Individual Project 2 - Essay Example

According to Redding (2000), contrary to common belief, there are effective programs for rehabilitating juvenile offenders. Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is a comprehensive approach that intervenes in the multiple systems affecting juvenile delinquent behavior. This includes the child, family, school, peers and community. The system has been so designed to improve family relations, improve the caregiver discipline practices, decrease the youth’s association with peers who are delinquent, and increase association with peers who are pro-social.

This program is meant to keep the youth engaged in positive recreational activities and improve vocational performance. Support is provided through the extended family, neighbors, and friends so that the caregivers are able to achieve the goals. This is a multi-modal family-based system approach and the rate of reduction in recidivism is much higher than standard programs. Interventions have to be multi-modal because there is not just one cause for the delinquent behavior in the youth. Multi-modal program identifies the risk factors and provide treatment accordingly.

The possible risk factors could range from child (mental health problems, substance abuse), family (poor parental supervision, ineffective discipline practices), school (truancy, poor academic achievement), peer (association with delinquent peer group, gang membership), and community (neighborhood violence, drug markets) risk factors. As such, it is essential to involve all the groups in the correction or rehabilitation therapy. Community based programs have always been found to be more effective than residential programs.

Each organization brings a variety of strengths into the process and this enhances the chances of success. The most significant feature of this therapy is that it is on a highly individualized basis and the treatment is developed in collaboration with the family. The family