WHY RUNAWAYS LEAVE HOME.

This article aims to determine the age distribution of runaways, to identify any recidivist patterns, to determine the length of time they remain away from home and to determine what impels a child to leave home. To gain some insight into this runaway problem, a study of two hundred sixty-two cases was conducted. These cases originated in six precincts located in the southwest section of Brooklyn, New York City, an area comprised in the main of families in the middle to low income range, with the lower middle income group most prevalent. Housing is approximately evenly distributed between one and two family houses and apartment buildings. The major ethnic groups are: German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Scandinavian. It is recognized that the information contained here is not complete since it is impossible to know how many children run away and are not reported. Many previously unreported cases are disclosed when cases reported for the first time reveal prior instances, and when unreported cases are picked up while wandering the streets. Information pertaining to age, recidivism and duration was readily compiled and illustrated. While it is often expedient to state that a subject left home because of a specific reason, as a rule, such a conclusion is inaccurate.