Emotion Rescue Team is a therapeutic group which is according to the framework of Aggression Replacement Training model. It includes 3 modules: Anger control, social skill and moral reasoning. Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is a cognitive behavioral intervention program to help offenders improve social skill competence and moral reasoning, better manage anger, and reduce aggressive behavior
. The program specifically targets chronically aggressive clients. Goldstein and Barry Glick, ART has been implemented in schools and juvenile delinquency programs across the United States and throughout the world. (1) Emotion management skills training
Albert Bandura (1977) has shown that aggression is learned behavior. It is learned by the way of directly and or vicariously. Direct learning follows from reinforced practice. Vicarious learning occurs by observing others behaving aggressively and their receiving a reward for doing so. Criminals are surrounded by aggressive thoughts and behaviors. Many young offenders grow up with parents who settle their own disputes aggressively. They frequently hit their children as means of discipline. Many youths will be severely punished and humiliated if they don’t use force when parents or peer group think they should. Having learned well how to be aggressive, they found aggression to be consistently successful, and received generous encouragement and support from important others to keep being aggressive, chronically aggressive youngsters have a final quality that keeps such behavior going. This module is to teach the offender to know the relationship between emotion management and their reconviction rate. They would learn the skills of cognitive reframing and relaxation exercise to copy with the anger problem and emotion disturbance. (2) Prosocial skills training
Offender’s prosoical skills are not well learned in their lifetime. They are weak in personal, interpersonal and social-cognitive skills that collectively constitute effective prosocial behavior. Their frequent impulsiveness and overreliance on aggressive means to meet their daily needs. Therefore, the programe is to teach the offender to have more appropriate social skill in different situations. The structure of prosocial skills training
a) Modeling: Shown several examples of expert use of the behaviors that constitute the skills in which they are deficient. b) Role-playing: Given several guided opportunities to practice and rehearse these competent behaviors. c) Performance feedback: Provided with praise, reinstruction and feedback
d) Transfer training: Encouraged to engage in a series of activities designed to increase the chances that skills will endure when needed in reality. (3) Moral reasoning learning
Offenders have been shown to respond at a more egocentric and self-centered. They are always isolated from prosocial others and lack of involvement in prosocial recreational activities. Procriminal value and rationalization for crime are the mindset of them. It is a primitive level of moral reasoning in Kohlberg's stages of moral development. This module is according to Kohlberg's stages of moral development. It can be grouped into three levels of two stages each: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional. Pre-conventional
Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. Individualism and Exchange. Conventional
Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships. Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order. Post-conventional
Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights. Stage 6: Universal Principles. In this module, offenders experienced the six stages of moral level and understand the pros and cons of each level. Personal moral reasoning level would be reviewed and discussed at last. This module aims to raise participants’ awareness of others’ points of view and guides them to view their world in a more fair and equitable way.
