Mapping the diversity among runaways: A descriptive multivariate analysis of selected social psychological background conditions. Tournal of Family Issues

THIS article discusses the diversity of runaway youth within a framework of descriptive taxonomic analysis. First, a review and critique of prior classification systems of runaways is provided. The inadequacies of the prior systems are reviewed. A descriptive taxonomy of runaway youth is then developed using cluster-analytic methods. The attribute space for this analysis is developed from an integration of strain and control theories and includes major social and psychological forces that impinge upon the youth. These forces relate to the strength of bonding, particularly within the family, peer, and school contexts. The empirical types which emerged from this analysis illustrate various patterns of weakness in the bonds between the runaway youths and their families, schools, or peer relationships. The article ends by explaining some relationships between the present findings and selected prior typological systems of runaway youth. The taxonomic tasks of accurate description and classification represent a critical phase in any developing scientific area. Descrip-tion and classification can, to an extent, precede the development of explanatory theory. In areas where explanatory theory is ill-developed or absent, the task of good descriptive classification becomes critical if an understanding of the area is to be gained. Kessler (1971), in studying the roles of classification in child psychopathology, notes that in very short order classification and description merge with explanations