Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A Solution-Oriented Approach to
Working with Juvenile Offenders
Solution-focused therapy is one of the newest models to enter the psychotherapy movement. Influenced by a variety of theories, including
Eriksonian, MRI brief therapy, strategic, cognitive-behavioral, and
narrative models, the crux of the solution-oriented approach is a
unique emphasis on strengths and solutions rather than problems and
dysfunction. Solution-oriented therapy has been used with various
populations, including couples (Hudson & O'Hanlon, 1992; WienerDavis, 1992), sexual abuse survivors (Dolan, 1991; Durant & Kowalski, 1991), people with chemical addictions (Berg & Miller, 1992),
parents who are abusive (Berg, 1994), and middle and high school
students identified as "at-risk" for dropout in the school setting (Corcoran, under review). Although the use of the scaling technique from
solution-oriented therapy has been applied to youth and their families with a multitude of presenting concerns, including juvenile justice involvement (Franklin, Corcoran, Streeter, & Nowicki, under review), the use of a solution-focused approach with juvenile offenders
has not been applied in a systematic manner. However, the solutionJacqueline Corcoran, Ph.D., LMSW-ACP, is Assistant Professor, School of Social
Work, University of Texas, Arlington, Texas. Address communications to Jacqueline
Corcoran, Ph.D., LMSW-ACP, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Arlington,
Box 19129, Arlington, Texas 76019.
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oriented approach has a number of advantages for the juvenile offending population. Not only does the positive, strengths-based perspective foster a more favorable view of the client and thus build a
foundation for change, the solution-oriented approach takes advantage of the present-focus typical of most adolescents and the tendency of juvenile offenders to avoid discussion of the past, problems,
and feelings, the traditional emphasis of many psychotherapies. Finally, the solution-oriented approach is directed toward change occurring in a brief time period, which is further suited to both the
realities of many practice settings as well as to the short attention
span of adolescent offenders and their non-voluntary status in
treatment.
The solution-oriented model as discussed in this article is based on
work with adolescents in a short-term alternative detention program
in which treatment services are delivered during home visits while
the offender is either awaiting trial or on probation. However, the
solution-focused techniques described here can easily be adapted for
use in other social work settings, such as casework, juvenile probation, and treatment services for juvenile offenders.
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Client: I guess if I'm not sleeping like that. But I just sleep when I'm
tired, and sometimes I'm not tired.
Social worker: Tell me about the times you're not tired . . .
This last exchange by the social worker introduces the idea of exception-finding, the crux of the intervention stage.
Exceptions
The next stage of the intervention and an ongoing task of the clinician is to inquire about exceptions, times when the problem is not a
problem or is less of a problem (e.g., Berg, 1994; Berg & Miller, 1992;
Cade & O'Hanlon, 1993; Hudson & O'Hanlon, 1991; O'Hanlon &
Weiner-Davis, 1989). Through discovering exceptions, information
can be elicited on ways to solve the problem. These solution behaviors
can then be applied until the problem is no longer a problem. The
importance of the language used when asking exception questions
points to the narrative influence on solution-oriented therapy. For instance, questions related to exceptions are worded in presuppositional
phrasing to display the certainty that these exceptions do indeed occur (Cade & O'Hanlon, 1993). An example of an exception-finding
question related to the above example is: "What's different about the
times when you have more energy?" rather than ". . . if you had more
energy...."
Examples of other exception-finding questions related to problems
common to adolescent offenders include the following: "What's different about the times you are able to avoid a fight?" "What's different
about the nights you come in on time?" "What's different about the
times you hang around friends who are good for you?" Whenever possible, goals are stated in positive terms; e.g., "friends who are good for
you" rather than "friends who are not gangsters."
As soon as an exception, no matter how small, has been identified,
the client is asked, "How do you get that to happen?" This question
functions as an intervention by not only eliciting information about
the client's actions to prevail over the problem, but it also encourages
the client to take credit for what has been done (O'Hanlon & WeinerDavis, 1989). The impact of their behavior on other people can also
emphasize the changes they have made as well as to indicate to them
that their actions have an effect on others. "Who else noticed that
(you are staying home, are clean from 'weed', are hanging
around different people)? What did they say or do to make you realize
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probation officers, who in turn are ranked higher than their parents.
When asked about such discrepancies, clients have stated their realization of how much change has been involved since their "lock-up,"
and give themselves a lot of credit for these changes. Clients have
also recognized that the lower rankings from parents may be due to
their lack of willingness to follow household rules and help with
chores, whereas the relatively higher rankings by probation officers
were due to their concentration on the behaviors that got clients in
trouble with the law. An advantage of assessing clients' perceptions of
other people through the use of scaling questions is that they are
forced to address these discrepancies. Questions can then be asked
about actions the client needs to take so that rankings by probation
officers and parents can become more similar to his own.
