ABSTRACT
Blair Justice and David F. Duncan point out in their perceptive article on runaways, these fantasies of the past pale in comparison to today's harsh realities. Most runaways are young, inexperienced suburban kids who run away to major urban areas. Often a runaway adolescent's most compelling complaint about home life is that it is "too strict". The first stage in the therapy of families with an adolescent runaway is to help the adults learn to negotiate between themselves in the presence of the children. The process of family negotiation, the therapist must first deal with the unrealistic fears on both sides that are keeping the system stuck. The prognosis for permanent change in families with adolescent runaways depends on the parents' capacity to be both firm and flexible. Their foremost responsibility is to keep their children free from harm, but this can never be accomplished if the adolescents themselves are not given the opportunity to be free.
