Away Y ouths entering their adolescent years face many transitions.
Physical changes occur in conjunction with a striving for personal identity and autonomy.
In the runaway, however, attempts to gain independence in a mature, self-sufficient manner fail. Despite the many reasons runaways give for leaving home, runaway youth often return home, only to run away again. This cycle is puzzling, particularly in those instances in which a youth left home because of abuse. Patterns of Running The number of times a youth leaves home is important. The runaways studied have left home anywhere from one to 110 times.