Nowhere to Grow: Homeless and Runaway Adolescents and Their Families

by Whitbeck,Les B.

• ISBN13: 9780202305844
• ISBN10: 0202305848
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1999-10-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Les B. Whitbeck and Dan R. Hoyt begin their report on street children in the Midwest with the statement, "If you live in or have visited even a medium-sized city recently, you have seen runaway and homeless young people. They congregate in certain downtown areas and hang out in malls during inclement weather . . . Mostly, they look like the other kids. . . . The difference is that they won't be going home tonight." This book draws on a study of over six hundred runaway and homeless adolescents and over two hundred of their caretakers from cities in four Midwestern states. It focuses on the family histories of these young people and on the developmental impact of early independence. Street social networks, subsistence strategies, sexuality, and street victimization are all considered, as well as their effect on adolescent behaviors and emotional health. Relying on interviews and data from survey research, and working in partnership with street outreach agencies, Whitbeck and Hoyt lead the reader through the various risk factors associated with precocious independence, beginning in the family and extending to external environments and behaviors. Nowhere to Grow is an emotional account of the cumulative consequences for young people with few good options at the outset and even fewer once they are on their own.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
PART I. SOCIETY'S FORGOTTEN CHILDREN
Runaway and Homeless Adolescents in America	3	(12)
National Estimates of the Number of Homeless and Runaway Adolescents	4	(1)
Research on Homeless and Runaway Adolescents5	5	(5)
A Life Course Developmental Approach to Precocious Independence	10	(3)
Overview of the Book	13	(2)
The Midwest Homeless and Runaway Adolescent Project	15	(16)
Introduction	15	(1)
Design of the Study	16	(1)
Sample	17	(1)
Adolescent Sample Characteristics	18	(4)
Parent/Caretaker Sample Characteristics	22	(1)
Analyses of Refusal Rates	23	(2)
Some Limitations and Cautions	25	(6)
PART II. THE FAMILY LIVES OF RUNAWAY AND HOMELESS ADOLESCENTS
The Early Lives of Runaways	31	(12)
The Life-Events Matrix	31	(1)
Life Transitions	32	(3)
Case Studies	35	(2)
Transition Patterns	37	(1)
Age at First Runaway and Risk for Subsequent Runs	38	(2)
Age at First Runaway and Risk of Spending Time on the Street	40	(1)
Leaving Disorganized Families	41	(2)
Troubled Generations	43	(12)
Adolescent Reports of Family Problems	43	(3)
Parent/Caretakers' Reports on Family Problems	46	(1)
Parental Substance Abuse Problems and the Parent-Child Relationship	47	(2)
Across Generations	49	(4)
The Families of Runaway and Homeless Adolescents	53	(2)
Getting Along at Home: The Parent/Caretaker-Child Relationship	55	(14)
Parenting: Adolescent and Parent/Caretaker Reports	56	(2)
Family Neglect, Violence, and Sexual Abuse: Adolescent Reports	58	(2)
Comparing Adolescent and Parent/Caretaker Reports about Family Violence	60	(2)
The Parent/Caretaker-Adolescent Relationship and Running Away	62	(2)
The Families Adolescents Leave	64	(5)
PART III. TAKING CHANCES: ADOLESCENTS ON THEIR OWN
Gettig Along: The Social Networks of Runaway Adolescents	69	(14)
The Social Networks of Homeless and Runaway Adolescents	71	(2)
Characteristics of Peer Associations	73	(3)
Contacts with Adults	76	(1)
School Experiences	77	(1)
Health Needs and Access to Health Resources	78	(1)
Predictors of Social Network Composition	79	(1)
The Social Worlds of Runaways	80	(3)
Getting By: Survival Strategies of Runaway Adolescents	83	(12)
Predictors of Conventional and Deviant Subsistence Strategies	86	(2)
Paths to Deviance	88	(1)
Dealing Drugs	88	(2)
Victimizing Behaviors	90	(2)
Survival Sex	92	(1)
Understanding Deviant Pathways	93	(2)
Getting it On: Sexuality, Risky Sex, and Pregnancy	95	(12)
Contexts of Sexual Relationships	96	(1)
Condom Use	97	(1)
Predictors of Condom Use	97	(3)
Survival Sex	100	(1)
Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV Risk Behaviors	101	(1)
Predictors of HIV Risk Behaviors	102	(1)
Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes	103	(1)
Predictors of Pregnancies among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents	104	(1)
Summary and Conclusions	104	(3)
Getting Hurt: Victimization and Trauma on the Streets	107	(12)
Predictors of Street Victimization	111	(2)
Traumatic Sexual Victimization among Young Women	113	(2)
Living with Fear	115	(4)
PART IV. NOWHERE TO GROW THE DEVELOPMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF RUNNING AWAY
Internalization Problems among Runaway and Homeless Adolescents	119	(16)
Predictors of Depressive Symptoms and Depression	120	(6)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	126	(2)
Predictors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	128	(6)
Internalization Problems among Runaways and Homeless Adolescents	134	(1)
Substance Use and Externalization Problems among Runaway Adolescents	135	(14)
Factors Associated with Daily or Almost Daily Use of Alcohol and/or Drugs	136	(6)
Summary of Substance Abuse Models	142	(1)
Externalization Symptoms among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents	142	(1)
Factors Predicting Exceeding YSR Clinical Cutoffs for Externalization	143	(4)
Summary of the Externalization Models	147	(1)
Substance Abuse and Externalization among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents	148	(1)
A Risk-Amplification Developmental Model for Runaway and Homeless Adolescents	149	(10)
A Risk Amplification Developmental Model	150	(2)
Results for Adolescent Females	152	(2)
Results for Adolescent Males	154	(2)
Developmental Trajectories of Runaway Adolescents	156	(3)
Growing Up on Society's Margins	159	(14)
Resilient Runaways	160	(3)
Factors Affecting Resilience	163	(1)
Assessing Resilience among Runaway and Homeless Adolescents	164	(1)
Runaways Talk about Their Future	165	(1)
Policy Suggestions from the Runaways	166	(2)
The Need for a National Plan for Homeless Youth	168	(2)
Will Society's Marginal Children Become Its Marginal Adults?	170	(3)
Appendix	173	(28)
References	201	(10)
Index	211