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This article discusses a solution-oriented and incremental approach to solving major social problems. If we are to solve important social problems such as child abuse, delinquency, and illiteracy, researchers need to generate effective programs that can be replicated and social service providers need to implement those programs with fidelity. The Teaching-Family Model, based on over 30 years of research, evaluation, and program experience, has been replicated across North America. We present an analysis of 792 attempted replications over a period of 15 years. The analysis reveals certain aspects of the treatment program that were found to be sufficient conditions for treatment program implementation and survival. These "Site services" are described and the implications for effective practices in services for children are presented. Keywords: Teaching family homes, replication, delinquency, organizational behavior management in social services INTRODUCTION Children, families, and vulnerable adults face a multitude of problems in our society. The statistics are clear and the newspapers each day carry personal reminders of the tragedies that abound in families, schools, and neighborhoods across North America. For a number of these difficult problems, the popular conception is that "nothing works." Juvenile delinquency, teenage pregnancy, school drop outs, illiteracy, poverty, low birth weight babies, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and so on seem to occur at alarming rates in spite of our efforts as a society. Part of the problem lies with the kinds of research that have been supported for the past several decades across North America. During his term as president of the American Psychological Association, Frank Farley (1994) identified this issue and suggested a change in the research agenda. "I want SOLUTIONS to the problems confronting us. We already KNOW THE STATISTICS. Psychology has the greatest potential of any creation of the human mind in the past several centuries to SOLVE some of these dreadful problems and we must focus on those SOLUTIONS. We need more solution-oriented research, more research directed at solving these massive human problems. Significant parts of our research establishment have for decades been enslaved in a publish or perish paradigm they can't seem to break out of, and it often encourages quick studies on easy and minor problems. According to citation analyses, the overwhelming majority of published studies have no demonstrable effect on anyone, anywhere, anytime, and the vast submerged corpus of unpublished research presumably has even less impact! These are often clever studies, bringing to bear monumental research methods and skills upon minor topics apparently to no end. No end, at least, where the critical problems confronting the human race are concerned." (p. 3, capitalization in the original) Another part of the problem lies with the providers of human services. Many research and evaluation studies have pointed to effective intervention processes but these are often ignored or are "conceptually adopted" without significant change in actual services. Lipsey (1992) examined over 400 studies of treatment for delinquent behavior and found that, "When the researcher was more closely involved in the design, implementation, and monitoring of treatment, the effects were larger. While this could reflect some experimenter bias artifact, it is also plausible that it represents the effects of greater treatment integrity, i.e., consistent delivery of the treatment as intended to all clients" (p. 10). Shadish (1984) studied adoption rates of social science solutions and found that, "When an attempt is made to implement those solutions, powerful social networks are activated whose interests have been ignored and who are, therefore, often hostile to implementing the solution" (p. 727). There is no doubt that applied research is difficult to do and that organizational changes to accommodate new intervention strategies and techniques are fraught with barriers and administrative headaches. … |
