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Practice Guidelines for Community Supervision

Search Appropriateness Statement Package

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Introduction

  • Introduction
  • How to Use This Guide to Benefit Your Agency
  • Section I: How to Use the Appropriateness Statements to Develop Practice Guidelines
  • Appropriateness Statement Outline
  • Section II: Implementing Practice Guidelines
  • Section III: Building the Working Alliance
  • Section IV: Appropriateness Statements

Contacts

  • Contacts
  • Contacts: Implementation Considerations
  • Types of Contacts
  • Frequency of Contact

Compliance-Based Practices

  • Compliance-Based Practices
  • Overall Compliance-Based Practice Implementation Considerations
  • Collateral and Employer Contacts
  • Drug Testing
  • Electronic Monitoring
  • Financial Restrictions
  • House Arrest
  • Phone-Based Monitoring
  • Restraining Orders

Treatments

  • Treatments
  • Treatment Implementation Considerations
  • Anger Management
  • In-Patient & Out-Patient Treatment
  • Mental Health Screening and Evaluation
  • Substance Use Screening and Evaluation
  • Alcohol and Drug Use Education
  • Cognitive Behavioral Techniques

Motivation Techniques

  • Motivation Techniques
  • Motivational Techniques Implementation Considerations
  • Incentives
  • Prosocial Modeling
  • Sanctions

Additional Components

  • Additional Components
  • Additional Components Implementation Considerations
  • Environmental Restructuring
  • Transportation Resources

Additional Resources

  • Additional Resources
  • Additional Information on Practices
  • References

Glossary

  • Glossary
  • ACE!
  • Appropriateness Statement Package
  • Treatments

Anger Management

Anger Management – Evidence-based practice when based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

Summary of the Evidence

  • CBT-based anger management is an evidence-based practice.
  • Anger management programs that are educational or awareness building are not effective.
  • Evidence indicates that CBT-based anger management programs reduce general and violent recidivism.
  • Skills taught in anger management programs help clients build strong interpersonal relationships and comply with the conditions of supervision.

What Is Anger Management?

  • Anger management is a therapeutic treatment program that aims to help clients manage anger and change hostile attitudes without engaging in violent behavior.
  • Anger, aggression, and hostility are different:1
    • Aggression is behavior that is intended to cause harm to another person or damage property (can include verbal abuse, threats, or violent acts).
    • Anger is an emotion which does not necessarily lead to aggression.
    • Hostility is an attitude that involves disliking others and evaluating them negatively; it can lead to aggressive behaviors.
  • Clients (like everyone) may experience anger. Effective anger management programming is about managing angry feelings without engaging in aggression.
  • Effective anger management is grounded in the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy (see CBT Appropriateness Statement).

How Is It Used?

  • Anger management uses cognitive restructuring (changing thought patterns) to help clients recognize emotions, angry thought patterns and their triggers, identify the potential consequences of an angry or violent reaction, use cognitive skills to redirect or stop escalation of negative thoughts leading to violence, and cope with anger without resorting to violence.
  • Anger management also teaches clients to create plans for how they will respond to potential triggers of anger in a nonviolent way.
  • Clients who have engaged in violent crimes or whose crimes are motivated by uncontrolled anger (for example, some forms of property destruction) may be ordered to complete an anger management program.

How Can It Be Used to Monitor Compliance?

  • Anger management is designed to help clients manage their emotions and respond to difficult situations in positive, nonviolent ways. It is not intended to monitor compliance with supervision conditions.

How Can It Be Used as a Supervision Tool?

  • Anger management can help clients address problems in nonviolent ways.
    • This can help clients comply with supervision conditions without becoming frustrated and acting out in violent ways.

What Are the Costs of Anger Management?

  • Clients typically pay for anger management programs if there is a fee involved.
    • This can be problematic if the client is unable to afford the program.

What Do Supervision Staff Think About Anger Management?

  • Supervision staff report that anger management is
    • sometimes appropriate for low-risk clients, except those who are gang-involved, for whom it is never appropriate, and
    • always appropriate for medium- and high-risk clients, except those who are gang-involved or who have substance use disorder, for whom it is sometimes appropriate.

Compliance Level

  • Supervision staff report that psychological interventions like anger management are
    • sometimes appropriate for all low-risk clients, regardless of whether they are in compliance with the conditions of supervision,
    • sometimes appropriate for medium- and high-risk clients who are in moderate or high compliance with the conditions of supervision, and
    • always appropriate for those who are in low compliance with supervision conditions.

What Should You Expect When Using Anger Management?

Client Outcomes

  • Anger management can teach clients skills like identifying angry/negative emotions, addressing interpersonal conflict, and finding positive outlets to handle anger.
  • Anger management skills can help clients build and maintain positive relationships, which can facilitate participation in school, work, and other activities.

Is It an Evidence-Based Practice?

  • Yes, anger management is an evidence-based practice that is shown to reduce general and, especially, violent recidivism.
    • There is evidence that anger management programs that are shorter (~50 hours) are more effective than programs that are longer (over 144 hours).

What Do People Formerly Involved in the Criminal Legal System Think About Anger Management?

  • People who have been involved in the criminal legal system (the “criminal justice” or “legal” system is referred to as the criminal legal system in this document) report that anger management is
    • sometimes appropriate for all low-risk clients,
    • sometimes appropriate for all medium- and high-risk clients, and
    • always appropriate for those who have committed intimate partner violence.
      • NOTE: Evidence suggests that anger management programs are less effective with individuals who have committed intimate partner violence (see “Special Considerations When Using Anger Management with Subpopulations” section below).

Communication That Strengthens the Officer-Client Relationship (Messaging)

  • Officers should be aware that clients may have participated in anger management before (including in jail/prison).
    • Clients may perceive anger management programs to be ineffective if they have been mandated to participate in them repeatedly and have not benefitted or learned effective anger management skills.
    • Not all anger management programs are effective or based on evidence-based principles.
      • Anger management programs that are educational or awareness building are not effective.
      • Evidence indicates that CBT-based anger management programs are effective in reducing general and violent recidivism.
      • It is important to discuss past anger management programs the client may have participated in, since a negative experience may be due to an ineffective program.
  • Officers should communicate that anger management is not just another “hoop to jump through,” but a way to learn effective emotional regulation skills.
  • Officers should discuss anger management programs in a nonjudgmental way with the client.
    • Having difficulty controlling emotions does not mean that the client is “sick.”
    • Emotional regulation skills are important for people regardless of whether they have difficulty managing anger without resorting to violence. This should be communicated to the client.

Special Considerations When Using Anger Management With Subpopulations

Gang-Involved

Anger management may be less effective at preventing gang-related violence, since this form of violence is often motivated by survival needs and aggression instead of emotional responses.

General Violence

Because it develops communication skills, anger management can be particularly effective with individuals who have committed violent crimes resulting from difficult situations.

Intimate Partner Violence

Anger management may not be effective at preventing intimate partner violence, possibly because this form of behavior relates more to domination and control than to managing emotions.

Serious Mental Illness

It is important to determine whether violent behavior is due to difficulty regulating emotions, the influence of substances, or both, because anger-management programs may be less effective with individuals who abuse substances like alcohol.

Substance Use Disorder

SUD clients are often mandated to undertake treatment services. Because of this, officers should be hesitant in increasing the frequency of contact in order to not overwhelm their clients. Officers can monitor clients’ participation in programming through collateral contacts or use less time-intensive contacts (e.g., phone, email) instead of making them come into the office more frequently.

 

Similar Topics

Treatment Implementation Considerations

In-Patient & Out-Patient Treatment

Mental Health Screening and Evaluation

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