Adolescent Runaway Episodes: Application of an Estrangement Model of Recidivism

Adolescents who run away represent a unique and understudied subgroup of the homeless population, and estimates suggest that between 1.3 and 2.8 million youths in the United States run away or are forced out of parental homes each year (Greene, Ringwalt, & Iachan, 1997). These youths are at increased risk of a variety of problems, including drug and alcohol use, emotional and conduct disorders, school failure, criminal behavior, and victimization (Rotheram-Borus, 1993; Yoder, Hoyt, & Whitbeck, 1998). Although research of delinquency among adolescents has used theory to guide research (Thornberry, 1987), most studies of youths who run away have not drawn on a theoretical framework. Furthermore, limited research has addressed the issue of recidivism--specifically, youths who run away, return home, and run away again. In the few studies conducted to explore factors associated with recidivism to shelter services, results suggested significant differences between youths who run away once and those with repeated episodes (Baker, McKay, Hans, Schlange, & Auville, 2003; Thompson & Pillai, 2006). Youths who run away once appear to be responding to a specific incident, often parental maltreatment or intense conflict; youths who run away repeatedly experience prolonged and lingering problems that often originate from poor family relationships (Stefanidis, Pennbridge, & MacKenzie, 1992). Given the paucity of research concerning the characteristics and antecedents associated with runaway recidivism, research must address escalation of runaway behavior by developing conceptual models that identify factors contributing to runaway behaviors. CONCEPTUAL MODEL Research on homeless adults has begun to focus on issues associated with the total duration of homelessness, referred to as the "homeless career" (Grigsby, Baumann, Gregorich, & Roberts-Gray, 1990; Piliavin, Sosin, Westerfelt, & Matsueda, 1993). Piliavin and colleagues hypothesized that adults who experience longer periods of homelessness differ systematically from those with shorter homeless careers and in terms of estrangement from societal institutions. They also suggested a conceptual model of homeless careers as a function of four sources of estrangement: (1) institutional disaffiliation, (2) psychological dysfunction, (3) identification with homeless culture, and (4) human capital. This estrangement framework can be applied to understanding youth, family, and social systems pivotal in the progressive accumulation of behavioral problems leading to youths' running away. Using these four concepts is an exploratory and novel approach to developing a framework for identifying factors associated with multiple versus single runaway episodes. Institutional disaffiliation has been defined as the weakening of ties to societal institutions (Bahr & Caplow, 1973). Disaffiliation suggests that childhood antecedents of poor cohesion, adaptability, and family coping might be related to future difficulty with social support networks (Jackson-Wilson & Borger, 1993).Youths who run away are clearly vulnerable to weak interpersonal and family relationships (Whitbeck, Hoyt, & Ackley, 1997) and experience social disaffiliation and isolation (Malloy, Christ, & Hohloch, 1990). Educational detachment, criminal behavior, and other deviant behaviors represent this impoverishment and disaffiliation with societal institutions (Castel, 2000; Malloy et al.).Any one of these factors could complicate the developmental transitions normally associated with adolescence; collectively these factors constitute a condition of social marginalization that jeopardizes the course of normal development (Sullivan, 1996). Psychological dysfunction, or mental health difficulties, have long been linked to homelessness (Piliavin et al., 1993) and are disproportionately high among youths who run away (Yoder et al., 1998), particularly depression, low self-esteem, impulsivity, and suicidal thoughts and attempts. …