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Anger change programme for parents - a process evaluation Green, Patty

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Wellington Child Abuse Prevention Services NZ 2002Description: 133 pSubject(s): DDC classification:
  • TRO 152.47 ANG
Summary: This report evaluates the Anger Change programme initially developed by Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) in 1990, with the intention of allowing its extension to further geographic locations. The Anger Change programme is a tertiary and secondary prevention programme in that it focuses specifically on preventing child abuse and the prevention of the re-occurrence of child abuse by working with parents. It seeks to prevent child abuse by working primarily with mothers and their anger. The course is based on the premise that a parent's anger is linked by 'trigger events' to past unresolved emotional situations, and that, by moving away from a perception of their children as appropriate targets for their anger, and attempted therapeutic resolution of that anger, parents will experience fewer and less intense feelings and behaviour towards their children. Role-play and other activities are used to help parents pinpoint the real causes of their anger and to remove the child as its focus. Intensive therapy, counselling and parenting courses are use to help resolve these newly recognised feelings. The evaluation included a literature review to provide context, the review of secondary data, and qualitative interviews with programme facilitators and managers, and parents who participated in the programme over one school term. Findings showed the Anger Change programme to be a well-implemented, quality service for the parents it is designed to assist, with parents reporting significant and radical changes in their relationships with their child. Programme provision was found to be undertaken in a uniformly professional manner, with all facilitators highly skilled, well trained, supported and supervised. Key operational deficiencies included: a lack of follow-up of programme participants; the need to clarify facilitator recruitment and training policy; continued funding issues in some areas; and the need for more competitive facilitator pay rates. The programme was consistently praised for its lack of judgement of those attending. Future recommendations include: keeping a focus on training and retention of staff; creation of a centralised fund to assist programmes that fall short of meeting operating costs; retaining a focus on quality control during national programme expansion; and longitudinal research focussing on the impact of the programme on parents of both genders and various ethnicities.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Barcode
Report Report Vine library TRO 152.47 ANG Available A00669016B

This report evaluates the Anger Change programme initially developed by Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) in 1990, with the intention of allowing its extension to further geographic locations. The Anger Change programme is a tertiary and secondary prevention programme in that it focuses specifically on preventing child abuse and the prevention of the re-occurrence of child abuse by working with parents. It seeks to prevent child abuse by working primarily with mothers and their anger. The course is based on the premise that a parent's anger is linked by 'trigger events' to past unresolved emotional situations, and that, by moving away from a perception of their children as appropriate targets for their anger, and attempted therapeutic resolution of that anger, parents will experience fewer and less intense feelings and behaviour towards their children. Role-play and other activities are used to help parents pinpoint the real causes of their anger and to remove the child as its focus. Intensive therapy, counselling and parenting courses are use to help resolve these newly recognised feelings. The evaluation included a literature review to provide context, the review of secondary data, and qualitative interviews with programme facilitators and managers, and parents who participated in the programme over one school term. Findings showed the Anger Change programme to be a well-implemented, quality service for the parents it is designed to assist, with parents reporting significant and radical changes in their relationships with their child. Programme provision was found to be undertaken in a uniformly professional manner, with all facilitators highly skilled, well trained, supported and supervised. Key operational deficiencies included: a lack of follow-up of programme participants; the need to clarify facilitator recruitment and training policy; continued funding issues in some areas; and the need for more competitive facilitator pay rates. The programme was consistently praised for its lack of judgement of those attending. Future recommendations include: keeping a focus on training and retention of staff; creation of a centralised fund to assist programmes that fall short of meeting operating costs; retaining a focus on quality control during national programme expansion; and longitudinal research focussing on the impact of the programme on parents of both genders and various ethnicities.

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