Young People's Views about the Youth Training Scheme in Scotland

This article investigates the views of a sample of young people in Scotland about their experiences of the Youth Training Scheme. It uses qualitative data drawn from a national postal survey of young people throughout Scotland which was conducted in 1985. It is argued that such data can be used in the generation of a simple form of ‘grounded theory’, and for gaining new insights into the way young people understand their world. In particular, the article looks at the ways in which these respondents use and interpret the terms ‘slave labour’ and ‘cheap labour’ as applied to the Youth Training Scheme, and discusses some of the aspects of the Youth Training Scheme which are felt by trainees to be unsatisfactory.