A Structural Approach to Changing the Social Context of Families

As the needs of families change, the theoretical and clinical work of the Center for Family Studies continues to evolve. The Center has expanded and adjusted its interventions in response to declining inner-city social conditions, the multiple problems faced by minority families, and the complex contextual factors that affect behavior problems. The Center is developing a structural approach for changing the social context of families that works more effectively with minority youth with behavior problems and their families.

Theoretical Background

The Center for Family Studies uses the theoretical work of Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979, 1986) and the multisystemic, service-oriented approach of Henggeler and colleagues (Henggeler and Borduin, 1990; Henggeler, Melton, and Smith, 1992). Bronfenbrenner examined the complexity of contexts, especially the relationships between various systems that affect an individual. In doing so, he identified and defined “microsystems” as those systems that have direct contact with the individual. For a child, microsystems include the family, school, and peers. He defined “mesosystems” as those systems that occur when microsystems interact. One example of a mesosystem occurs when the parents and school collaborate on a child's education. Another example of a mesosystem occurs when parents and peers interact (e.g., when parents organize and supervise peer activities). “Exosystems” are defined as those systems that affect family members and, through their impact on family members, affect the child. Examples of exosystems are a mother's workplace or her natural support network.

Bronfenbrenner's theory highlights the pivotal role of context in the life of a child and her or his family members. Moreover, this theory helps to explain how culture influences all other social contexts and provides a framework for developing culturally sensitive interventions that take into account the complex influence that cultural factors have on minority families.

Most of the current work at the Center for Family Studies reflects an increasing understanding of ecosystemic influences on youth behavior problems. In fact, several ongoing ecosystemic prevention and intervention projects are being implemented in schools and neighborhoods to address children's behavior problems. In place of a review of each of these programs, one program that exemplifies the ecosystemic philosophy is described below.

The Family Alliance Project.⁷ The Family Alliance Project study is investigating the effectiveness of ecosystemic family therapy compared with traditional family therapy and a community control group. The experimental intervention, structural ecosystems therapy, organizes the life context of the drug-abusing youth using Bronfenbrenner's social ecology framework and the theoretical principles of BSFT—that is, patterns of interaction are examined within and outside the family. Structural ecosystems therapy includes a full dose of BSFT (e.g., alliance, hierarchy, communication flow, personal and subsystem boundaries, developmental stage, identified patient, conflict resolution style, and abilities). However, interventions go beyond the family to target other critical youth interactions. In particular, the youth's relationships with school authorities and prosocial versus antisocial peers are examined. At the mesosystem levels, the relationships between parents and school, parents and their children's peers, and parents and the juvenile justice system are considered. At this mesosystem level, the extent to which the different systems support one another, or are in conflict with one another, is critical. For example, in the parents-peers mesosystem, parents may know the peers, organize supervised peer activities, and know the parents of their child's peers. Parents may participate in community organizations that provide organized, supervised peer activities.

Results of the interventions suggest that it is possible to affect youth conduct problems at home and school by correcting patterns of interaction in the family and school microsystems and the family-school mesosystem; reducing youth drug abuse also requires improving interactions in the peer microsystem and family-peer mesosystem.

Brief Strategic Family Therapy	Juvenile Justice Bulletin • April 2000