Foreword: a personal journey to some research questions
Testing freedom: on the road to a runaway problem
Constructing runaway youth
Media myth spinning: from runaway adventurers to street survivors (1960-1978)
Spinning myths from runaway lives: a hip beat version of dropping out
Psychedelic social workers and alternative services
Digger free: power in autonomy, independence in a free city network (1966-1968)
The grassroots rise of alternative runaway services (1967-1974)
Policy and "runaway" youth
Shifting institutional structures: from moral guidance to autonomous denizens (1960-1978)
Legitimization through legislation-the Runaway Youth Act: national attention to the runaway problem (1971-1974)
Conclusions: where we've been, where we're going, what we've learned
National extensions-problem, services, and policy (1974- )
Closing note: lessons learned and conveyed
Appendix 1: Runaway Youth Act (Senate version, s. 2829: the Bayh/Cook bill)
Appendix 2: Runaway Youth Act (House version, h. 9298)
Appendix 3: the Runaway Youth Act of 1974 (p.l. 93-415).