Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all those who helped us with this study.
It would not have been possible without the participation of the 24 children who gave us their time and expertise. We would also like to thank their carers and parents for giving permission for them to take part.
We are especially grateful to the four local authorities who helped us make contact with the children and we appreciated the time everyone gave to this task.
Our special thanks go to Jennifer Dillane from Glasgow University who carried out the interviews with the children.
There were several colleagues who provided invaluable advice. First we must thank colleagues from Glasgow University: Stewart Asquith who was involved in the initial stages of the study, Malcolm Hill, who facilitated the involvement the University Ethics Committee who approved our research instruments. Colette McAuley from Queen's University Belfast and Wendy Rose from The Open University gave invaluable advice on research methods. A very special thank you goes to Asher Ben-Arieh, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, whose research inspired us and who generously gave us time and expert advice for this study. We would also like to thank Barnardo's Scotland for allowing us to use their research protocol.
Lastly, we are very grateful to colleagues in the Social Work Inspection Agency who supported our work throughout. We acknowledge that the content of this report does not necessarily reflect the views of the Social Work Inspection Agency or the Scottish Executive.
Jane Aldgate
Miranda McIntosh
Jane Aldgate is Professor of Social Care at The Open University and Honorary Professor of Social Work at Queen's University Belfast. She was seconded to SWIA to undertake this study.
Miranda McIntosh is Inspection Project Manager at SWIA. She was Research Officer to the study.