Using risk as a whetstone for development

Children who view inevitable risk as a positive challenge rather than a threat are more likely to achieve positive psychosocial outcomes.

That was the argument of Unit Researcher Tim Hobbs in a paper to the 2010 British Psychological Society conference, held on 13th September.

Drawing on empirical data from his PhD he maintained that equipping children with the skills and resources to engage with risk holds greater promise than efforts to shelter children from the many risks that they will inevitably face.

Tim's PhD is due for completion in 2011.