This paper is an examination of a case of chronic anger and a design for controlling and redirecting the behavior of the case subject, based on Carol Tavris' book, Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion. Anger is a powerful force in society, fueling disruption and chaos. Anger threatens the social order, preventing progress, rational conversation, and the ability of many people to live and work together. Yet it is also prevalent. Understanding anger and dispelling the myths about its management are important to the creation of an orderly society. This paper is a study of one apparently out-of-control case of anger and an attempt, using Tavris' ideas, to describe a socially useful method of handling such a case.
Tommy L. is a white, American male in his 30s. He has a successful career as a musician, is in good physical health, and has many sources of social support, from his family to his friends, his business associates, his coworkers, and his fans.
Unfortunately, he also has a problem with chronic anger, resulting on numerous occasions in outbursts of rage and physical assault. During his most recent outburst, he battered his wife, and he was subsequently convicted of a felony and sentenced to several years in prison. Unless he is able to receive help in understanding his anger and learning to redirect it, he is likely to continue his pattern of behavior, both behind bars and once he is released.
Carol Tavris (1989) argues, "Anger involves the mind, the body, and the behavioral habits that people have acquired over the years in coping with emotions" (p. 288). Obviously, Tommy L. has learned to express his anger in as physical a manner as possible, using his fists and his body to attempt to express what he is feeling. Traditional anger therapies might have advocated some form of cathartic release treatments, encouraging him to let go of his feelings of rage by ripping up phone books, for example, or beating a floor m...