ABSTRACT
In this chapter we present the accounts young people gave us of the gatherings. The research reported on in this chapter is derived from the qualitative fieldwork we conducted, many of the same themes appear in the next chapter which deals with the quantitative research. The two chapters should of course be considered together. We have examined the accounts given by the young people and attempted to analyse what they were saying about their own activities. We discuss the main issues they identify, and illustrate the points with a range of quotes from the young people, with the intention of allowing their voices to be heard and the flavour of their responses to be communicated. We begin this chapter with an account of the gatherings, looking at the sizes and locations of the groups and the age and gender profile of the young people who attended them. It is important to begin with an account of the size and locations of the gatherings because it raises some important questions about definition of the social phenomena we were studying. We then go on to at the kinds of activities which went on in the gatherings and at the motivation of the young people who attended them, aiming to develop some understanding of the meaning the street socialising had for them.
