Young people who feel secure in themselves and the world in which they live are more likely to cope with the vicissitudes of life (Gilligan, 2008). Giddens (1991) emphasises that feelings of security stem from the confidence that most people have in the continuity of their self-identity and in the constancy of their social and material environments; a sense of the reliability of persons and things.

A sense of security helps young people to participate in productive relationships and activities and to meet life’s challenges as they arise. Young people feel secure when they are safe, protected from harm and are confident in their capacity to meet basic needs.

Young people’s early attachment experiences with caregivers have a profound impact on their sense of security. Masten and O’Dougherty Wright (2009) point out that “…attachment is a universal process in human development that appears first in infancy in relationships with caregivers and later in relationships with  friends, romantic partners, and one’s own children” (p223).

Young people’s experience of attachment in relationships with significant others helps shape “attachment patterns” that will guide their feelings, thoughts and expectations in later relationships (Vaughn, Bost, & Van Ijzendoorn, 2008). It was once thought that the attachment patterns developed in childhood were intractable and continuous, but contemporary developmental science “…indicates that a disorganised or insecure attachment style can become a secure one in the presence of repeated nurturing experiences from  committed carers” (Robinson & Miller, 2010).

Gilligan (2008) believes that when a young person’s immediate or extended family of origin doesn’t provide secure attachments, a network or ‘base camp’ of social support founded on work, social, educational, recreational and professional helping relationships is probably the best practical alternative (p40).

Gilligan (2008) also makes the connection between young people’s feelings of security and the routines and rituals that can provide “…a sense of order in a life which may have been dominated by disorder” (p40). He adds that rituals with symbolic content signify collective identity and continuity and can help to preserve or restore predictability in a young person’s life.

For most social researchers, a secure base means a space or spaces that provide asylum and respite. For example, Hiscock and colleagues (2001) identify that all people require a secure base to which they can return if in trouble or fatigued. They make the case that this has profound implications for one’s health and well-being.

Others such as Dupuis and Thorns (1998) explore how having a secure base is integral to construction of identities. For Mallett and colleagues (2003), home is associated with safety, relationships that make young people feel safe and secure, and a sense of freedom and control in and over one’s living situation.