NCJ Number
183449
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: July-August 2000 Pages: 343-378
Editor(s)
Vincent B. Van Hasselt,
Michel Hersen
Date Published
2000
Length
36 pages
Annotation
The authors describe a practical method of multisystemic care for juvenile offenders, Prosocial Family Therapy (PFT), which is based on theories about risk and protection factors and the therapy process.
Abstract
The PFT team integrates specific parent training techniques and nonspecific family therapy strategies in meetings scheduled with decreasing frequency over a 3-month intervention and a 2-year follow-up period. The PFT manual blends scientific and clinical concerns via checks on manual adherence, treatment integrity, and internal validity. The PFT method can be used in community or residential settings and in programs run by courts, schools, and mental health agencies. The short-term intervention goal of PFT is rapid, lasting reduction of problems young people experience at home and in the community (e.g.: police arrests, curfew violations, substance abuse, and suicide attempts). The long-term prevention goal includes fewer crimes and bad life outcomes (e.g.: school dropouts, teenage parenthood, and welfare dependence) and more family-wide pro-social coping. The authors discuss why family preservation is not the ultimate goal and why acceptance of reality is a prerequisite for behavior change in the PFT method. Appendixes contain an in-session therapy checklist and a glossary. 80 references, 30 footnotes, 4 tables, and 4 figures