Teenage Runaway Essay

Due to the complexity and enormity of the problems faced by adolescent runaways it is almost impossible to overstate the myriad of negative forces that place pressure upon the youth. Sexual and physical abuse is prevalent among runaway youth, as well as substance abuse, victimization, mental health problems and problems with the juvenile justice system (Rohr, 1996). These problems are frequently seen in many facets of the youth population; however, the runaway population is often forced to face these issues without a stable home or place to stay. Prevalent in the life of an adolescent runaway is sexual and physical abuse. Thrane, Yoder, and Chen provide a startling statistic that 27%-43% of female and 3%-15% of male runaways report being

Stein et al. (2009) found that adolescent who left home due to abuse and violence were more likely to commit criminal behavior when on the streets. Combining the child’s previous experience with physical abuse and his or her behavior on the streets, the runaway is now at risk to be entering into physical altercations with others continuing the cycle that they sought to escape. More concerning is the adolescent is further entering into deviant behavior which will limit their ability to remove themselves from the lifestyle they have created. Putting this together it can be said that adolescent runaways face a great likelihood that they will be either sexually or physically abused during a runaway episode. In addition, the risk of these negative outcomes is increased by a past of sexual or physical abuse in their home. Sadly, this portrays a bleak outlook for children who do runaway from an abusive

As previously mentioned many runaways come from homes with some sort of mental illness predominately depression. Tucker, Edelen, Ellickson, and Klein (2011) cite that running away from home increases the risk factors of intrapersonal vulnerability such as depression. Erdem and Slesnick suggest that as much as 89% of runaway youth meet the criteria for major depression (2010). This high prevalence is profound and highlights the amount of runaways with possible depression. Expanding on the high-risk adolescent runaways face for depression is the disturbing fact that many of these children are grappling with a difficult illness with little or no support. Slesnick et al. found that only 22% of adolescents seeking services at a runaway shelter access mental health services (2013). This statistic is critical because it highlights the fact that even when runaways have access to mental health services a vast majority does not take advantage of the resources. As runaways continue to remain on the streets they are faced with worsening depression and are unable or unwilling to seek