Abstract: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.
Vita:Introduction: Petra Guder, Co-Chair, International Committee, US-National Council of Youth and Family Court Judges.
Presenter:
Marshall E. Swenson, MSW, MBA, received his MSW in Clinical Social Work from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1978, and his MBA from Centenary College of Shreveport, Louisiana in 1987. Marshall has been working with the MST Program Developer, Dr. Scott Henggeler, for many years. Since it's inception in 1996, he has been working as a Consultant for New Program Development at MST Services. Two years prior to that he was an MST Expert at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC, the home of MST research. Prior to joining the MST team, he worked for more than 25 years in a variety of social work settings in clinical practice, supervision, administration and community organization. Marshall Swenson shares a profound experience of many program replications, including for other target populations and program replications in Europe.
