This paper discusses the usefulness of indepth life history interviews in
illustrating the role of social structure and human agency in youth transitions.
Drawing on sociological theory and youth transition research, the paper
highlights how the role of structure and agency has been perceived by youth
researchers. Whilst this literature acknowledges the interplay between structure
and agency in transitional processes, the appropriateness of particular research
methods for explicating structure and agency needs to be further elucidated.
Using data from a study of youth transitions in rural areas of Scotland, a range
of transitional experiences from two indepth life history interviews is
presented here. This exploratory exercise suggests that life history interviews
enable researchers to explore how far social structures provide opportunities
and constraints for human agents at the same time as showing how individuals,
with their own beliefs and desires, take actions despite the social structures
that underlie the immediacy of their experiences.
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