Tag Archives: runaway girls

Robert Agnew’s strain theory of delinquency places most of the blame on whatever aversive environment children are born into. They can not avoid the pain of the dangerous dating relationships, the abusive homes, and the uncaring teachers, so delinquency results while they are in such custody. It seems as if the only true solution to the problem is to truly escape. If children somehow attain a better financial situation, they can escape whatever aversive environment that encourages their delinquency. But what exactly happens to runaway children ? Does the fantasized, new, and supposedly non-aversive environment discourage delinquency ?

Paul Aaron Jr. was arrested for forcing runaway girls to be a part of his prostitution ring. Click on the image to watch the news report !

In Polk County, Florida, two young runaway girls were discovered to have been victims of forced prostitution. The girls, 14 and 15 years old, were forced to turn tricks and were repeatedly raped  by an older male. Shockingly, one of the men who engaged in sexual intercourse with these girls was a police officer.  These girls were classified as “habitual runaways” and “troubled teens,” therefore their home environment is very questionable.  I don’t think that the pain-avoidance theory is credible. While it seems as if DYFS (The Division of Youth and Family Services) is taking children out of bad homes and helping them, what happens to these children when they are placed in other environments is usually not better.  Children, whether we accept it or not, are always at the mercy of adults around them. Rates of youth delinquency, therefore, are based on the actions of the adults who are supervising the children. Chances are that if their parents don’t support them, no one else will. There is truly no fix for bad parenting, and unfortunately, delinquency is a direct result of it.

Zhanna Onishchuk