Other advantages of scaling questions are that clients are given a
sense of control and responsibility. They can objectifiably see that
they are "navigating the direction" of change (Cade & O'Hanlon,
1993, p. 62). Scaling questions help them target goals for change,
with the rank ordering between the problem and the goal made quantifiable (Cade & O'Hanlon, 1993), as well as progress on the goal in
further sessions. Even the most abstract aspects of the client's life,
such as mood, motivation, and "attitude" can thus be more easily concretized with the use of scaling questions.3
Goals must be agreed upon by both client and clinician as relevant
and achievable (Cade & O'Hanlon, 1993). For instance, getting "all
A's" might not be a workable goal for a client failing in school; however, passing grades might be more within a reasonable realm. In
addition, the solution-focused orientation holds the belief that there is
no single correct way to live (O'Hanlon & Weiner-Davis, 1989). A common example in working with juvenile offenders is gang membership.
While the worker may not think it is in the client's best interest to
belong to a gang, it is left up to the client to decide how this should be
managed. Juvenile clients are often successfully able to come up with
strategies so that their gang involvement does not lead to further
criminal activity. For instance, clients say that since officially withdrawing could draw negative attention and reprobation from fellow
3Although scaling questions are described here with juvenile offenders who commonly present as the "visitor" type of client, scaling questions can also be applied to
complainants (usually parents in these cases). In complainant cases, scales can be conducted with parents on their perceptions of their children's progress and what they are
doing differently when their children are behaving.
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gang members, they just might be "lying low" and not hanging
around the gang as much.4
Another example of how the solution-oriented approach allows for
client self-determination involves the traditional therapeutic goal of
getting clients to "talk about their feelings." The solution-oriented clinician may recognize when working with a juvenile offending population that resolving disputes among peers with "I" statements and
other conflict resolution verbalizations may not be a goal for the
youth. "Walking away," a common strategy named by juvenile offenders, may be more effective. The overall focus of the solution-oriented approach is on taking action, rather than discussions about
feelings, which may particularly be suited to meet the needs of adolescent boys who have been in trouble with the law.
The focus on goals implies an orientation toward the future. This
focus is in contrast to other therapeutic modalities that concentrate
on the past in order for the client to make change in the present.
Juvenile offenders are often impatient with talking about the past
and often claim that although illegal behavior used to be a problem, it
is no longer. In other therapeutic models, the worker may be tempted
to challenge these kinds of statements and assume the client is avoiding or denying, etc. However, the solution-oriented clinician would reinforce the youth's decision to change and ask, "How will you continue
to make that happen?" indicating the belief that the client is indeed
already moving in that direction. If the client does not spontaneously
orient toward the future, the clinician will direct clients to the vision
of a better future to enable them to see a clear path to solving problems.
The narrative influence on solution-focused therapy is demonstrated with definitive rather than possibility phrasing. Definitive
phrasing indicates the clinician's confidence that goals will be met
(Cade & O'Hanlon, 1993). Examples of words conveying an expectancy for change are "will," "when," and "yet." The following examples
of questions applied to juvenile offenders illustrate the use of definitive phrasing: "What will be different in your life when you're staying
at home at night?" as opposed to "What would be different if you were
staying at home at night?" "Who will be the first to notice when you
4Since gang membership and illegal behavior may carry self-esteem value, keeping
out of trouble may not carry comparable value. However, this model presupposes that
the practitioner is working collaboratively with the juvenile offender on goals that are
important to him or her, which usually include "staying out of trouble" and "getting the
system off my back."
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are controlling your anger?" rather than "Who would be the first to
notice if you control your anger?" Narrative techniques can be harnessed as part of systematic future-oriented questioning that can help
clients develop skills to explore a more optimistic future.
Conclusion
This article has discussed applications of the solution-oriented model
to working with the juvenile offender population. The primary advantage of this approach with this population is that it makes possible
dealing with the typical juvenile's aversion to talking about "feelings,"
"the past," and other topics salient to traditional therapy. While most
people in the offender's life have focused on his negative behaviors,
aspects of himself which demonstrate positive and strengths-based
behaviors may have been overlooked. However, they do exist. The most
hardened gang member has been able to avoid physical confrontations.
A person who skips school almost inevitably attends school more days
than he skips. A teenager comes home more nights than he is out. He
is sometimes able to resist invitations that he join his friends in stealing cars. These "exceptions" can be targeted and strengthened by the
social worker, and a more positive future can be envisioned and then
acted upon by the young client to bring this future about.
The solution-oriented approach can be employed in a variety of social work settings involving the juvenile offender, such as casework,
probation, and treatment services. Although discussion in this article
revolved around individual work, techniques can readily be adopted
to family and group modalities. Social workers should find that
the solution-oriented approach fits many of social work's traditional
maxims, such as those involving client self-determination, starting
where the client is, and a focus on strengths and resources rather
than dysfunction and pathology. Future work in this area could also
concentrate on evaluating the effectiveness of this approach with the
juvenile offending population.
References
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Berg, I.K., & Miller, S. (1992). Working with the problem drinker. New York: W.W.
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Cade, B., & O'Hanlon, W.H. (1993). A brief guide to brief therapy. New York: W.W.
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