• Studies on Korean Youth
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.113-144
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• 2019

This study analyzed how 30 runaway and homeless youths residing in the youth welfare service centers had achieved self-reliance using grounded theory. Most interviewees ran away because they had been 'badly cared and/or abused in their families and schools(Condition)'. They had moved out of home for safety, but instead ended up getting involved in violence, debt and crime and became homeless and were 'off the normalized socialization track(Contexts)'. They were 'admitted to the youth welfare service centers(Phenomena)' and took it as an opportunity to change their lives. 'Resources and support(Intervening Conditions)' provided by the centers helped them to 'search for a strategy(Strategies)' to achieve 'self-reliance and a successful transition to adulthood(Consequences)'. This study also discussed the policy implications of helping homeless teenagers to deal with the difficulties which they might have experienced in pursuing their goals of self-reliance.