This study is concerned with adolescent attitudes to authority. In particular the investigation focuses on notions of the ideal authority figure, attitudes to the sorts of conflicts experienced at home and in school, and on the types of resolutions to conflicts preferred by young people. Subjects were 43 adolescents from working class areas in outer London boroughs, all of whom were given a semistructured interview. Results indicated important differences in the amount of control required at home and in the school, and showed adolescents of 14 and 15 to have relatively little need for autonomy but a very considerable need for support from parents and teachers.