Findings in the late 1960s led to the development of an empirically tested treatment program to aid troubled children and juvenile offenders. Psychologists Elaine Phillips, Elery Phillips, Dean Fixsen, and Montrose Wolf combined the successful components of their studies into the Teaching-Family Model with the intention of generating a structured treatment regimen which exemplifies a family-like environment. The model’s ideal composition is built around a married couple that lives with the children in a home with the intention of teaching them essential interpersonal and living skills. Taking a step further, the behaviors and techniques are assessed for their effectiveness through empirically observable methods. Teaching-parents also work closely with the children’s caregivers (parents and/or custodian), teachers, employers, and peers to ensure support for the children’s positive environment.
In the past, many treatments viewed delinquency as an illness and therefore handled it as such. The Teaching-Family Model, in contrast, views children’s behavior problems as stemming from a lack of essential interpersonal relationships and skills. Its significance has expanded well beyond as it has demonstrated how well-researched treatment programs can be implemented on a large scale. Besides numbers and statistics that prove its significance, I believe it’s important to highlight the fact that the Teaching-Family Model has been a source of hope that young people with difficult problems or behaviors can improve the quality of their lives and the repercussion for society.
The application of the Teaching-Family Model has been expanded to include foster care facilities, home treatment settings, and even schools. The model has been accommodated to the needs of physically, emotionally, and sexually abused children; emotionally disturbed and autistic children and adults; and medically fragile children. Although the model has been effective so far (both practically and statistically) research is still being conducted to make the Teaching-Family Model an effective tool, with the intention of benefiting both children and adults who might need aid, but to also contribute to a better social regimen.
Link to article: https://www.apa.org/research/action/family