methods of treating offenders Flashcards
what is one method of treating offenders
anger management programmes
who came up with AMPs
Novaco
what did Freud believe
sport and other energetic activities could release aggressive outbursts (catharsis)
what is the anger management model
COGNITIVE PREPERATION
SKILL ACQUISITION
APPLICATION AND PRACTICE
what consists of cognitive preparation
groups members are helped to recognise their own behaviour patterns and so identify situations that trigger aggressive behaviour
what happens during skill acquisition
individuals learn behaviour and cognitive coping strategies such as relaxation which will help them to control the feelings of anger and replace these emotions with acceptable responses
what happens during application and practice
individuals try out the skills in role plays and actual situations such as minor and genuine provocation and are positively reinforced for appropriates, non aggressive responses in groups of 10-12
what did ainsworth suggest
should be run in group sessions with offenders
who is anger management used on
ex offenders
in prisons
conducted in small groups
lasts 10 sessions
what studies support anger management
valiant and raven ireland hunter towl and dexter dowden, blanchette and serin law keen
what studies are against anger management
watt et al
howells et al
escamilla
loza and loza fanous
what did valiant and raven find
after 5 weeks of two hour sessions found males inmate aggression levels to be significantly lower after an intervention
what did ireland find
study 87 young offenders. all P’s completed anger q’s prior to the study. 50 received anger management. the 50 peoples behaviour had improved
what did hunter find
measures 55 adult male prisoners. including personality, anger and hostility inventories before and after treatment.when compared with a control group the treatment group showed significant change in specific areas (impulsiveness, depressions and interpersonal problems)
what did towl and dexter find
found significant reduction in anger feelings for all P’s when evaluating 9 anger management programmes
what did dowden, blanchette and serin find
found that anger management was successful in reducing recidivism in high risk offenders
what did law find
evaluated 4 anger management programmes and found that prisoners were trying to control their anger more after completing one programme
what did keen find
reported success with the anger management package with males aged 17-21 course provided in england and wales
what did watt et al find
violent male adult offenders on an anger management programme were compared with offenders on a waiting list
measured in terms of anger knowledge and anger expression
the study found no special gain for the offenders on the AMP
what did howells find
found very small impact of anger management programmes but raised the question as to whether it was the passage of time rather than the anger management programme itself that made such small changes
what did escamilla find
impact of 16 juvenile offenders. found that 25% did not reoffenders, 50% did reoffender but not an aggressive offence and 25% did reoffend for an aggressive offence
what did loza and loza fanous find
studied 252 candian offenders and found no link between anger scores and violent or non violent crimes
advantages of AMPs
- success from self report data
- focuses on triggers so can have long term effects
- mayo clinic say that anger can have adverse health effects so can also help reduce health problems
- offenders take part voluntarily so more commited
disadvantages of AMPs
- could do more harm than good, encourage offenders to blame their actions on anger
- may turn physical aggression into a different form of aggression i.e. verbal
- prisoners may try to look good on self report data
- many studies do not look into recidivism rates
- anger does not underlie the criminal impulses where crime originates so may not reduce all types of crime
- working with a large group of ex offenders can create a higher risk of large outbursts of crime
how was the aim of howells study
determine whether anger management is more effective than no treatment in producing change
investigate whether improvement in treatment can be predicted
procedure of howells
418 male offenders. 86% in AMPs
73% had not previously completed an AMP
had follow up assessments
results of howells
those who completed the AMP had significantly greater improvement in anger knowledge than the control group. after two months showed that treatment was helping to manage anger and P’s continued to make progress
after 6 months the same results were not found
evaluation of howells
+ naturally occurring treatment so findings have a real life clinical application
+ control group so comparisons can be made
+ evidence based model used
- extraneous variables
- sample size was reduced by 6 month stage
- self report data, offenders may not have been honest
what is the biological treatment of offenders
diet can effect crime
what diet do they suggest criminals have
suggests that minerals, vitamins and essential fatty acids play a critical role in human behaviour
deficits can lead to violent behaviour
low blood sugar can increase irritability
what did benton find
benton looked at children aged 6-7 and observed their irritability whilst playing a video game. he also recorded blood sugar level and found an increase in irritability when there was a moderate drop in blood glucose levels
concluded that irritability translating into aggressive behaviour was dependant on their own social skills so diet was not the only influencing factor
what did gesch find
231 male prisoners received either a vitamin, mineral and essential fatty acids or a placebo. the trial conformed to the normal operations of the institution. p’s varied from 2 weeks to 9 months in both baseline and supplementation groups. average time was 142 days
results of gesch
disciplinary incidents = active from 16 to 10.4 (35% drop) placebo dropped by 6.7% violent incidents = active dropped by 37% placebo dropped by 10.1% no sig difference in self reported data of anger, depression and anxiety
conclusion of gesch
antisocial behaviour is reduced by vitamins with similar implications for those eating poor diets in the community
what is chemical castration
hormones are the chemicals that affect sex drive, if we lower it sex drive diminishes
two types of chemical castration ->
- suppressing testosterone
- reduce sex drive by other mechanisms (antipsychotics
how does chemical castration work
antilibidinal medications
testosterone inhibitors
depo provera
what did Khan find
7 randomised trials involving 138 p’s
offending ranged from rape to minor crimes
drug taken intra-muscular or orally and given daily
offenders also had CBT
reported that deviant sexual fantasies reduced but not the deviancy itself
offenders may have lied
effects were - weight gain, depression and excess salivation
what were the issues of Khan
small trials and short duration
data should also be completed from those who dropped out of the study
new studies are needed and should include trials with larger samples of longer duration with new medicine
results stratified according to category of crime
what was the depo provera experiment
8 subjects all ex offenders
given weekly injections of a substance identified only as ‘research material’
MPA given in varying doses
blood testosterone levels were measured
MPA and saline solution alternated in 4 blocks of 16 weeks
self reported how they felt
results were inconclusive as 2 subjects left and others were too varied to come to a conclusion
shouldn’t be mandatory as does not show enough recidivism however if we can stop one reoffending surely it is worth it
