risk factors in juvenile runaways and children of late ... · • 1/2 runaways: romantic partner...
TRANSCRIPT
The
Risk Factors in Juvenile Runaways and Children of Late Childhood:
A qualitative analysis
Christos Fousianis,Vanessa Hatzithanasi,Aggeliki Kolokitha,Elena Petsa &Reggina Karantinou
Second International Academic Conference on Missing Children and Adults
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The Diary of Andreas
“The Smile of the Child” - FACTS IN BRIEF
•Established in 1996 as non-profit association
•Mission: direct and effective actions with the aim to ensure
the protection, health and well-being of all children
•Nationwide operation 24 hours/day, 365 days/year
•435 professionals as staff
•1.950 active volunteers
•3 main pillars of operation:
1) WELFARE: Homes; Support to children and families with
welfare problems; Psychological & social support to children
2) DIRECT INTERVENTION: SOS1056; 116000; Amber Alert
Hellas; Southeastern European Center for Missing & Exploited
Children; Informative Sessions for Children, Parents &
Teachers
3) MEDICAL CARE: Mobile medical units; Support to Children
with health problems; Preventive medicines; Ambulances
DIRECT INTERVENTION
“The Smile of the Child” operates 2 Lines
1) National Helpline for Children SOS 1056
(established in 1997)
2) European Hotline for Missing Children 116000
(established in 2008)
Free, anonymous and confidential
Staffed by social workers and psychologists
(hotline operators/case managers)
Available to children, parents/adults, educators
and services/agencies
Services offered comprise immediate
intervention, psychological support, counseling,
receipt of information/complaints, raise
awareness
The European Hotline for Children 116000Purpose:
Prevention to the phenomenon of
missing children, providing
psychological support to children
who have gone missing and their
families.
Objectives:
cooperation with competent
authorities
providing support to searches for
missing children
providing counseling to the child
and its family once the child returns
safely at home
To whom we refer to:
Parents, children and citizens
Police authorities for providing
support in the search for missing
children.
European Hotline for Missing Children 116000
The European Hotline for Missing
Children 116000 in Greece deals
with all categories of missing
children:(977 cases since 2008)
Runaways (National /
International) Parental abductions
Criminal abductions
Missing unaccompanied migrant
minors
Lost, injured or otherwise missing
children
European Hotline for Missing Children 116000 -
Services
• Assistance and consultation with law enforcement
• Activation of AMBER Alert Hellas
• Activation of the Search and Rescue Team
• Psychological Support to Parent(s)
• Communication with mass media through radio, television and print
• Publication of photograph and information on our site (www.hamogelo.gr), on our
social media and on the GMCN site (www.missingkids.com)
• Creation and distribution of posters in all publicly accessible areas
• Creation of photographic leaflets distributed through the Ministry of Citizen’s
Protection to all patrol cars in Greece
• Coordination of public and private agencies and businesses
• Psychological support and counselling of children once they have been found.
• Assistance and consultation in cross border cases
Risk Factors in Juvenile Runaways and
Children of Late Childhood:
A qualitative analysis
Aim of the study:
• To highlight the underlying causes of the
phenomenon, based on the
developmental period and the gender of
the runaway
• To contribute to the establishment of
intervening practices according to our
results
• Runaway: Α dissociative coping mechanism
due to exposition to severe trauma:
Family issues:
Physical/sexual abuse, Family mental health problems direct association
Psychological abuse: Neglect, Parental
rejection, Inconsistent parenting, parent
marital discord, low parental involvement, low
monitoring, siblings rivalry
• High deprivation in parental bonding
• Low attachment with parents
Previous studies - Family Relationships
Previous studies - Runaways Reports
• 90% of runaways return home within a
month and 99% within a year
• Runaways report experiencing stress and
anxiety due to family relationships,
friendships and finances
• School-related problems (lack of
academic success, disengagement and
behavioral problems) leads to truancy: Boys: encountering physical confrontations / having
conflicts with teachers at school
Girls: experiencing bullying or social ostracism /
involving in romantic relations with older boys
Truancy is associated with running away behavior
Previous studies
Demographic Profile
Low social and financial status families
disrupted / single-mother /non biological families
Location: urban cities
Gender: both
Age: older teens
Increased resistance to parental authority
Substance use
Confidence they can take care of themselves
Thrill seeking during a turbulent time of life
Method
• Procedure
Empirical data from the counseling procedure with
the runaways and their parent(s) (informational – here
and now context)
• Participants:
61 juveniles
gender: 13 boys / 48 girls
age: early (12-14) / middle (14-16) / late (16-
18)adolescence
family condition: 43 intact families/18
divorced/single/one-no biological parent families
SES: Middle/low
Results - classification of factors
• “I achieved my goal , to come closer with my parents
and take the attention I needed. They are more
concerned with my younger brother“ (14 years old girl)
• “I was afraid to return because my dad would hit me”
(13,5 years old boy)
• “I can’t stand my family’s pressure. Does anyone cares
for me anyway?” (15 years old girl)
• “I am very angry with my parents because they are very
strict with me(14,5 years old boy)
• “My parents always wanted something more from me
and never congratulated me for anything. In contrast to
my parents, my boyfriend tries to understand me” (17,5
years old girl)
• “We can’t stand him anymore, he is the most
problematic member of the family” (17,5 years old
parents)
Results
Early Adolescence (12-14)
• Girls
• Risk Factors:
Sentimental alienation, low communication level,
authoritarian parenting style
• Boys
• Risk Factors:
Authoritarian parenting style, low communication
level, sentimental alienation, mental health issues
Results
• Middle Adolescence (14-16)
• Girls
• 1/3 divorced, single/one-no biological parent families
• 1/2 runaways: Romantic partner relationship
• 1/5 runaways in repetition
• Risk Factors:
Sentimental alienation, low communication level,
authoritarian parenting style, disturbed roles in family,
conflicts
• Boys
• 2/5 divorced, single/one-no biological parent families
• Risk Factors:
Sentimental alienation, low communication level,
rejection, mental health issues
Results
• Late Adolescence (16-18)
• Girls
• 1/3 divorced, single/one-no biological parent families
• 1/3 runaways in repetition
• 1/2 runaways: Romantic partner relationship
• Risk Factors:
authoritarian parenting style, sentimental alienation,
low communication level, disturbed roles in family
• Boys
• 1/4 runaways in repetition
• No divorced/single/one-no biological parent families
• Risk Factors:
Conflicts, authoritarian parenting style, corporal
punishment
Discussion
• Higher percentages of girl runaways compared to boys
• Runaway girls:
Who: Middle and late adolescence
When: Familial structure (e.g., divorces, disturbed roles),
parenting (authoritarian parenting, lack of warmth) and relations (e.g., romantic relationship with older
boys)
• Runaway boys:
Who: No differentiation among age
When: Maltreatment, conflicts in family towards boys
Both girls and boys come from middle/low SES
Limitations & Future Directions
Fragmentary collection of information
Limited cases for boys runaways – no
generalization of findings
Formulation of intervention and preventing programs in schools and society:
Parental education concerning the underlying-
psychological aspects of the family and their
impact on juveniles
Psycho-educational programs to parents and
teachers concerning the “risky” cases
Preventing programs to juveniles based on the
dangers of the runaway behavior
Quantitave data collection
Aknowledgements
Special thanks to colleagues from:
•National Helpline for Children SOS 1056
•European Hotline for Missing Children 116000
•National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Thank you for your attention
www.hamogelo.gr