Public knowing of risk and children's independent mobility

Risk is major factor that influences parent decision-making about whether they let their children go places by themselves. However, there is a paucity of research about how risk is conceived. This paper presents research that identified parents’, local government general managers’, and regulatory document conceptions about different dimensions of risk, and how these may be influenced by worry and expert knowledge. These dimensions included views on the environment, children's competence, probability of adverse situations occurring, number and potential long-term impacts if adverse situations were encountered. The research also examined how the views of parents, local government general managers, and regulatory documents interacted to create a public knowing of risk that limits children's independent mobility (CIM). The results indicate that children had limited independent mobility. This was supported by narrow views of children's places and promotion of adult surveillance. Parents were more concerned about externally imposed situations representing deliberate harm by others rather than everyday type situations. Parents’ views were reflected by a variety of regulatory documents that positioned children as vulnerable to many adverse situations leading to potential longterm damage. While, general managers thought children should be permitted to use public space by themselves, they balanced their views with perceptions of parent and community tolerance for children in public space, and the regulatory environment in which they worked. Fieldwork was conducted in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. It comprised a questionnaire completed by 160 parents, interviews with three general managers, and analysis of 237 regulatory documents from multiple levels of government.

► This paper shows how a broad understanding of risk can help planners, policy makers, other decision-makers and advocates to develop more effective interventions to increase CIM.
► This paper shows how the different conceptions of parents, local government professionals and policies interact to create a public knowing of risk that limits children's independent mobility.
► This paper presents a new conceptualisation of risk as a relationship that is part of ongoing decision-making processes in human–environment relationships.