ABSTRACT
It is now widely acknowledged that our conceptions and experiences of 'home' are both complex and dynamic, changing and adapting across the life course and as we come into contact with new social and cultural worlds (Guiliani 1991; Lee 1990; Sixsmith and Sixsmith 1990). In addition to these insights, the discoveries that home can be a source of as well as an expression of our identities and personalities (Cooper 1976; Jin 1993; Rapoport 1981), our cultural and social group tastes and values (Csikszentmihalyi and RochbergHalton 1981; Kron 1983; Pratt 1981) and our citizenship (Jones 1995) are of key importance. Together these findings take us one step further towards a recognition that home can be used and perceived by young people as a sign of and a space for developing adulthood. Very often an independent dwelling away from the childhood home is seen to be both a physical manifestation of independence and citizenship, as well as the arena in which other adult emotional and social developments are most likely to occur. Leaving home is therefore viewed as one factor associated with the complex movement from childhood towards full adulthood. Moreover, the physical, emotional and social spaces of a home, and the meanings with which these are endowed, can be of importance in defining if, how, when and why adulthood is reached.
