Behavioral Family Therapy for Delinquent and Substance-Abusing Adolescents

Abstract

Contingency contracting is an intervention modality (or tool) to enable families to change their reward patterns from maladaptive to more adaptive behavior patterns in relation to drug abusing and otherwise delinquent or socially non-compliant adolescent offspring. The five basic elements of the contract include: 1) Responsibilities, 2) Privileges, 3) Bonuses, 4) Penalties, and 5) Record Keeping. These elements are employed in an exchange model of social interaction with goals of increasing positive reinforcement and creating improved interpersonal relations. This is likely to involve interpersonal skills training, which can help clarify confusing communication and enable negotiation to occur free from explicit or subtle coercion. The actual Family Contracting Exercise has six basic phases. In Phase I, each party identifies the things they think would be rewarding to the other. In Phase II, each party identifies rewards for themselves. In Phase III, each party places priorities on rewards previously described. In Phase IV, family empathy is built. In Phase V, each party identifies how hard they think it will be to provide or do the things which the other has identified as rewarding or reinforcing. In Phase VI, actual negotiating or bargaining for a contract takes place. Details of the actual verbal and nonverbal behaviors involved in communication skills which lead to successful contracting are described. A review of the results of studies is done which have utilized this technique with delinquent or drug-abusing adolescents.