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5 SEPTEMBER 2008
NO 1344
Why they run
Running away can be best understood as any other form of acting out – as a coping mechanism, a way to reduce anxiety. Adolescents use running away as a coping mechanism because it can be so effective. First and foremost, running away is the most complete way to escape from the stress of milieu treatment. Moreover, running away can be positively rewarding. Adolescents often have fun while they are absent and may experience a sense of adventure that further removes them psychologically from the emptiness of their lives. Also, their need for affiliation can be met from those whom they meet while absent and from the approval they receive from their peers at the center when they return.
Running away also is a most effective way to act out their angry defiance toward staff. When they are absent, staff cannot control them and criticize them. Running can also be a way for them to demonstrate that they are not dependent on staff, that they do not really need them.
When milieu therapy promotes personal growth through confronting maladaptive behaviors, it also creates the stress that motivates adolescents to run away. This is especially true for youth who have a history of coping with stress by running away. Hence running away can be understood as a learned response to the stress that should exist in treatment programs.
Running Away: A Special Problem For
Group Care
When children in residential treatment express their emotional distress
by running away a variety of problems are created. The first, most
obvious, problem is that the child's safety joins caring adults in the
common cause of finding and "rescuing" the child from danger.
Eventually, however, this worry and concern leads to conflict among the
many members in the child's system of relatives and advocates. For
example, parents may feel the agency is not providing enough protection;
funding agencies who are paying for services question the effectiveness
and appropriateness of placement; police departments get annoyed. They
expect us to be able to handle our problems within our own boundaries;
staff second guess themselves and each other and also look to place
blame.
The second major problem is that staff cannot provide treatment to a youth who is absent. Unlike other forms of acting out, when a child runs away, communication and thus learning, are not possible.
Finally, running away is a special problem because of the way it impacts staff. Concerned for the child's safety, staff often feel scared and guilty that they could not protect the child. They may feel incompetent for not stopping the child, or blame others for not intervening effectively. Often staff are left feeling vulnerable, rejected, and experience a sense of loss. However, staff also often become very angry and rejecting toward the child who has made them feel this way. Due to the distance created by running, staff find it more difficult to be empathetic with the runaway. Hence, running away often does more damage to therapeutic relationships than other maladaptive behaviors.
In summary, running is a behavior that evokes
little or no empathy. Moreover, it places the child in danger and
creates conflict among helping adults. It always creates distance and
often engenders anger and hostility in staff who feel rejected and
defeated.
DAVID HIRSHBERG et al
Hirshberg, D., Masi, E., Harrington, E., Kelley, R., Heisler, D.M.and Shaw, J. (1988) Summary of the Workshop: Why They Run from Treatment and What We Can Do. Journal of Child Care, Special Issue (The Trieschman Center Issue). Spring 1988. pp.49-50
