This book was developed from a thesis which I submitted to Strathclyde University for my PhD. Its primary subject matter was a peer research project carried out in Glasgow over a period of 18 months. A good deal of the material collected by that project is included in this book, so I would like to thank all of the young people who became involved in that project in various ways, but especially the peer researchers who, in a very real sense, made it ‘their project’. Without their contribution, this book would certainly not have been written. I would also like to thank Professor Andy Kendrick for his wise guidance and unfailing support, Avril Mudie, a very keen and committed research assistant, and my employer, Quarriers, for their generous sponsorship.
The help of my colleagues in Quarriers Youth Housing Practice Development Group, who read and commented with real insight into various chapters, has been invaluable, as has that of Louisa McSherry in the preparation of the final manuscript.
Finally I must thank my wife Nancy, daughter Gail and sons Thomas and Ewan for help in so many ways, not least putting up with this obsession over so many years.