Functional Family Therapy-Gangs: Adapting an Evidence-Based Program To Reduce Gang Involvement

• NCJ Number: 254465
• Date Published: March 2020
• Length: 8 pages
• Author(s): Mary Poulin Carlton
• Agencies: NIJ

Annotation

This NIJ Journal article discusses gang crime and violence, and the effectiveness of Functional Family Therapy in reducing youth gang involvement.

Abstract

Gang crime and violence remain pressing problems in communities. Researchers are exploring whether Functional Family Therapy, an evidence-based program demonstrated to reduce delinquency and substance abuse in a general delinquency population, can be modified for a population at risk of gang involvement or currently involved in gangs. They developed and implemented the new modified program, Functional Family Therapy-Gangs, and NIJ-funded researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial with encouraging results. A new, second-phase study supported by NIJ aims to address some of the questions left unanswered from the first study, including whether the new program reduces gang involvement and whether positive outcomes can be sustained over time.