Psychosocial Treatment of Violent Men
Author | Nathan Pollock |
Pages | 873-885 |
CHAPTER 40
Psychosocial Treatment
of Violent Men
Nathan Pollock
I. INTRODUCTION
Interpersonal violence remains one of our most costly and intractable social problems. In Canada,
more than 300,000 violent crimes are committed yearly (Statistics Canada, 2007). is is a gure that
certainly represents only the tip of the iceberg if one considers the many acts of violence that no doubt
evade detection or prosecution. Data from the Victim Services Survey (VSS), on a specic snapshot day,
19 April 2006, indicate that 8,000 victims were served by agencies across Canada, the majority of whom
(72 percent) were victims of violent crime (Statistics Canada, 2007).
Criminal prosecution has traditionally been the principal response to the problem of interpersonal
violence but its value as a preventive measure is limited. While the concepts of specic and general deter-
rence gure prominently in criminal jurisprudence, there is little credible evidence to support the value
of legal sanctions as an eective deterrent to acts of violence and high-risk behaviour (Wagenaar et al.,
2007; Fagan, 2005; Bottoms et al., 1999). is is not surprising when one considers that such behaviour is
oen impulsive, guided more by emotion than by a reasoned consideration of legal consequences.
ere is clearly a need for more eective approaches to preventive intervention with violent individ-
uals. is chapter will consider the psychosocial approach to the treatment of violent behaviour, a form
of preventive intervention based primarily on the cognitive-behavioural model of emotion and emotion
management (Deenbacher, 1994; Grieger, 1986; Meichenbaum & Cameron, 1983; Novaco, 1975, 1983).
is is an evidence-based approach (Beck & Fernand, 1998), which entails working with the violent per-
son to analyze and modify cognitive factors, emotional reactivity, and decient social skills that contrib-
ute to the risk of violent behaviour.
II. THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
As mentioned, the psychosocial approach to treating violent behaviour derives from cognitive-behavioural
theory. According to this theory, emotional reactions are conceptualized as physiological arousal, trig-
gered by situational factors and mediated by cognitive labelling. Cognitive labelling is reciprocally
related to expectations, evaluations, and behavioural react ions.
In plain language, what this means is that when a person encounters a challenging situation, there
are automatic physiological reactions such as increased muscle tension, perspirat ion, dry mouth, rapid
breathing, and elevated heart rate as the body prepares for action. e person then identies (i.e., labels)
the physical reaction as fear or anger or sadness etc., depending on his interpretation of the situation.
is interpretation, in turn, depends on the person’s expectations and appraisal of events (determined
largely by prior experience) as well as his experience of his own behavioural reactions. ese compon-
ents of an emotional reaction — situational factors, physiological reaction, labelling, and behavioural
response — are reciprocally related. In other words, they inuence each other mutually such that the
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