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Developmental Psychology
1986,
Vol. 22, No.
1,132-141
Copyright 1986 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
0012-I649/86/S00.75
Multisystemic Treatment of Juvenile Offenders: Effects on Adolescent
Behavior and Family Interaction
Scott W. Henggeler and J. Douglas Rodick
Memphis State University
Cindy L. Hanson and Sylvia M. Watson
Memphis State University
Charles M. Borduin
University of Missouri
Jon R. Urey
University of Alabama-Birmingham
The efficacy of
a
mulitsystemic approach to treatment was evaluated for juvenile offenders and their
families. Subjects included 57 delinquent adolescents who received family-ecological treatment, 23
delinquent adolescents who received an alternative treatment, and
44
normal adolescents who served
as developmental controls. Pretreatment and posttreatment assessments were conducted with the
adolescent and his or her parent(s). Personality inventories, behavior ratings, and self-report and
observational measures of family
relations were
included to
evaluate changes
at
several
systemic levels.
Statistical analyses revealed that the adolescents who received family-ecological treatment evidenced
significant decreases in conduct problems, anxious-withdrawn behaviors, immaturity, and association
with delinquent
peers.
The mother-adolescent and marital relations in
these
families
were
significantly
warmer, and the adolescent was significantly more involved in family interaction. In contrast, the
families
who
received
the
alternative treatment evidenced
no
positive
change
and showed deterioration
in affective relations. The normal families manifested relationship changes that are consistent with
those
identified
by
investigators of normal adolescent
development.
The
findings
support
a
multisystemic
model of behavior disorders and treatment.
Loeber (1982) concluded that youths who display high rates
of antisocial and delinquent behavior tend to maintain such be-
havior through adolescence and adulthood. Although repeat ju-
venile offenders and their families constitute a relatively small
percentage of the population, they account for a large percentage
of a community's crime (West & Farrington, 1973, 1977). In
consideration of the stability of antisocial behavior as well as the
extremely detrimental impact of such behavior on community
members, it seems important to develop treatment strategies that
ameliorate antisocial child behavior and problematic family re-
lations.
During the past three decades there has been a dramatic shift
among many developmental psychologists and clinicians regard-
ing the conceptualization of child psychopathology. This shift
has centered on the recognition and utilization of two general
principles. First, the child is embedded within multiple systems
that exert direct and indirect influences on behavior (Bronfen-
brenner, 1979). The child experiences a complex of interrelations
within several microsystems. The linkages between these micro-
systems constitute a mesosystem that has important develop-
This research was supported by funding to the Department of Psy-
chology at Memphis State University granted through the Centers of
Excellence Program of
the
State of Tennessee.
We
thank the staff at the Memphis-Metro Youth Diversion Project for
their consideration and assistance. In addition,
we
greatly appreciate the
efforts of the numerous research assistants, therapists, and community
professionals who have worked on this project.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Scott
W. Henggeler, Department of Psychology, Memphis State University,
Memphis, Tennessee 38152.
mental implications. The multidimensional and systemic nature
of adolescent psychopathology has been shown for many different
problems, including drug use (Brook, Whiteman, & Gordon,
1983) and schizophrenia (Valone, Norton, Goldstein, & Doane,
1983).
Regarding delinquency, Loeber and Dishion (1983) con-
cluded in their review that certain characteristics across individ-
ual,
family, and peer systems predicted criminal activity. Simi-
larly, Hanson, Henggeler, Haefele, and Rodick (1984) found that
a combination of individual, family, and peer variables was able
to account for a large percentage of the variance in predicting
serious and repeated criminal activity among adolescents and
their siblings.
The second general principle is that behavior occurs within a
relationship context and is reciprocal and bidirectional in nature
(Bell & Harper, 1977; Haley, 1976; Minuchin, 1974). For ex-
ample, Brunk and Henggeler (1984) observed that adult-child
interactions served to maintain the interpersonal system in equi-
librium or homeostasis. Consistent with Bell's (1977) model of
reciprocity, adults responded with upper-limit controls when
confronted with conduct-problem child behavior, and with lower-
limit controls when faced with anxious-withdrawn child behavior.
Moreover, the adults developed cognitive and behavioral sets to-
ward the conduct-problem children that promoted cycles of neg-
ative reciprocity. Similar cycles have been reported for mother-
hyperactive-child interaction (Cunningham & Barkley, 1979;
Mash
&.
Johnston, 1982) and the peer interactions of aggressive
children (Dodge & Frame, 1982).
The multidimensional and bidirectional nature of behavior
has direct implications for the treatment of delinquency. First,
to understand the functionality of deviant behavior it is important
to consider characteristics of the adolescent as well as his or her
132
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