

Question 9

State a POSITIVE evaluation of anger management
(Hint: Root cause anger management> behaviour modification)

Answer 9

+ Unlike behaviour modification, anger management tries to get to the root
cause of offending behaviour (the thought processes that lead to
anger/violence), rather than focusing on superficial surface behaviour.

Question 10

State a NEGATIVE evaluation of anger management
(Not all crimes are caused by anger, Harold Shipman)

Answer 10

• The assumption that anger causes offending may be false. Many crimes, such
  as financial crime, are not motivated by anger. Even murder is not always
  motivated by anger, Harold Shipman murdered over 215 of his patients during
  his time working as a GP, and his motivation was to alleviate their suffering.

Question 11

State a NEGATIVE evaluation of anger management
(Hint: expensive, require a highly trained specialist)

Answer 11

• Anger management programmes are expensive to run as they require a highly
  trained specialist who is used to dealing with violent offenders. Many prisons do
  not have the resources to run such programmes.

Question 12

State a NEGATIVE evaluation of anger management
(Hint: levels of co-operation)

Answer 12

• The success of anger management is based on the commitment of those who
  participate, and this is a problem if prisoners are uncooperative or apathetic.