Approximately 35 years ago, mental and psychological dysfunction was viewed on the medical model of "illness", i.e., that acting out or antisocial behaviors were due to some flaw or malfunction within an individual. Pioneering research on childhood schizophrenia by Dr. Jay Haley noted that when hospitalized, profoundly disturbed children responded fairly quickly and predictably when treated with a very structured reality based consequences and rewards system; however, when these children returned to their original environments, they immediately reverted to their schizophrenic behaviors. The regularity of this occurrence caused the focus of the study to change to the family interactions and communication patterns and produced very positive results.

During this time period, scientists were formulating the systems theory which had its origins in the work of the German biologist, Ludwig von Bertalanffy. He was the first to document what he termed General Systems Theory which emphasizes the importance of interactions and feedback between the individual parts of a system. His research has had far reaching impacts on the fields of biology, computer science, and psychology. His theories have been enlarged and implemented with extraordinary results by the well known psychologists Salvadore Menuchin, Carl Whitaker, Jay Haley, Murray Bowen and others. Family systems psychology is grounded in the fact that humans are inextricably social and our notions regarding self definition, normal gender roles, appropriate behavior and responses, and the concepts of right and wrong originate and are reinforced in our family of origin.

The central premise of the philosophical approach of the First Offender Program is that the earliest incidences of acting out behavior always serve some function within the family system. Possible functions are distracting from other family problems, enmeshing one or both parents, providing stress relief for the family (much like the whistle on a tea kettle), meeting a dysfunctional need for power, and or acting out loyalty conflicts within the family. The risk for the young person is that although these behaviors start to meet a primary need, secondary reinforcers to the negative behaviors begin to emerge and desensitization occurs.
 
For example, a youngster's earliest incidences of stealing may be a control issue centered in that child's perceptions of how power is negotiated in his family of origin; however, after a child steals several times, secondary feedback loops emerge. In addition to meeting his original need to feel a sense of power and the ability to defy parental authority and not get caught, he also realizes some benefits from stealing. He may become an anti-hero in his peer group and receive gratification from acquiring belongings without working for them. His comfort level with criminal behavior will be further reinforced by the desensitization that takes place with each act; all criminals report that first instances of criminal involvement are accompanied by anxiety reactions - heart racing, flushing, fight or flight response - as they become more experienced, crime becomes much more comfortable.
 
The concept behind the First Offender Program is that there is a window of opportunity between the time a young person first begins criminal activity and the point that the behavior becomes reinforced and habituated. During this period, psychological intervention can eliminate the primary causes and function to establish appropriate ways to meet the youngster's emotional and psychological needs and define and implement consistent and logical consequences. The only means to accomplish this is an approach that incorporates the efforts of the entire family system. Just as Jay Haley found with childhood schizophrenics; for the behavior to change, the systems interactions must change.

Many of the families that come into the First Offender Program are "helpless and hopeless" - they do not know how to parent any differently or believe that they have the capability to affect change. The first step of the program is to engender hope and to empower parents to take charge of their families. The importance of the first contact is stressed to all staff members.
 
Youth and Family Counseling is dedicated to offering professional counseling services comparable to those received by families who can afford expensive private practice treatment. The message to our families is that they are respected, valued, and believed to have the ability to get better within their family system. Experience has demonstrated that in this therapeutic environment, families are able to define constructive goals, examine the origin of the problem, create skills and strategies for change, and that dramatic changes in adolescent acting out behaviors occur. Follow-up studies validate the success of the program and it is believed that a "bonus" effect is that initial criminal activity is prevented in younger siblings that participate with the juvenile offender. It is for these reasons that the communities of Lewisville, Flower Mound, and Highland Village are in the vanguard of progressive treatment of juvenile offenders.