ABSTRACT
The majority of children and adolescents referred for mental health services present externalizing problems (Quay, 1987) and antisocial behavior (Rosenblatt, 1993), and a substantial proportion of youth receiving psychi atric inpatient treatment are hospitalized for troublesome behavior (Kiesler, 1993; Weithom, 1988) and disruptive behavior disorders (Singh, Landrum, Donatelli, Hampton, & Ellis, 1994). Conduct disordered youths consume much of the resources of public service systems (child mental health, welfare, juvenile justice, and special education) and are overrepresented in the "deep end" of these systems (Henggeler & Borduin, 1995; Melton & Hargrove, in press; Melton & Spaulding, in press). When antisocial behav ior includes criminal activity, the consequences extend beyond the costs (psychological, educational, vocational, economic) to the youthful offender and offender's family and include emotional, physical, and economic tolls exacted from victims and their families, and from the larger community (Gottfredson, 1989).
