Multisystemic Therapy (MST): 30 Years of Experience

Petra Guder
Transatlantischer Dialog/GMAD e. V.
Marshall E. Swenson
MST Services Inc.

Effective Violence Prevention: Through the Juvenile Justice Reform Process, our colleagues in the US can share profound data regarding evidence based program replications to tackle youth violence successfully, receiving more and more attention throughout Europe.
One example is Multisystemic Therapy (MST), one of the oldest Blueprints for Violence Prevention and Healthy Youth Development, an internationally recognized, scientifically proven intervention for high-risk youth and their families. Therapists work in the home, school and community and are on call 24/7 to provide caregivers with the tools they need to transform the lives of troubled youth. For more than 30 years, MST has consistently demonstrated positive outcomes with chronic juvenile offenders Research demonstrates that MST reduces criminal activity and other undesirable behavior. Based on the program’s success, rigorous randomized trials were conducted to explore the feasibility and effects of adaptations of MST with other target populations.

MST’s positive results are long lasting. The program has been effectively transported to community practice settings with currently more than 500 active programs, including replications in Europe, a. o. Switzerland. If implemented with fidelity, an evidence based program makes a great difference in young peoples lives and helps them to integrate into society successfully.

verwandte Schlüsselbegriffe

Vernetzung Violence Prevention