Multisystemic Therapy With Juvenile Sex Offenders (From Handbook of Sex Offender Treatment, P 57-1 - 57-32, 2011, Barbara K. Schwartz, ed. - See NCJ-243091)

• NCJ Number: 243148
• Author(s): Cynthia Cupit Swenson, Ph.D.; Elizabeth J. Letourneau, Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2011
• Length: 32 pages
• Sale Source: Civic Research Institute, Inc
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Technical Assistance; Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter features multisystemic therapy (MST) as a model that is appropriate for treating juvenile sexual offenders.

Abstract

In addition, the chapter defines juvenile sexual offending, examines its prevalence, outlines reasons for targeting juveniles who sexually offend, and reviews the literature and the etiology of juvenile sexual aggression. Juveniles who sexually offend are "minors who have committed sexual acts defined as crimes by law." Although data sources on the prevalence of juvenile sexual offending are limited, they all suggest that juvenile sexual offending is a significant problem when the psychosocial and financial costs are considered. Given the prevalence rates of juvenile sexual aggression and the data that indicate adult offenders may start sexual offending in adolescence, treatment that reduces reoffending is warranted. Consistent with findings in the general delinquency literature, the correlates of juvenile sexual offending are in multiple domains of a juvenile's life, including individual characteristics and the social contexts of family, peers, and school. This suggests that interventions should occur at multiple levels in the youth's ecology. Such intervention should be tailored to the strengths and needs of a particular family and within the family's setting. In addition, interventions should address multiple problems in multiple domains. Although treatment programs for juvenile sexual offenders have proliferated during the past 25 years, only a few controlled research studies have examined the efficacy of the prevailing cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches. Existing studies, which are reviewed in this chapter, provide only modest support for this approach. In promoting MST as the most effective treatment approach for juvenile sexual offenders, the chapter examines the history of its use as well as its theoretical and research foundations. The chapter presents a detailed description of the clinical implementation of MST and its nine principles. 1 figure, 1 table, a case study, and 100 references