ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the first phase of a study based in a Glasgow housing scheme, which aims to identify factors predisposing children to be at risk of, or protected from, accidents. It assesses the contribution that a community study of safety can make to identifying the kinds of health promotion, urban, housing and social policies likely to facilitate accident prevention at a local level. The chapter explores the relevance of regarding safety as a social value by examining the ways in which a desire for safety is incorporated into the routine behaviours which structure family life. It also explores the strategies used by parents to maintain child safety in a demonstrably unsafe environment. The chapter illustrates some of the personal and social consequences of child accidents – those that do occur, those that nearly occur, and those that might occur – on the lives of parents and children.
