[Victimization and problems of behavior. Two components of profile types of runaway adolescents]

This study examines the relationship between two explanatory factors connected to the phenomena of runaways and the homeless among adolescents: behavioral problems of youths and parental violence to which they are subjected. The study demonstrates that these two factors are independently related to the different categories of homeless and runaway adolescents.

The data was collected from 130 adolescents (12 to 17 years of age) who were runaways for short periods on a recurring basis. Two subgroups were formed: Group A consisted of 79 adolescents who did not exhibit behavioral problems; Group B consisted of the other 51 who did exhibit them. The two groups had certain similar family characteristics (income levels, parents' occupations, structure and stability of the family).

The bivariate analyses reveal significant differences between the two groups of runaways relating to: (1) gender, (2) a diagnosed conduct disorder, (3) affiliations with deviant peers, and (4) experiences of parental violence. The discriminant analysis demonstrates that these four variables clearly differentiate the two groups of runaways and predict the appropriate group membership for 84% of the cases. Therefore, the members of Group B have a higher probability of being diagnosed as having a conduct disorder, being male, and associating with delinquent peers. This group had not experienced a higher level of parental violence. The opposite is true for the members of Group A.

Our study demonstrates that parental violence and behavioral problems are variables that are independently related to the defined categories of runaways. Therefore, these variables do not constitute, as some thinkers have claimed, the components of a unique dynamic able to explain the phenomenon of the runaway. Our results vitiate the doubts sometimes expressed by researchers about the importance of parental violence to the phenomenon of adolescent runaways.