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British Journal of Social Work 2006 36(8):1395-1410; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch420
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Involving Young Service Users as Co-Researchers: Possibilities, Benefits and Costs

Hugh McLaughlin

Dr Hugh McLaughlin is Director of Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Salford and a member of the Salford Centre for Social Work Research. Prior to moving into academia, he was a social worker, team manager, service manager and assistant director.

Correspondence to Dr Hugh McLaughlin, Director of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Salford, Salford M6 6PU, UK. E-mail: h.mclaughlin{at}salford.ac.uk

This article seeks to contribute to the debate concerning the benefits and costs of involving young service users in research. The paper locates involvement within a continuum of consultation, collaboration and user-controlled research. The mandate for children and young people’s involvement is identified. In particular, the paper focuses on the benefits and costs in relation to: research and development, research dissemination and service development, service users and researchers. The paper does not suggest that these benefits and costs can be measured arithmetically but argues that if the costs in terms of resources, training, support, timescale and remuneration are not addressed, the research will be undermined and in danger of becoming tokenistic. The article argues that the involvement of young service users as co-researchers is worthwhile, but that it should not be entered into lightly and that further work needs to be undertaken on which parts of the process young service users can be included in and where their involvement results in change in service delivery or service outcomes.

Keywords: young service user, co-researchers, benefits, costs, involvement


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