NCJ Number
216101
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 50 Issue: 5 Dated: October 2006 Pages: 520-539
Date Published
October 2006
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This Australian study explored meanings of anger within an Indigenous context that might inform the development of more acceptable and potentially more effective rehabilitation programs.
Abstract
The themes of anger being transmitted across generations and of pervasive feelings of helplessness appear, along with experiences of loss, family dysfunction, and coping with discrimination to be pertinent for Indigenous people and place the experience of anger within a broad social and political context. Although many aspects of identified themes are commonly experienced by offenders, it is believed that the context of these themes, for Indigenous offenders, has added layers of meaning that affect their understanding and experience of anger in profound ways. A lack of differentiation between anger and violence and a lack of control over behavior following angry arousal appear to be characteristic of many violent offenders. This suggests that mainstream anger management psycho-education programs should focus on the relationship between anger and violence and strategies to help participants discriminate more effectively between different emotions. Also, cognitive techniques that seek to improve control over anger arousal may be useful. The problems of overrepresentation of Indigenous offenders in Australian prisons highlight the need for effective tertiary intervention programs within correctional settings. Utilizing a sample of 14 Indigenous men residing in Port Augusta Prison in South Australia, 4 major themes were identified in how an individual defined and understood the experience of anger. These identified themes include: anger as violence, anger as uncontrollable, undifferentiated emotion experienced as anger, and anger as intergenerational. The triggers identified for angry experiences include: loss, family problems, alcohol and other drugs, and discrimination. The study was concerned with identifying themes and triggers in the experience of anger by Indigenous men in prison and whether these themes and triggers were specific to those from Indigenous cultures. References