ABSTRACT
We noted in Chapter 1 multisystemic therapy (MST) shows some of the best outcomes results with troubled youths. Swenson et al (1998) note that MST owes much of its theoretical foundation to the work of Bronfenbrenner (1979). Individuals are viewed as nested within interconnected systems, for example, the individual, family, school and community. Problem behaviours are maintained by transactions within one or more of these systems, or between any combination of them. For example, a father might fight the school when the school attempts to stop his child from hitting (defending himself from teasing) because the father is feuding with families in the neighbourhood, and these neighbourhood children are teasing his son in the playground. This provides a difficult barrier to overcome. On the other hand, individuals from various systems in which the child is embedded bring certain strengths to the process of change. An older sibling, as in the case study on school refusal (Chapter 12), or grandparent can help while parents are overcoming certain barriers. Perhaps the schools can use the parents’ strong need to protect their child from teasing as a systemic strength.
