One model is structural family therapy. This model was developed by Salvadore Minuchin, who worked in New York at the Wiltwyck School for Boys. Minuchin believed that families function along an axis. These families are emotionally and physically separated from each other. At the other end of the axis are families whose members are very close - almost too close.
Delinquent behavior can come from either end of the spectrum.
When adolescents don't have any contact with their own family members and need more involvement or help with problems, they sometimes look outside the family to a peer group for support. The same is true for a young family member who feels smothered by his or her own family. They sometimes will look to peer groups to get away from other members of the family. They are also influenced by the peer group. According to Minuchin, there are several techniques that can be used in structural family therapy.