Karen Heseltine

Brief anger management programs with offenders: Outcomes and predictors of change

Anger management interventions with offenders, particularly violent offenders, are a common form of rehabilitative activity. The rationale for addressing anger problems is clear-cut and there is good evidence that anger management can be effective with some client populations. Information relating to effectiveness with serious offenders, however, is sparse. An intervention study is reported in which offenders receiving anger management were compared with waiting list controls on a range of dependent measures. In general, the degree of pre-treatment/post-treatment change was small and experimental versus control differences were not statistically significant. The degree of improvement was found to be predictable from pre-treatment measures of anger and treatment readiness. Explanations of the low impact of anger management on violent offenders are discussed and recommendations made for improving outcomes.

Brief anger interventions with offenders may be ineffective: a replication and extension

Anger-management interventions are widely delivered in the criminal justice and forensic mental health systems. Whilst previous research has generally supported the thesis that anger management is an effective intervention for anger problems in general there remains a need to determine its effectiveness with offender populations. This paper reports the results of a controlled outcome study of a 20 h anger-management program offered to offenders. Those receiving treatment showed improvements in their knowledge about anger, but showed little change on measures of anger and anger expression when compared to waiting-list controls. Scores on measures of treatment readiness and level of need for treatment were however, correlated with post-treatment improvement. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the assessment and selection of appropriate participants for offender anger-management programs.

The Myth of Offenders' Deception on Self-Report Measure Predicting Recidivism: Example From the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ)

Two studies were conducted to investigate the vulnerability of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) to deception and self-presentation biases. The SAQ is a self-report measure used to predict recidivism and guide institutional and program assignments. In the first study, comparisons were made between 429 volunteer offenders who completed the SAQ for research purposes and 75 offenders who completed the SAQ as a part of the psychological assessments process required for consideration for early release. In the second study, 106 participants over two sessions completed the SAQ and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding. Participants completed both measures under two separate sets of instructions: (a) Answers would be used for research purposes, and (b) answers would be used for making decisions about their release to the community. Results from both studies reaffirmed previous findings that the SAQ is not vulnerable to deception, lying, and self-presentation biases.

Fitness: What is the Role of Psychometric Assessment?

The notion of fitness to plead is an essential part of the criminal responsibility component of the western judicial system. It is therefore important that clinicians undertaking fitness assessments use state of the art tools. Appropriate psychometric fitness tools exist which measure psycho-legal concepts relevant to western fitness concepts. However, clinicians appear to rely on traditional psychological measures of intelligence and psychopathology. The training of forensic graduates may help change this current situation. Meanwhile, currently practising clinicians undertaking fitness assessments need additional training in the use of appropriate fitness tools and in psycho-legal concepts.

Rehabilitation Programmes in Australian Prisons

The authors begin their contribution by looking at the rates of imprisonment in Australia and how these rates have changed over time. They then consider various types of offences where imprisonment is sanctioned and how the ideas of prison as punishment have been replaced by concepts of rehabilitation and reintegration. Contemporary ideas about effective rehabilitation in prisons with reference to the empirically based “What Works” approach to offender rehabilitation are discussed. Specific offender treatment programmes for high-risk offenders offered in Australian prisons are overviewed, with a focus on programme effectiveness aimed at reducing recidivism. Future directions in the Australian prison itself as a rehabilitative option conclude the chapter.