AUTHOR : 김진숙,김현아
INFORMATION : page. 73~94 / 2008 Vol.15 No.1
This study, utilizing the responses of 487 middle school students, explored ways to prevent students from running away from home and to intervene practically in the problem of youth runaways though the analysis of the factors affecting the youth impulse to run away as well as to act upon the impulse, in terms of both a risk factor and a protective factor. The following results were obtained from the analysis. First, students\' running away from home was related to their academic performance, their fathers\' academic level, whether they lived with their parents or not, and whether they had friends who ran away from home. In addition, their impulse to run away was linked to their academic performance, gender, and whether they had friends who ran away from home. Second, the analysis of the relationship between the students\' stress levels and their act of running away from home found that their running away from home was highly related to parents-related stress factors such as divorce, separation, death, abuse, and conflicts with parents. Third, a comparison was made between the group whose members had experience of running away from home and a control group with regard to protective factors and a risk factors. According to the results, the two groups displayed few differences in regard to the risk factor. However, the two groups showed a difference in the sub factors of the protection factor such as the peer group\'s pro-sociability, democratic parenting attitudes, social support from adults, teachers and family, and school resilience. Another comparison was made between the group whose members felt the impulse to run away from home and the control group with regard to both the risk factors and protection factors. The two groups exhibited differences in the sub factors of the risk factor such as stress, peer conformity, and family risk factors. The two groups also displayed differences in the sub factors of the protection factor such as the peer group\'s pro-sociability, family related protection factor, adults\' support, democratic parenting attitudes, and school resilience. Lastly, a runaway decision model was analyzed. According to the results, the students who had difficulty in observing norms at school or had family members or friends who ran way from home showed a higher possibility of running away from home. In the meantime, the students displayed a higher possibility of feeling the impulse to run away from home when they were female or had less interest in study, had friends who ran away from home, had higher family related risk factor, felt a strong impulse when drinking alcohol, or experienced frequent parents interference.