Anger: can it stand alone?

So, i dunno where to put this, and I suppose it is very much general, so here it is:

I do a great deal of work with anger management and helping people sort out emotions, and I've noticed that anger is never a true, independent reaction to an event or situation.

For example: A child is ridiculed at school for being strange, he gets angry...when explored further, it is evident that he in fact, felt embarassed. Feeling embarassed was a passive state and made the child uncomfortable, so he turned the feeling into anger. (not consciously)
For example: A teenager is listening to her favorite CD, it begins to skip. She becomes angry and cuts herself. When explored further, she was able to recognise that when the CD began to skip, she began to feel sad (about not being able to afford nice things, that nothing seemed to go the right way for her), but again, this was a passive and uncomfortable state, so she turned the sadness into anger. (not consciously)
For example: A man is driving on a busy road and a careless driver cuts him off causing him to swerve towards the median, the driver becomes angry and pulls out a gun to threaten the offender. When further explored, the driver admitted that prior to acting in anger, he (this was very difficult for him to admit) had been very frightened by what had happened. He did not know how to express that fear in a way that was socially acceptable to him, and again, his fear was passive and uncomfortable, so he became angry (still his change from fear to anger was subconscious)

all of these individuals had in common a feeling of what they perceived to be an unacceptable emotion that their subconscious turned into anger. Now this is perplexing to me because I know of no examples where someone was purely and simply angry. Rage seems to always come out of another emotion; hurt, sadness, embarrassment, fear, grief...all of which we seem to have less socially acceptable expressions, in that they are not active.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

What you explained is exactly the end outcome always seem's to neander towards as a "Cause and effect" situation.
I don't think it is so much the individuals are doing anyhting "Subconciously" but they are doing it "Exceptably" as a proper response.
When it comes to the troubles of the mind and the reaction of the physical, there is something that everyone has to realize,"Think before you act." Live by, learn it, love it, cherrish it. For every time you have an episode of the "anger" and the almost immediate "Retaliation" there are going to be consequences for the " Impropoer" action of failing to think correctly of the situation at hand.
Now, I am not saying a person won't get angry with this method, but I will garauntee you that if they start evaluating what had just taken place to cause the emotion, "They begin to understand how much control they have, and don't use on an everyday basis."
Sigman Frued said it best "Thought's of the mind produce after thier kinds." So, in other word's, "You think about something long enough, or have been commiting acts of agression as a first answer to the solution, you can never correctly have a 'Good' thought process until it is reshaped and instituted into one's life of the "Fact's of Positive outcome's for Corrective Thinking Processes to be Learned."
Hope this helped. But it all burn's down to the individuals at hand, none the less. Willing to "Relearn " though processes, the ability to recognize "Thier Incorrect thought Processes" and to apply a new "Fact" into thier live's as compared to the "miseries" that involve thier current states of conciousness of reality.
If you wish to talk more about this, because you seem as if you are very undecided to the probable cure's of "Anger Agression's", just u2u me with your question's, I will be glad to try to assist you.
Credentials:
12 mos Meta-physics classes
9 advanced psych analysis classes
6 mos corrispondance with corrective thinking classes
And my whole life of being a recovering Alchy.......

hi

maybe I'm not so much understanding how you took my question. I know how to treat anger in a counselling situation, in fact I am quite skilled at that. This isn't about me at all I guess, but rather my desire to be proven wrong in my belief that anger is not an innate emotion, but rather something that is learned and reinforced.

the problem here, is that i don't really believe that when someone says, "I have an anger problem." that a problem with anger is really the root of what they have. I think what they have is some other unrecognised emotion that they are expressing as anger. sure they have a problem in that they need to deal with the other emotion and learn non-aggressive (anger driven) ways to deal with it, but the anger isn't really the root problem.

I lack anything but case studies to support myself though, so I was trying to be the good little scientist practitioner and find evidence to the contrary.