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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this paper by Barfield and Hutchinson was to explore a variety of treatment methods which could be used to help the emotionally disturbed adolescent to control and express anger in an appropriate fashion.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors are part of a treatment team for emotionally disturbed adolescent boys at Ozanam Home for Boys. The Home provides therapy and treatment for 60 in-residence boys and 23 day-care boys aged 12 to 18 years who have Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Third Edition-Revised diagnoses ranging from depression and conduct disorder to personality disorder and psychosis. In a non-experimental ethnographic paper, the authors reported the methods, processes and effectiveness of a time-limited anger control group therapy program which was designed to help the boys develop coping skills and deal with feelings and expressions of anger.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The children at the Ozanam Home experienced high levels of anger. Apart from the normal hostility that often accompanies adolescence, these boys also felt anger towards their parents; firstly, for failing to live up to parenting expectations and, secondly, for placing the individual outside of the family unit in an institutional setting. Treatment of such anger at the Home involves discussion, ventilation, a system of rewards and punishments and physical restraint, depending upon the ability of the individual to control his behavior. Openly expressing one's feelings and emotions is seen as a vital step in a healthy development. All of the boys at the Home had experienced some form of family violence, and many had come from families with histories of substance abuse. Coming from such families, the boys had learned that the most effective method of expressing anger was through violent and destructive behavior. One of the aims of the treatment in the Home was to make the boys aware of the full range of behaviors and emotions that was available to them, and to allow them to move away from the use of aggression as their sole method of expression. In order to accomplish this, the boys had to be made aware of all the resources that were available to them in their peer group, in their families and especially within themselves. An anger control group was felt to be the most effective way to achieve these goals.
For emotionally disturbed adolescent boys in an institutional setting, traditional methods of talking about behavioral change would not be sufficient. Instead, workers offered verbal, visual, abstract, concrete and tactile experiences to the boys, with use of repetition and reinforcement to solidly teach the new methods of behavior. The first group was selected via interviews with possible participants about whether the boys felt that anger was a problem for them, and if they wanted to learn to deal with their feelings through group treatment. Ten boys were selected, all of whom were motivated and ready for hard work. Each boy in the group had something in common with another in order to reduce feelings of isolation, but family background and personality differences provided for a heterogeneous group of boys aged 13 to 18. The first six-week session included discussions of the cycle of violence, identification of violent family traditions, examination of the connection between violence and substance abuse, and investigation of the notion of anger and its relationship with fear and with pain. Anger and violence were defined, and limits upon acceptable behavior were delineated, with consequences of breaking these norms being addressed. Each boy had to complete a weekly anger journal, describing intensity of feelings, identification of behavioral signs of anger and a description of the situation that led to such feelings and how the situation was handled. Compliance with this journal was less than the workers had hoped for, and the authors felt that more intensive daily treatment sessions for a week would have been more helpful than the six weekly sessions used. Also used in the treatment program were videotapes of the sessions to provide observation of one's behavior, role play, lectures and human sculptures to represent in form the emotions one felt inside. After the sessions had finished, none of the boys believed that their problems with anger control had been resolved. However, all endorsed the group therapy, and said that they had made use of the tools which they had acquired in the group to handle situations with less aggression. Six months after the session, all remembered some of the techniques that were taught, and used them to actively deal with their anger, to develop some of their own resources and use others that were available to them, and to decrease the incidence of violent behavior. The boys had learned to identify, measure and take responsibility for their own actions and behavior, and for their own anger.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors suggested that the anger control group continue to provide an outlet and resource not only at Ozanam Home, but at any residential facility.
EVALUATION:
This paper represents an important step in the recognition of specialized treatment requirements of the institutionalized adolescent. Although the small sample size and the uncontrolled methods of observation limit the generalizability and perhaps the internal validity of the research, this study can nonetheless act as an important basis for future investigation into the most effective methods for treating anger and aggression in such a group of adolescents. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Emotionally Disturbed Juvenile
KW - Juvenile Anger
KW - Juvenile Male
KW - Male Anger
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Male Violence
KW - Male Offender
KW - Mentally Ill Offender
KW - Group Treatment
KW - Offender Treatment
KW - Anger Treatment
KW - Psychotherapy
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Anger Management
KW - Coping Skills
KW - Treatment Program
KW - Anger Treatment
KW - Residential Treatment |