Runaway Kids and Teenage Prostitution: America's Lost, Abandoned, and Sexually Exploited Children

by Ronald B. Flowers

This concise and accessible new text examines the correlations between runaway children and teenage prostitution in the United States from a criminological, sociological, and psychological perspective. The author takes a systematic approach to defining and describing the differences between youth who run away from home and those who leave institutional settings and distinguishes the difference between runaway and throwaway children. A careful examination of teenage prostitution among girls and boys helps to illuminate the special problems faced by children who have run away. In addition, the author discusses laws related to runaways, teenage prostitution, and the sexual exploitation of minors as well as the criminal justice response to the problems. Runaways and prostitution involving youth in other countries is also explored. The text's findings support current conclusions on the characteristics of runaways, the relationship between runaways and teen prostitution, and the implications of running away from home.

Runaway Kids and Teenage Prostitution is divided into five parts. Part I examines the scope and dynamics of running away and differentiates between runaways and throwaways. Part II explores teenage prostitution and provides information on girl and boy prostitutes and the people who exploit them. Child sexual abuse and child pornography as correlates to the problem are studied in Part III, and Part IV reviews the law that atttempts to combat teenage prostitution. Part V is devoted to an examination of the scope and significance of the problem in other countries. Together, these chapters provide readers with a clear picture of the problem of runaways and teenage prostitution in the United States and around the world.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2001

About the author

Dr. Ronald B. Flowers earned a bachelor’s degree from TCU in 1957. From there he went on to Vanderbilt University, where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology in 1960 and 1961, respectively. He completed a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa in 1967.
Dr. Flowers ministered briefly at a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
in Crofton Kentucky in the early 1960s. He began his teaching career in the religion department at Texas Christian University in 1966 and retired in 2002. He served as department chair for nine years. During his time at TCU, he received numerous teaching awards, including the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1998. Dr. Flowers was a highly productive scholar, and established himself as a major authority on U. S. Supreme Court church-state cases. He authored Toward Benevolent Neutrality: Church, State, and the Supreme Court and To Defend the Constitution: Religion, Conscientious Objection, Naturalization, and the Supreme Court, among other books, articles, and book reviews.