Cognitive behavioural therapy for anger and aggression in forensic mental health populations

There is a paucity of research surrounding the needs of those within forensic mental health populations. This gap is amplified when we examine CBT-based treatments for those with anger and aggression in this population. Before we can address this gap in the literature, we must survey what has been done, who it has been applied to, and how effective it has been. Thus, we aimed to conduct a review on CBT for anger and aggression among forensic mental health populations. Authors followed a preregistered Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis protocol. Databases were searched for articles April 2020 and October 2022. The searches resulted in 4,137 articles which were reduced to 22 after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Findings demonstrate that CBT treatments for anger and aggression, including the reasoning and rehabilitation program, dialectic behaviour therapy, and aggression control programs tend to produce consistent and favourable results within forensic mental health populations. Findings confirm the success of CBT-based treatments for anger and aggression within this subgroup of justice-involved individuals. The review expands on this notion by identifying which treatments and criteria appear to be most promising for individuals in the forensic mental health population.