Sunday, 16 January 2005 - 8:45 AM

This presentation is part of: Homeless Youth

Identifying the Role of Disaffiliation, Human Capital and Psychological Dysfunction in Adolescent Runaway Episodes

Introduction: Despite their growing numbers, one of the most notable gaps in research on adolescent runaways is the scant attention paid to the problem of recidivism - those youth who run away, return, and run again. Studies of homeless adults (e.g. Sosin, et al., 2000; 1993) have tested a model that conceptualizes homeless career length as a function of sources of estrangement that include institutional disaffiliation, psychological dysfunction, and human capital. Applying these concepts to runaway/homeless youth broadens understanding of these phenomena to include community-level influences.

Purpose: The present study of runaway/homeless youth using federally funded emergency shelters nationwide aims to evaluate how institutional disaffiliation, psychological dysfunction and human capital are associated with multiple versus single runaway episodes.

Method: Data from the 1997 Runaway/Homeless Management Information System (RHY MIS), developed for federally-funded youth emergency shelters, was utilized. Following data reduction, a final sample of 16,649 runaway/homeless youth using crisis shelter services was analyzed.

Results: More than half of these youth (50.3%) indicated they had multiple runaway episodes. Logistic regression analyses (model chi square=938.96, p < .001) demonstrated that older (OR=.95) males (OR=.81) were significantly more likely to run away multiple times. Disaffiliation variables predicting multiple runaway episodes included: greater number of living situations (OR=1.12), not living with parents before shelter admission (OR=1.31), greater number of days on the run (OR=1.30), poor grades (OR=1.22), criminal behaviors (OR=1.64), and poor family relationships (OR=1.15). Human capital variables predicting multiple episodes included: irregular school attendance (OR=1.52), closer proximity to the shelter (OR=1.21), and limited access to drug treatment services (OR=1.72). Psychological dysfunction variables included: greater suicidal contemplation (OR=1.47) and/or attempts (OR=1.03) and abusing substances (OR=1.35).

Conclusions/Implications: Notwithstanding the limitations, the results of this study highlight the importance of including these community estrangement factors in our understanding of runaway/homeless youth behaviors. To prevent further runaway episodes, services need to address issues across multiple systems of care, including family reunification, housing stability, school success, substance use treatment, and prevention of criminal behavior. Social workers are often the providers in emergency shelters where these youth seek basic services; thus, social workers are in a prime position to include these conceptualizations in future program development for this high-risk population.

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