Aspects of disability in offenders' families are reviewed, and the study findings support the view that the compromises adopted by offenders' families are dysfunctional. What constitutes an appropriate interface between helpers in the justice system and the complicated interpersonal family systems of offenders is addressed. Three general modes of involvement are described: (1) the enmeshed-inactive mode, where difficulties emerge from the helper's (or the helping system's) incapacity to maintain a sense of distance from the family; (2) the introspective-reactive mode, where each agent expects interference or at least lack of cooperation from others; and (3) the separate-active mode, where there are clear boundaries between professional agents and family members. The latter mode of family-institutional involvement is considered the least dysfunctional. Three figures and 29 references are included.