Changing the Social Ecologies of Adolescent Sexual Offenders: Implications of the Success of Multisystemic Therapy in Treating Serious Antisocial Behavior in Adolescents

Current treatment models for adolescent sexual offenders are individually oriented and have limited empirical support. These models may not be effective in reducing recidivism because they do not address the multiple factors (i.e., individual, family, peer, school) related to sexual offending. Multisystemic therapy (MST), an ecologically based treatment model that addresses multiple determinants of behavior, has proven effective with chronic, violent nonsexual offenders in several randomized trials. Preliminary research also indicates promise for MST with sexual offenders. This article: (a) presents empirical support for use of an ecological approach with adolescent sexual offenders based on a multidetermined etiology, (b) provides a theoretical and clinical description of MST, and (c) describes a recent adaptation of MST that maintains the ecological emphasis of MST and integrates important conceptualizations from the literature on adolescent sexual offending.