SEARCHING FOR CONNECTION - A NEW LOOK AT TEENAGED RUNAWAYS

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study of 26 runaways in a rural New England shelter. Runaway behavior was viewed from the p erspective of the teenagers themselves. The findings challenge popular notions that runaways are incorrigible delinquents who want to leave home, that the decision is impulsive, and that they hope never to retu rn. Rather, many of the teenaged runaways left home in search of freed om from what they considered abusive treatment, whether physical, sexu al, or emotional. Running away was found to be ''last resort'' behavio r-teenagers' accounts yielded evidence that they struggled with the de cision to run away. Nor was running away necessarily an irreparable br eak with family; many youths expressed the desire for reconciliation. Thus, running away was revealed to be a dynamic emotional experience f or youths, which reflected changes in their social bonds with family, peers, and adults in the educational, legal, and medical systems.