Parenting on Shifting Sands: The Transfer of Responsibility for Safely Managing Danger

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of danger in childhood and adolescence, from the perspectives of Eriksonian and attachment theory. Three questions are considered: (i) where is the danger in a young person’s environment; (ii) is the young person able to identify it; and (iii) does the parental protection provided safely support development and the growing maturity of adolescence? Such questions should provide a framework to inform clinical assessment, add insight to intervention, and ultimately facilitate the safe transfer of responsibility, for the identification and best management of danger, from parent to emerging young adult.