The book deflates popular misconceptions that runaways are incorrigible delinquents who want to leave home, that they make impulsive decisions to leave their families and that they wish to never return. Reporting on a qualitative study of 26 runaways in a shelter in New England, the book reveals that many teenage runaways leave home in search of safety and freedom from what they consider abusive treatment, whether physical, sexual or emotional. The book is divided into five chapters that discuss, among other topics: (1) statistics and history of running away; (2) theories of emotion and deviance; (3) defiant running away; (4) why teenagers say they run away; (5) running away as “last resort behavior”; (6) what the experience of running away is actually like; (7) hope and desire for reconciliation with parents and family; (8) running away as a dynamic emotional experience for youths that reflects changes in their social bonds with peers, family and adults in the educational, legal and medical systems; and (9) “emotional capital” in a heavily regulated authoritative environment. Notes, bibliography, index