ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the major theoretical and research-based constructs underlying standard Multisystemic Therapy (MST), the development and evaluation of adaptations of MST for different target populations, and research supporting the effectiveness and mechanisms of action of standard MST and its adaptations. MST was developed initially to address the clinical needs of juvenile offenders and their families. The publication in the 1990s of favorable results of some community-based effectiveness trials with chronic and/or violent juvenile offenders resulted in the identification of MST as an effective community-based alternative to incarceration for such youth and their families. The development of MST was also informed by the work of strategic and structural family therapy theorists. The integration of core tenets of distinct theories of human behavior that characterized the development of MST has become more common in the field of family therapy. The MST principles establish the social ecology of the youth and family as the target of assessment and intervention.
