NCJ Number
113457
Editor(s)
E W Nunnally,
C S Chilman,
F M Cox
Date Published
1988
Length
266 pages
Annotation
Twelve papers present research-based knowledge, practice guidelines, and policy analyses to help professionals work with families troubled by mental illness, delinquency, addictions, and child neglect.
Abstract
Three papers describe varied approaches for helping patients and families when a family member has a mental illness. These papers include research findings on treatment outcomes, causal theories of mental illness, and alleged associations between family system functioning and the mental illness of a family member. One paper describes a research-based 'functional family therapy approach' for helping families with a delinquent child, and another surveys the research and theory literature on child neglect. Other papers outline a research-based approach for helping families who neglect a child; survey the theory and research literature on substance abuse, with special attention to alcoholism; and describe an approach to families troubled with the drug addiction of a juvenile member. A review of the trends, research, and theory that link family-life factors to involvement in crime and delinquency is followed by two papers on legislation and social policy relevant to mental health patients and their families. 420 references, subject index.