Martinez, Ruby J. \"Understanding Runaway

¶ … Martinez, Ruby J. "Understanding Runaway Teens" Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing (May 2006).

Approximately 1.6 million American children (aged 12 to 17) run away from home annually. In doing so, they expose themselves to great risk of physical harm and emotional and psychological trauma. Many of them already suffer from behavioral and psychological problems and have suffered previous experiences of the type known to predispose them to additional trauma. The article details one research study and identifies three specific motivations in the minds of teenage runaways: changing their current living and family situation, creating new friendships and other affiliations, and learning from their experiences. The researchers concluded that the prevalence of this behavior among American teenagers exposes large numbers of teens to grave dangers and illustrates the need for more social services and other alternatives for at-risk teenagers who are so unhappy at home that they runaway and brave the consequences of life on the street.

Research Design and Methodology

The study involved interviewing 23 teenage subjects over an 18-month period. The subjects were teenagers encountered in a detention facility of a large Midwestern inner city area and consisted of individuals who had previously left their homes without permission of parents or guardians for several consecutive nights. The researchers recorded conversations with the teenagers about their reasons for running away and they also took notes about nonverbal communication as well as the circumstances under which the subjects requested that the recording of the conversations be suspended.

Discussion

The major findings of the study were that: (1) teenagers at greatest risk of runaway behavior are those who experienced physical or sexual abuse in the home; (2) running away dramatically increases the likelihood of victimization or repeated victimization; (3) runaways are much more likely to engage in risky behavior such as irresponsible sexual contact and illicit drug abuse; (4) a significant number of runaways have suicidal tendencies or ideation with victims of previous physical or sexual abuse exhibiting the highest risk; (5) runaway teens have high rates of mental health issues, and (6) runaways cited three specific reasons for running away (changing their current living and family situation, creating new friendships and other affiliations, and learning from their experiences).

The study revealed that teenagers typically run away from home as a means of escaping from situations and circumstances that they view as oppressive or stifling, such as the rules and curfews imposed by parents and guardians. In retrospect, many of them acknowledged that running away did not solve their problems and often caused them more problems than those from which they had hoped to escape. Among teens who runaway, the desire to spend more time with friends or to associate with those with whom parents had forbidden from association was a predominant theme as well. To a large extent, the draw of gang life was a common motivation among teens who cited that reason for leaving home.