Forensic Psychology For Dummies (134 page)

More resistant to what is being suggested in the programme.

More likely to be uncooperative in taking part.

Have a higher rate of dropping out of treatment.

Less likely to show any effects of treatment.

One particularly tricky problem that has arisen in recent years, is that some prisoners from certain religious groups consider that talking about their previous offences is against their religion and so refuse to participate.

Managing anger

Treatment programmes aimed at helping people manage their violent angry outbursts typically work on certain key assumptions. The main assumption is that, although the person’s emotional reactions may be difficult to alter, they can be trained to be in command of those reactions. The idea is that these people shouldn’t let these strong emotions get the better of them which can result in a violent outburst.

The programmes deal with aspects of violent anger that are open to change taking into account the dynamic risk factors that I mention in Chapter 10. These changeable factors include attitudes and associated ways of thinking about the individual’s interactions with others. More static, unchangeable aspects of the person, such as their criminal history, although predictive of future violence, aren’t a suitable focus for treatment.

Such treatment interventions often include:

Showing the offenders how to relax.

Getting them used to stress without allowing it to take over their whole feelings.

This latter aspect includes getting them to recognise when their physiological arousal is building up, and how they can take account of their emotions and focus their attention in a more productive direction.

In addition to finding out how to deal with stress and anger, psychologists question offenders’ beliefs that underlie their anger. This process includes examining how they interpret certain situations or people as hostile and looking closely at the consequences of their aggression.

The programmes therefore combine both a direct examination of the actions and feelings that give rise to violence, as well as challenges to thinking patterns that support their aggressive behaviour. The central objective is to persuade the participants in the programme that their way of acting and reacting in the past hasn’t been productive for themselves or others. The idea is to make them accept that even if they believe they were right to feel and act the way they did, it didn’t help them or other people, and so other ways of behaving would make them more successful.

The following sections provide details on two specific treatment programmes used in UK prisons within the area of anger management.

Controlling Anger and Learning to Manage It (CALM)

The CALM programme is aimed at people for whom anger and associated violence is a factor in current or previous offending. It isn’t intended for those whose aggression is only apparent when in prison or other institutions. So although actions in the institution provide useful information about the person’s problems, he’s only allowed on the programme if he committed an offence involving the expression of anger or another intense emotion (and therefore excludes calculated aggression).

The programme was developed specifically to meet the needs of offenders in managing emotions associated with the occurrence of aggression and antisocial behaviour. It uses a cognitive-behavioural approach to teach offenders skills in managing anger and other emotions.

CALM consists of 24 two-hour sessions, with groups of two to eight people, in which various stages of emotional response are examined and productive ways of dealing with them explored. The treatment is developed to teach and promote a lasting change of inappropriate and unproductive thought and behaviour patterns by the use of:

Personal assignments,
a sort of homework to experience what’s covered in the group.

Modelling,
in which individuals discover appropriate and inappropriate reactions.

Role-play,
to experience within the supportive context of the group how violent reactions can unfold and be calmed.