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

116000@hamogelo.gr