MULTISYSTEMIC FAMILY PRESERVATION THERAPY - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS FROMA STUDY OF RURAL AND MINORITY SERIOUS ADOLESCENT OFFENDERS

The increase in the number of serious offenses by adolescents, particu larly among minority populations, has drawn attention to these difficu lt-to-treat youths. This article provides preliminary findings from th e Diffusion of Multisystemic Family Preservation (MFP) Services Projec t, which conducted work with rural African-American and White families who have a chronic or violent adolescent offender at imminent risk fo r incarceration. Analyses assessed the impact of multisystemic therapy on family functioning (parental monitoring, family communications, fa mily structure, etc.) and on the problem behavior of the delinquent ad olescent (conduct problems, aggression, and criminal activity). In gen eral, the MFP group demonstrated improvements in amount of problem beh avior and mother psychological distress, and in aspects of family func tioning following treatment. These results generally replicate the pre vious successes that MFP has shown in the treatment of samples of seri ous juvenile offenders in urban areas.