Constructing the Runaway Youth Problem: Boy Adventurers to Girl Prostitutes, 1960–1978

Abstract

In this longitudinal qualitative case study, the author examined the social construction of “runaway youth” in print media during 1960‐1978. The study found running away was an unconstructed problem (or simmering social condition) in the early 1960s and featured harmless adventures. In 1967, moral panic associated with the “hippie” discourse resulted in rewriting the basic runaway narrative. Afterwards, “runaway youth” emerged as a socially constructed problem featuring teenage girl prostitutes. This study contributes to the “runaway” discourse in general; situates discourse about runaways as predecessor to that of “missing children” documented by other researchers; provides insight into the rhetorical processes—within the print media domain—at work in public problem construction; and allows insights into the mechanics of how moral panic alters basic scripts in public problem narratives.