Mandated Anger Management from the Perspective of Violent Offenders

129 Pages·2017·1.53 MB·English

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Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects CUNY Graduate Center
9-2016
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Cory M. Feldman
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
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Mandated Anger Management from the Perspective of Violent Offenders
by Cory Feldman
A dissertation submitted to the Graduate faculty in Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
The City University of New York
2016

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© 2016 Cory Feldman All Rights Reserved

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This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Criminal Justice in
satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Date__________________________ ___________________________________________
Chair of Examining Committee Ric Curtis, Ph.D.

Date _____________________ ____________________________________________
Executive Officer Deborah Koetzle, Ph.D.
Jayne Mooney _______________________________________
David Brotherton _____________________________________
Supervisory Committee

THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

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Acknowledgements
I must start by thanking my dissertation chair and personal hero, Ric Curtis, for making all things
possible. Jayne Mooney worked with me even while she was out of the country and David Brotherton who
kept me on his radar and urged me to be irreverent at every opportunity, you have my deepest gratitude.
Jennifer Wynn, for cheerleading, rallying, and championing this research and whose confidence fueled
this project. I would also like to thank Michael Jacobson, who believed in me when even I had my doubts.
In addition to my committee, other faculty and friends have been instrumental: Lucia Trimbur, Bill
Heffernan and Deborah Koetzle all gave me their time and energy when this project was still in its infancy.
Kathy Mora without whom I would have self-destructed years ago. Lloyd Klein gave me hours of his life
that he will never get back just to talk critical criminology with me and edit early drafts. Jock Young
inspired me to buck academic trends and unleash my criminological imagination, for including me in your
work, and indoctrinating me into this method, thank you, wherever you are.
Jeff Mellow met with me in jail and in the delivery room while this dissertation was being crafted, always
urging me to finish, thanks for having my back. I would also like to posthumously thank my first mentor,
the late great Ric Culp, who urged me to pursue a PhD despite a shaky academic track record, “What
else are you going to do, just watch tv?”
My family has played a major role in my ability to do this work. To my husband Kingsley Rowe
and children, Kaya and Solomon: you didn’t even exist when I started, but I could not have completed this
without you. My parents who helped me survive when everything seemed stacked against me. My sister
Sydney who never gave up on me and Cassi edited multiple drafts, for which I apologize but am eternally
grateful. And Marly for being so wonderful and raising my son.
My comrades, Rebecca, Ashmini, Amber, and Kevin thanks for paving the way. We did have
some good times. My student researchers Christopher Etienne and Rosie Anderson who accompanied
me on this journey, thank you and I plan to be at your defense in another eight years. Jorge, thank you for
opening your home, giving me your time, and being all around brilliant. Finally, to the people whom this
research focuses on, thank you for opening your life to me, I hope I was able to tell your story, it was an
honor to be trusted to try.

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ABSTRACT
Mandated Anger Management from the Perspective of Violent Offenders
by
Cory Feldman

Adviser: Ric Curtis
Anger management is a mandated treatment for violent offenders (VOs) in Harlem, New York
returning from prison under parole supervision. This dissertation asks VOs to describe their experiences
with parole-mandated anger management (AM). The objectives of this research are to help illuminate the
reasons why anger management is mandated for VOs and why, for some, mandated AM may be
potentially harmful to their reintegration. To date, there have not been any studies exploring the role of
AM for people on parole charged with violent offenses; the extant literature on AM provides neither formal
evaluations nor long-term follow-up to indicate what the effect from AM is on the process of reintegration
after prison. This research uses grounded theory methodology to question the assumptions underlying
mandating anger management treatment for VOs. Semi-structured interviews with 26 VOs on parole in
Harlem provide rich description of their experience in AM.
Through the lens of symbolic interactionism, the qualitative data reveal that the majority of VOs
did not report benefits from being mandated to AM and discussed profound needs that AM was unable to
address. Notable findings include that participants’ level of anger and motivation for treatment were
heterogeneous as were their self-reported anger and violence. VOs described justifications for continuing
to use violence, in particular, self-defense and regulating an illegal economy. Rather than producing
therapeutic outcomes, VOs describe AM as an extension of parole or a means of generating income for
the agency providing services. The VOs explain why AM does not reduce violence or ease reintegration
and that some participants may be better served by professional mental health services that address
trauma recovery. VOs describe the ideal type of reentry intervention to reduce violence and propose
services that connect VOs to mainstream activities like work and education as crucially important, along
with opportunities to discuss strategies for overcoming the obstacles that reentry in itself presents. A final
point is the role of assessment to determine the appropriate level and modality of care. All respondents
described a general lack of specificity with their referral to AM despite the range of demographics. The
findings have implications for effective practice in prisoner reintegration and human services
development.
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DEDICATION
To Harland Kessaris, thank you for more than a decade of guidance and friendship, this is not the
culmination, just a stop on our road, and I look forward to our next project.

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Table of Contents
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................. v
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Background .......................................................................................................................... 3
Research Question ............................................................................................................... 7
Organization of the Dissertation ......................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER ONE: A Brief History of Mandated Anger Management ............................................ 9
What Is AM? .........................................................................................................................11
Justifications for Violence ................................................................................................................... 18
AM Program Evaluations ....................................................................................................22
Punishment as Treatment ...................................................................................................27
CHAPTER TWO: VIOLENT OFFENDERS ......................................................................................... 31
Reintegration After Prison ..................................................................................................34
Anger Management as Performance ..................................................................................42
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 45
Grounded Theory ................................................................................................................46
Method .................................................................................................................................47
Positionality .........................................................................................................................49
Research Questions ............................................................................................................49
Recruitment and Sampling Procedures .............................................................................50
Sample Characteristics ................................................................................................................ 51
Data Collection ....................................................................................................................52
Interview Process ........................................................................................................................... 53
Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................54
Stage One: Comparing Incidents Applicable to Each Category ........................................ 54
Stage Two: Integrating Categories and Their Properties .................................................... 54
Stage Three: Delimiting the Theory .......................................................................................... 58
Stage Four: Writing the Theory .................................................................................................. 59
Limitations ...........................................................................................................................60
Subject Effects ................................................................................................................................ 60
Validity .................................................................................................................................61
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS ............................................................................................................... 62
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Treatment Facilities .............................................................................................................70
Community Health Clinic ............................................................................................................. 71
Drug Treatment Program ............................................................................................................. 72
Multi-service Treatment Program .............................................................................................. 73
CHAPTER FIVE: PERCEPTIONS OF ANGER MANAGEMENT .................................................... 74
Inadequate ...........................................................................................................................74
Unnecessary ........................................................................................................................78
Never Angry ..................................................................................................................................... 78
Outgrew Anger ................................................................................................................................ 79
Unprofessional ....................................................................................................................81
CHAPTER SIX: JUSTIFICATIONS FOR VIOLENCE ....................................................................... 83
Self-Defense .........................................................................................................................85
Retaliation ............................................................................................................................89
Impulsive ..............................................................................................................................92
Instrumental .........................................................................................................................93
CHAPTER SEVEN: Reimagining Anger Management .................................................................. 95
Address Childhood and Institutional Trauma ................................................................. 101
Replace the Mandate with Access ................................................................................... 101
Assessments Treatment Needs ........................................................................................ 102
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 102
APPENDIX A. Definition of Terms .......................................................................................................104
APPENDIX B: Phenomenological Four-Step Method ......................................................................106
APPENDIX C: Demographic Table of Interviewees ..........................................................................107
References .............................................................................................................................................108
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