non bio treatment: anger management using CBT

Question 1

offenders may receive treatment in the community or prisons. the extent of treatment may differ depending on severity of the offence and the risk of future reoffending.

Question 2

what is anger management

Answer 2

• form of cognitive behavioural treatment
• assumes that the offenders inability to control their ager is the root cause of offending.
• the offenders judgment of a situation acts as trigger for anger, so is cognitive in nature. offenders can be helped to identify the triggers that cause anger.

Question 3

three steps involve in am

Answer 3

1. cognitive preparation
   - working with trained therapist, the offenders reflect on situations that have triggered their anger in the past and considers whether they could have reacted differently.
   - person learns to recognise thoughts that precede anger and thought patterns associated are challenged
2. skills acquisition
   - taught a range of behavioural techniques to help them cope more effectively with anger provoking situations. eg counting to 10, mediation
   - this self talk promotes calmness rather than aggression and is likely to become an automatic response if practised regularly
3. application and practice
   - therapist devises situations in which the offender is able to demonstrate skills they have been taught.
   role play used
   an example is reconstructing events that made them lose control in the past
   these will test whether techs have been internalised

Question 4

study to support anger management ; Ireland 2004

Answer 4

aims= investigate whether anger management is an effective form of treatment for young, male offenders.
procedure= 50 young males were randomly allocated to one of two conditions. one group received CBT anger management. the second received none until later and acted as the waitlist control group.
- treatment group given 12 sessions of anger management and 3 measures of progress. - interview and questionnaire
behaviour checklist by staff
data gathered two weeks before and 8 weeks after treatment

results= nearly all showed significant improvement on at least one measure and nearly half showed improvement on the questionnaire and behaviour list.
control group failed to show improvement of any of three measures whilst waiting.
conclusions= suggest that anger management is clearly more effective than np treatment at all and is most effective for those who have a history of violence.
strength - control group use
w= offenders may be dishonest on psychometric assessments measuring anger and may try to show they have improved anger or minimised in the first place.

Question 5

appropriateness

Answer 5

:( CBT may only be right for offenders who have a direct trigger for their crimes eg. anger however it may be more difficult to treat indivuals who commit complex crimes eg. fraud which have many triggers.
:( similarly cann found that treatment is less effective for females than males as it was found that cbt has little impact on them.
:) that said, it has been seen as approriate for juvenile offenders.
a meta analysis of over 400 studies of juvenile delinquency treatment programmes and found cog behavioural methods were at least 20% more effective in preventing reoffending than other methods eg. counselling.

Question 6

practicality

Answer 6

:) may be more practical for offenders in comparison to drugs because it gives offenders the skills to use it past the sessions provided.
:) prison officers can also be trained to deliver the programme which can be cost effective
however the consistency of delivery could be impacted by the willingness and consistency of the prison officers running the course

Question 7

effectiveness

Answer 7

:) use of CBT has seen to be effective
ireland
CA- may only work on young offenders because they are more malleable than adult offenders.
:) CBT in offenders imposed their self esteem and control, lowered reconnection rates 6 months later.
CA= they also suggested it helped them with the skills not to get caught. means it may only effective in short term.

:( lack of evidence on long term effectiveness. many studies do not continue long enough to predict recidivism. this is a weakness because we do not know whether such treatment only works to immediately control anger or helps control impulses forever.

Question 8

ethics

Answer 8

might be more empowering than drugs as methods of correcting offender behaviour because drugs are controlling whereas CBT can be done at the offenders own pace and in a way that suits them.