Brent J. Atkinson

Family therapy with adolescent offenders: A collaborative treatment strategy

Abstract An intervention strategy is presented which can be used with families of adolescents who continue breaking the law despite improvement of family functioning during therapy. The strategy emphasizes collaboration between the therapist and juvenile justice system in stopping the childs law-breaking behavior in the shortest amount of time. The treatment strategy is suggested as a specific intervention to be used only when conventional family therapy strategies have failed to promote the cessation of the adolescents law-breaking behavior. As such, it is suggested as a strategy to be used in conjunction with family therapy rather than as a comprehensive treatment approach in itself.