Road rage, murder, rape, and child abuse are only a few of the many ways our society suffers from violent behavior. Violent behavior is the result of a stressful event that triggers an individual’s inability to control his or her anger. Consider the following facts:
- more than 2 million people are assaulted each year in the United States.
- physical violence between spouses occurs in 1/3 of all households.
- each year thousands of children are killed due to child abuse.
The crime wave that has taken over America’s streets has now moved into our communities, schools, churches, and workplaces. Why is this happening and how can we stop this trend? While experts struggle to explain why anger and violence have become a new hazard, The Anger Management Program offers a practical approach to decreasing this trend, offering a positive way of looking at the problem of anger management, and developing a healthy personality. The purpose of this profile is to help individuals learn how to identify, understand, and diffuse anger, whether it is their own or that of a spouse, friend, peer, or classmate. The Anger Management Program consists of two components: assessment and skill enhancement.
Assessment and Skill Enhancement
The assessment component consists of the following scales:
Interpersonal Assertion - this scale indicates how effectively individuals use direct, honest, and appropriate expression of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors when dealing with others. It indicates the degree to which one is able to be direct and honest in communicating with others without violating their rights.
Interpersonal Aggression – this scale assesses the degree to which communication styles violate, overpower, dominate, or discredit another person’s rights, thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. High interpersonal aggression is related to personality characteristics of rebelliousness, resentment, and oversensitive response to real or imagined affronts.
Interpersonal Deference - this scale measures the degree to which communication style is indirect, self-inhibiting, self-denying, and ineffectual for the accurate expression of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. High interpersonal deference is related to the personality characteristics of apprehensiveness, shyness, and over-sensitivity to threat or conflict.
Empathy - this scale indicates individuals’ abilities to sense, understand, and accept another person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. A strong sense of others’ feelings and emotions is a key element to anger management. Empathy is a primary characteristic of skilled communicators. Persons with strong empathy tend to be sociable and outgoing.
Stress Management - this scale assesses perceived skill in managing stress and anxiety. Anger that results in violence is usually triggered by a stressful event that is not appropriately managed. Persons with skills in managing stress positively are competent managers of time and are flexible, self-assured, stable, and self-reliant.
Change Orientation - this scale indicates the degree of motivation and readiness for change in the skills measured by The Anger Management Map. A high score indicates dissatisfaction with current skills and a strong conviction of the need to make personal changes.
Individuals with this profile are on a self-destructive course. They have difficulty expressing their needs and demands. They have difficulty standing up to others and cannot deal with conflict (low Interpersonal Assertion). They are sensitive to threat and will tend to withdraw when confronted (high Interpersonal Deference). They have a difficult time understanding the feelings of others (low Empathy). Stress tolerance is low and as a result their ability to handle stressful situations is quite limited (low Stress Management). The one good thing going for them is the fact that they want to change, however they do not know how to effect change positively in their lives. If positive change does not occur, they could look for ways to act out their frustrations (high Conflict Resolution).
After the assessment, appropriate skill enhancements are assigned. Each skill enhancement module consists of approximately 3-4 hours of interactive, learning activities, listening activities, and post assessments. The skill enhancements included are:
- Interpersonal Assertion
- Empathy
- Stress Management
Developing Healthy Relationships
Successful living requires skills and competencies essential to establishing and maintaining a variety of strong and healthy relationships. Effective communication is the key to positive and healthy relationships. Communication is especially difficult under stressful conditions. Stress is usually the trigger for anger. Empathy, the ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes, is a key component in controlling one’s anger. Research demonstrates that individuals who possess empathy are less likely to act out on their anger. Assertion is a powerful emotional skill that helps a person to communicate more effectively, honestly, and appropriately. It is the opposite of aggression or deference. Aggression and deference are patterns of communication that need to be altered by the emotional skills of anger control/management and fear control/management. Finally, change orientation is the indication of satisfaction and the magnitude of change perceived as desirable for developing personal and life effectiveness. Change orientation includes the degree to which a person is motivated and ready for change. Change orientation is a reflection of the satisfaction or dissatisfaction with current anger management skills and abilities. This scale is a reliable predictor of an individual’s potential for success through training.
System Requirements
- Windows XP SP2 or better, Vista or Windows 7
- Pentium or AMD processor (1Ghz or better recommended)
- 1024×768 Display Resolution
- 128MB RAM (256MB or better recommended)
- Sound Card and Speakers
- CD/DVD-ROM Drive
Pricing Information
For pricing information, please visit the Anger Management Program website.
