Anger dysregulation: driver of violent offending

Abstract

Anger has had insufficient priority in the forensic field. From classical scholarship to contemporary neuroscience, anger has been known for its dynamic bearing on violence risk and for its involvement in psychiatric disorders. Anger is intrinsically and reciprocally related to threat perception, and it impels violent behavior in the absence of selfregulatory controls. Focus is given to what has been learned in forensic domains about anger as an impetus for the violent behavior of offenders. Issues bearing on anger assessment in forensic settings are discussed. Topics for further engagement in forensic research on anger are presented, including offender readiness, transdiagnostic processes, and female offender specificity. While anger treatment is not covered, interfacing discussion is provided throughout.

Violent Offenders’ Within-Treatment Change in Anger, Criminal Attitudes, and Violence Risk: Associations with Violent Recidivism

“…In a forensic context, anger and related constructs such as rage, hate, and revenge are common antecedents of violent offending (Novaco, 2011). Furthermore, mean levels of anger expression and experience are significantly higher among offenders, both general (Foley, Hartman, Dunn, Smith, & Goldberg, 2002) and violent (Lim, Day, & Casey, 2011).…”

“…Although anger is neither a necessary, nor sufficient, precursor for violence, anger is part of the confluence of dynamic risk factors affecting violent behavior (Howells, 2004;Novaco, 2011). In a forensic context, anger and related constructs such as rage, hate, and revenge are common antecedents of violent offending (Novaco, 2011).…”

Anger or Fear? Effects of Discrete Emotions on Deviant Security Behavior

“…The effect of fear on offending decisions increases the effectiveness of deterrence policies and intervention. However, prior research has shown that anger reduces the effectiveness of sanctions [4-6, 15, 85] and is more likely to lead to offending behaviors [12,27,55]. Therefore, anger and fear have different effects on sanctions and security behaviors.…”

“…Conversely, individuals experiencing anger are certain of what is happening and emotion may cause quick and heuristic decision making. Prior criminological research indicates that anger reduces and fear increases perceived costs [4,5,85] and those emotions lead to different behaviors [55].…”

Anger and Paranoia in Mentally Disordered Offenders

“…For example, Novaco (2011) proposed that anger becomes problematic when its regulation and control is impaired, and it is triggered when an individual perceives deliberate harm or threat from others. Indeed, the central role of externalized blame attributions in the development of anger has been discussed (Ellsworth and Tong, 2006), and research has suggested that blame attributions explained the close association between anger and paranoia in people experiencing psychosis (Fornells-Ambrojo and Garety, 2009).…”