Counteraggression, Detention, and Communities

• NCJ Number: 156295
• Journal: Reclaiming Children and Youth Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1995) Pages: 38-40
• Author(s): C B Feaster
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 3 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines the nature of "counteraggression," how it is fostered in juvenile detention, and ways to address it constructively during incarceration.

Abstract

Counteraggression, also known as punishment-induced aggression, is a behavior pattern that is learned in childhood. The tendency toward counteraggression is difficult to change, but anger-management and anger-coping intervention strategies have produced positive results. Juvenile detention centers offer an opportunity to address aggression and counteraggression with nonviolent adolescents and with those who are at high risk of committing violent crimes. DeFazio and Warford (1992) explain their violence prevention program, which achieved success in a locally operated detention center that housed adolescents at high risk for violence. The program goals focus on confronting belief systems that promote violence, building social skills in problemsolving and conflict resolution, helping residents feel confident without assuming an aggressive posture, and teaching alternatives to violence. Preassessments and postassessments of resident attitudes toward violence show a change in attitudes following participation in the program. Crumbley and his colleagues (1992) describe another anger-management program used in a juvenile detention center. The program lasts 8 weeks, with two 1 1/2-hour sessions per week. The approach to anger control addresses the physiological signs of impending anger, beliefs about anger and victimization, personal responsibility related to the anger cycle, and understanding how the anger cycle operates as it leads to violence. Preliminary research shows significant suppression effects in those residents who finish the full 8-week program. Juvenile detention facilities have an opportunity to teach new behaviors, rather than perpetuating cycles of aggression through punitive regimes. 19 references