“As long as there’s no mortal risk”: the perspectives of members in combat arms occupations on children’s outdoor risky play

ABSTRACT

Parents’ experiences with risk can influence their perspectives on their children’s outdoor risky play. Parents in combat arms occupations in the Canadian Armed Forces have unique experiences with risk, as their occupations regularly include encountering and successfully navigating risky environments in military operations. In this study, we conducted seven semi-structured interviews with parents in combat arms occupations and used risk and sociocultural theory. Our reflexive thematic analysis resulted in two main findings: (1) Members believed outdoor risky play was beneficial for children to experience and supported children’s engagement in it; and (2) members distinguished between children’s outdoor risky play-related non-serious and serious injuries. Our findings advance scholarly conversations on how risk may be perceived and negotiated more broadly in populations who engage with risk on a frequent basis.

KEYWORDS:

• Parenting
• military
• risk
• outdoor play
• child development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council under Grant [#752-2020-2576]; and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship under Grant [#010-027-650]. Further, this research was sponsored by the Department of National Defense Military Family Services. Dr. Mariana Brussoni is supported by a salary award from the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute.

Notes on contributors

Michelle E. E. Bauer

Dr. Michelle E. E. Bauer is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics. She conducts research examining parent and child perspectives on children’s safety and play topics.

Audrey R. Giles

Dr. Audrey R. Giles is a Full Professor in the School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Ottawa. She conducts research primarily with Indigenous communities in northern Canada. An applied cultural anthropologist, her research focuses on the nexus of gender/culture/place in injury prevention and health promotion.

Mariana Brussoni

Dr. Mariana Brussoni is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, and an investigator with the British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the British Columbia Injury Research & Prevention Unit. More details available: https://brussonilab.ca.