Young people's involvement in service evaluation and decision making

This study examined young people's decision making on issues that affect their lives: bullying in different contexts (e.g., family, peer groups, school) and their involvement in evaluating the availability and effectiveness of support services (e.g., disability, care). Key aims of this study were to offer young people a platform to evaluate existing services and make recommendations towards their improvement, and to discuss ways of tackling bullying at school. Focus groups were formed with 54 young people who had experienced challenges due to bullying, learning difficulties/disabilities, and caring responsibilities for family members with disabling conditions, and discussions about services and decision making on issues that affect their lives were facilitated. The findings point to a sense of agency in young people's lives with regard to evaluating and negotiating services and offering suggestions for their improvement within their family and peers. However, in their view, their decisions regarding bullying exerted limited influence within the school context. These results raised interesting issues about young people's capacity to evaluate services and the contextual influences on their involvement in decision making.