Exploring the Attachment Styles in Runaway Children Post COVID-19 Lockdown

Having to suffer due to not only the prevalent socio-economic issues present in society but also a destructive family environment, some children run away to escape their problems. The aim of this study is to find out some of the main reasons children in India run away from their homes or families and to understand the factors behind such decisions. A sample of 22 children was taken from the Udaan and DMRC Children’s Home centers of the NGO ‘Salaam Baalak Trust’. The participants included 10 boys and 12 girls, all between the ages of 7 and 17 years. Qualitative methodology was taken from a previous study (Choudhary, Kapoor & Wason, 2018) and was used to collect the data. The major emerging themes in this study were found to be hope for the future, emotional attachment especially towards siblings and caregivers at the shelters, peer influence, and attraction to life in cities. The study implied that there need to be awareness drives in the areas of negative peer influence and substance abuse as these are factors that can have lasting effects on street children. Another implication of the paper was that when given opportunities and a safe environment for growth, the children are able to thrive and develop psychosocially, so there should be thorough check-ins with the families of these children.