There has been much discussion about treatment for criminal behavior. What works and what doesn’t work? Which approach is most effective in the long term? Just punish or treat? One of the approaches to criminal behavior is the multi-system approach. This approach is aimed at helping people return to society, working on all aspects of the client’s life.
The Multi-systemic approach
The Multi-systemic approach takes place within a client’s own social environment. Attention is focused on different areas; namely at school level and/or daytime activities, circle of friends, crime, family, etc. Attention to the family is important in this approach. The Multi-systemic approach always involves a varied approach using different methods.
To further illustrate what this approach looks like in practice , a case study follows.
A case
Tim is sixteen years old when the Youth Probation Service registers him for New Perspectives (NP); a form of treatment based on the Multi-systemic approach. Tim hardly goes to school, wanders the streets until late at night and is in debt. He recently came into contact with the police for the first time. He was suspected of several thefts, committed during raids with friends through the city. Tim doesn’t care about the rules at home and hangs out with the wrong friends, according to his parents. Tim is assigned an intervention worker from NP: Yamina. First of all, they draw up a plan together to pay off Tim’s debts. They also talk to the school: thanks to the mediation of a teacher, Tim gets one last chance. The agreement is that he will go to school one day a week. The other days he can do an internship in a sports store. Because he had previously enjoyed doing this, he and Yamina entered into discussions with his old employer. Fortunately, he can get back to work: first in supply, if he does well in sales. Tim’s parents are happy with the first rapid results and are doing everything they can to support their son. In this way they maintain intensive contact with the employer and the teacher at school. As soon as Tim does not appear, his parents are told and they take measures. Yamina gives them tips on how to set limits on Tim’s behavior and how they can address him about unacceptable behavior. Tim goes to the court hearing with someone from the Youth Probation Service. He is sentenced to community service. In consultation with Yamina, he then makes a schedule to be able to do school, work and community service. After three months of intensive guidance, Yamina distances herself somewhat. In a network meeting she discusses the successes achieved and the steps still to be taken in the remaining 12 weeks of aftercare. Agreements are made about who will support Tim in this. The family receives further family-oriented guidance from another Spirit program. Tim is doing well. He hardly has any free time or time for his friends, but he now has himself to thank for that. Once he has his diploma, he will think about who he can do what fun things with.
The Multi-systemic approach
What is very positive about this theory is that it works with the client’s entire system. Not only the client receives treatment, but the environment is also involved. It can be assumed that this is an important facet in working on recovery after criminal behavior because the client is also subject to circumstances within his environment. In order to break patterns, we must work on the overall picture. The environment also influences the client.
For example, they often already have a wrong example from their home situation. For example, it is possible that the parents are of foreign origin and have difficulty with the Dutch language and therefore probably also with the Dutch way of life because this differs from their culture. Due to the friction between the two cultures, there is a good chance that a young person is stuck between both cultures and has little structure. Parents of young people who hang around on the street often do not know what their child(ren) are doing. Consequences such as being late for school, skipping school, hanging out on the street and doing the wrong things could then be a logical consequence. Within the multi-systemic approach, the worker guides the client intensively in all kinds of areas of life, giving him structure and learning how life actually works. The approach is strict but fair. The client may make mistakes, but there were consequences and he could not just make everything.
Conclusion
One point that may still be questioned is the effectiveness of this approach. This approach is intensive and short-term and ends after 3 months. After this period, the client still has a few months in which he can fall back on the care provider and call him/her, but the actual care is then over. It can be said that this form of treatment works well during the three months of intensive care. However, you may wonder how much of this will be left when this period is over and the young person has to do it themselves. It may be thought that more time is needed to achieve real behavioral change and 3 months is then very short. There is therefore a risk that many young people will quickly relapse because there is no one left to provide them with structure or to encourage them back.
However, it is a very intensive method for both the client and the care provider. It is probably difficult to work with this methodology as a care provider because you have to be available for someone 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. It is not yet possible to say whether this is the right approach for criminal behavior and more research will need to be done into the effectiveness of this approach.