Brief Strategic Family Therapy

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention John J. Wilson, Acting Administrator April 2000 engthen tr ing S S ly e i r m ie Brief Strategic a s F From the Administrator Just as a child is influenced by his or Family Therapy her family, the child’s family, in turn, is affected by the culture of which it is an integral part. If we are to succeed in preventing and combating delinquency, we must work to strengthen the role of the family within the com- Michael S. Robbins and José Szapocznik munity in which it resides. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delin- One of the first challenges the Spanish This Bulletin features a family- quency Prevention (OJJDP) is dedicated to Family Guidance Center’s clinical program strengthening strategy—brief strate- preventing and reversing trends of increased encountered involved identifying and de- gic family therapy—that integrates delinquency and violence among adoles- veloping a culturally appropriate and ac- theory with decades of research and cents. These trends have alarmed the pub- ceptable treatment intervention for Cu- practice at the University of Miami in lic during the past decade and challenged ban youth with behavior problems. To an intensive, short-term, problem- the juvenile justice system. It is widely ac- understand Cuban culture and how it re- focused intervention, generally cepted that increases in delinquency and sembled, and differed from, mainstream lasting 3 months. violence over the past decade are rooted in culture, the Center’s staff conducted a a number of interrelated social problems— comprehensive study on value orienta- The Bulletin also describes the therapy’s implementation by the child abuse and neglect, alcohol and drug tions. The study determined that the abuse, youth conflict and aggression, and Cuban community expected a family- Spanish Family Guidance Center. The Center, which was established early sexual involvement—that may origi- oriented approach in which therapists nate within the family structure. The focus take active, directive, present-oriented by the University of Miami’s School of Medicine, serves the local His- of OJJDP’s Family Strengthening Series is to leadership roles (Szapocznik, Scopetta, provide assistance to ongoing efforts across et al., 1978). panic community, consisting largely the country to strengthen the family unit by of Cuban immigrants. In adapting discussing the effectiveness of family inter- The Center’s second challenge involved brief strategic family therapy to the vention programs and providing resources developing interventions to help recent needs of its clients, the Center took to families and communities. immigrant Hispanic families work to- into account the strengths and weak- gether to deal with the stress of accul- nesses these minority youth and The 1970’s witnessed a tremendous in- turation. In these families, it was quite families bring to therapy, and those crease in the number of Hispanic adoles- common for conflicts to emerge or inten- special risk and protective factors cents involved with drugs. In response to sify when the children or adolescents are also highlighted in these pages. this problem, the University of Miami (FL) began to behave in ways that were not The needs of families are addressed School of Medicine, Department of Psy- consistent with the families’ traditional chiatric and Behavioral Sciences, estab- cultural values. Typically, these conflicts most effectively within the social and cultural milieus of those families. lished the Spanish Family Guidance Cen- occurred as children and adolescents as- ter in Miami to provide services to the similated more rapidly than their parents Brief strategic family therapy is a time-tested approach to that end. local Hispanic community, which was pre- to the bicultural environment in which dominately recent immigrants from Cuba. they were living, and often involved a clash John J. Wilson The Center was initially funded by the between the American value of individual- Acting Administrator U.S. Department of Health, Education, and ism and the Hispanic value of familism. Welfare, Office of Economic Opportunity. Such intergenerational (parent versus adolescent) and cultural differences often yielded intense conflict within the family and resulted in parents and adolescents feeling alienated from one another. In 1975, the Spanish Family Guidance Center adopted structural family therapy (SFT) as its core approach, and SFT has been at the heart of the Center’s efforts to develop interventions for use in culturally diverse contexts (Szapocznik and Kurtines, 1993). Over time, the structural approach of SFT has been refined to meet the needs of the Hispanic community in Miami. For example, SFT uses treatment methods that are both strategic (i.e., problem focused and prag- matic) and time limited. Thus, the structural approach has evolved into a time-limited, family-based approach that combines both structural and strategic interventions. This and cultural/contextual factors that influ- one parent, usually the mother, to come approach, called brief strategic family ence youth behavior problems. BSFT is to the United States alone to establish a therapy (BSFT), has become the most com- based on the fundamental assumption place and economic means for the family, mon intervention used by the Spanish that the family is the “bedrock” of child and then bring the children to this coun- Family Guidance Center for families that development; the family is viewed as the try. For many families, this process is pro- include youth with behavior problems. primary context in which children learn tracted, and they are separated for many BSFT evolved from more than 25 years of to think, feel, and behave. Family rela- years. Moreover, the reunification process research and practice at the University of tions are thus believed to play a pivotal often fails to meet family members’ expec- Miami. The structural orientation of BSFT role in the evolution of behavior problems tations. Children are often disappointed draws on the work of Minuchin (Minuchin, and, consequently, they are a primary tar- when they arrive in the United States and 1974; Minuchin and Fishman, 1981; and get for intervention. see that they are living in an impover- Minuchin, Rosman, and Baker, 1978), and ished, dangerous, inner-city community. BSFT recognizes that the family itself is part the strategic aspects of BSFT are influenced Likewise, parents are often disappointed of a larger social system and—as a child is by Haley (1976) and Madanes (1981). By when they are confronted with angry and influenced by her or his family—the family integrating theory, research findings, and emotionally detached children. As a re- is influenced by the larger social system clinical practice, BSFT has been continu- sult, treatment often involves attempting in which it exists. Sensitivity to contextual ously refined to improve its effectiveness to reestablish parent-child bonds and cre- factors begins with an understanding of with youth with behavior problems. ate new family structures that include the the influence of peers, schools, and neigh- parent who was separated from the family. Since its modest beginning in a small store- borhoods on the development of children’s front location, the Spanish Family Guid- behavior problems. However, BSFT also High conflict. Intense and persistent ance Center has grown in response to the focuses on parents’ relationships with conflict is a common characteristic of needs of the minority community in Mi- children’s peers, schools, and neighbor- families of youth with behavior prob- ami. In particular, work with youth with hoods and on the unique relationships lems. High levels of conflict interfere behavior problems has expanded to in- that parents have with individuals and with parents’ ability to resolve problems, clude minority families from a variety of systems outside the family (e.g., work or communicate effectively, nurture, and backgrounds, including both Hispanic groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous). guide their children. BSFT focuses on (from the Caribbean Islands and Central assessing the family’s conflict resolution and South America) and African American style and developing specific interven- youth and families. To accommodate this Program Objectives tions to help families negotiate and re- expansion, the Center for Family Studies BSFT has been revised to respond to the solve their differences more effectively. was established as an umbrella organiza- unique strengths and weaknesses minor- Inner city. The powerful influence of tion to serve inner-city minority youth ity youth and families in Miami bring to neighborhoods cannot be ignored when and families in Miami. The mission of the therapy. Several of these risk and protec- working with inner-city youth and fami- Center for Family Studies is to identify the tive factors are described below. lies. In fact, accumulating evidence needs of minority families and develop shows that the positive changes made in and refine culturally appropriate interven- Mitigating Risk Factors family therapy are often overwhelmed tions to meet those needs. The Center for Immigration. Many of the families served by the harsh and deteriorated conditions Family Studies uses BSFT to help children by the Spanish Family Guidance Center of the inner city. As a result, the focus of and adolescents with conduct, delin- have recently immigrated to the United BSFT has expanded from individual

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