Juvenile Runaways in the United States

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Juvenile Runaways in the United States Running away from home is one of the commonest juvenile offenses in America today. Children run to escape, to hide, to start a new life, to change their routine, or to follow a dream. There are 1.3 million juveniles that live on the street each day according to the National Runaway Switchboard (NRS). The statistics regarding the rates of juveniles in this country that runaway are surprising. Unfortunately with all of the children out on the street our system is not doing much to combat the problem. In most states running away is not illegal, which leaves law enforcement with few options when attempting to locate or recover a missing runaway child. It has been said that, "young people are reacting to a society that has devalued human relations, that has subordinated them to acquisitiveness and competition and that has resulted in affluence and loneliness." (Raphael & Wolf, 1974) It leads a person to wonder what could be so bad in a home or a society that a child feels that the street is his or her only option? There are obviously many different reasons that brings the child to making a decision to leave their house and choose this new life of uncertainty. Those reasons include, a bad family situation (VanHouten & Golebiewski, 1985), rejection from their parents (Adams, Gullotta, & Clancy, 1985), looking for excitement or something new (Blood & D'Angelo, 1974), the need to be independent from their family's rules and regulations (Crespi & Sabatelli, 1993), or problems at school with peers (Post & McCoard, 1994). The children that make the choice to run are definitely not facing an easy decision. The families of runaways frequently have been described as being dysfunctional... ... middle of paper ... ...ounselor, 41, 212-219. Raphael, Marryanne and Jennifer Wolf. Runaways. New York: Drake 1974. Roberts, A. (1981). Runaways and non-runaways in an American suburb : an exploratory study of adolescent and parental coping. New York, N.Y.: John Jay Press Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (1991). Serving runaway and homeless youth. Family & Community Health, 14(3), 23-32. Smart, D. H. (1991). Homeless youth in Seattle. Journal of Adolescent Health, 12, 519-527. Steidel, S.(Ed.). (2000). Missing and Abducted Children: A Law Enforcement Guide to Case Investigation and Program Management. Washington, D.C.: OJJDP Tuohy, John (1993). There's no such thing as a childhood on the streets. U.S. Catholic, 3, 18-26. VanHouten, T., & Golebiewski, G. (1985). Adolescent life stress as a predictor of alcohol abuse and/or runaway behavior. Washington, DC: National Youth Work Alliance.

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