NCJ Number
108032
Journal
Hospital and Community Psychiatry Volume: 38 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1987) Pages: 292-299
Date Published
1987
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Information provided by 149 runaways staying in a shelter in Toronto, Ontario, during the summer of 1984 formed the basis of a model that explains repetitious running away as the result of youths' cognitive confusion and unrealistic beliefs.
Abstract
The youths took part in interviews, completed several written instruments, and drew a picture of a person. The youths had run away an average of 8.9 times. The majority of runaways felt that the events that led them to runaway were unpredictable, yet 54 percent blamed only themselves for what happened. The runaways generally had histories of physical, sexual, and verbal trauma occurring in the family, the streets, and the various institutions to which they ran. The model constructed from the data had five components: preabuse factors, dimensions of the traumatic event or events, nondisclosure, disclosure, and outcome behaviors. Findings suggest the need for three levels of intervention for runaways. The first level would consist of assessment of the safety in the home and would be for youths who have been away from home for a very short time. The second level would include a more extensive assessment and would be for youths away from home for a month to a year. The third level would be for long-term runaways and would call for intensive services. Descriptions of characteristics and experiences of the study sample, recommendations for establishing contact with runaway youths, tables, and 22 references. (Author abstract modified)