was maintained until the point of interview via short questionnaires, which
enabled a picture of care leavers’ experience of independent living to be built up
in the elapsed time (Wigfall and Cameron 2006). Incentive vouchers were offered
for participation.
The other young people in difficulty were recruited from the case study
areas. Access to these young people was negotiated through a range of
services, including housing support projects and advice centres for young
people. Researchers visited these premises and approached young people
directly to obtain consent for a subsequent interview. The criterion for inclusion in
this study was that the comparison group of young people had at least two of the
characteristics identified as ‘risk factors’ by the Social Exclusion Unit (SEU 2000;
SEU 2005). Young people who matched these characteristics were likely to have
a high level of disadvantage and are therefore broadly comparable to care
leavers, who have high levels of disadvantage relative to all young people
(Simon and Owen 2006). These criteria were similar to those used in other
research studies (SEU 2005; Webster et al. 2004). These young people were
also offered an incentive voucher for completing an interview.
Almost all of the interviews with care leavers were conducted in their
homes, whereas interviews with young people ‘in difficulty’ were mostly
conducted on the premises of the services through which they had been
recruited, such as private meeting rooms in housing projects. Confidentiality was
respected for all participants in whatever setting they were interviewed. There
was no difference between the groups in the length of interview or topics