Question

Some people do not want to comply with societal behavioral norms. This may be exasperated in a correctional setting. How can a mental health professional be able to assist in changing anti-social behavior of disruptive inmates? How effective would these methods be in the face of irrational behavior?

Answer 1

There has not been a lot of development in treating anti-social behaviour. However, a mental health professional can adopt cognitive and behavioural interventions in order to assist in changing anti-social behaviour of disruptive inmates.

Some examples of such interventions are Reasoning and Rehabilitation, Enhanced Thinking Skills, Relaxation training, Systematic Desensitization, problem solving therapy, moral reconation therapy etc. Moreover, social learning theory could also be taken as a base to develop interventions for anti-social behaviour.

Irrational behaviour is behaving in inappropriate ways without any particular reason or through emotional distress or cognitive deficiency. In order to deal with such issues, the above methods should be combined with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, especially Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy.