Describes an approach taken by Miami, Florida’s Spanish Family Guidance Center to provide culturally appropriate and effective treatment interventions for Cuban youth with behavioral problems and to assist Hispanic immigrant families deal with the stress of acculturation. Brief strategic family therapy (BSFT) is a time-limited, family-based approach used to help children and adolescents with conduct, delinquency, and other behavior-related problems, including alcohol and substance abuse, and to improve youth behavior by changing family interactions. The driving principle of BSFT is that family relations strongly influence the evolution of behavior problems and consequently become the primary target of intervention. Mitigating risk factors for minority youth and families in Miami include a protracted immigration process, persistent conflict within families, and harsh and deteriorating conditions of the inner city, whereas protective factors include extended families and a strong sense of the familyunit. BSFT’s strategies place particular emphasis on practical, problem-focused, and well-planned interventions, and key components of intervention include procedures for engaging families in treatment, enhancing multicultural skills in all family members, and selective use of one-person family therapy. Results of BSFT-based interventions reveal important breakthroughs in assessment, treatment, and prevention of youth conduct problems.
