Although runaway youth have been the focus of a good deal of research in recent years, there remains considerable confusion regarding the causes of runaway behavior. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the personality and psychological characteristics of runaway and non runaway youths, all of whom had come to the attention of social welfare, mental health and judicial systems. / Subjects were 199 males, between the ages of 12 and 18, constituting the population of a large residential treatment center in the midwest. Personality and psychological characteristics were assessed using the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory (MAPI). Demographic data were collected via self-report questionnaire. / This investigation addressed the following two research questions: (1) Are there similarities in personality and psychological characteristics between runaway and non runaway youths? (2) Can subjects be accurately classified into runaway and non runaway groups on the basis of their psychological style and demographic characteristics? / Factor analysis was performed to reduce MAPI variables and compare structures of the two groups. Direct discriminant analysis was performed to identify variables that would lead to effective classification. / Visual inspection and comparison of the rotated factor structures suggests that both groups present as lonely, insecure, with poor impulse control and an unwillingness to comply with social regulation. The runaways appear to be aggressive in their resistance to social regulation. In contrast, the nonrunaways behave in a passive defiant manner in response to societal regulation. However, these differences were not sufficiently robust to significantly discriminate between the two groups. This finding may reflect the subtlety in the differences in psychological style between the two groups. It was concluded that there appears to be substantial similarity in personality and psychological characteristics between runaways and non runaways but only subtle differences. The differences were not sufficiently robust to generate a classification function. Recommendations for future research were offered. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-09, Section: A, page: 2623. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75634 |
| Contributors | BURKE, WILLIAM H., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 151 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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