A signs of safety approach to assessing children with sexually concerning or harmful behaviour

The Junction is a Barnardo's children's service based in northern England that provides assessment and intervention in the lives of children and young people who have sexually concerning or harmful behaviour. It is developing methods of assessment that move away from more established approaches to provide a service that attempts to address more comprehensively the circumstances of individuals and families, utilizing a Signs of Safety approach. The principles and methods of this approach are outlined with examples of practice. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ticking Boxes and Changing the Social World: Data Collection and the New UK General Practice Contract

The new General Medical Services contract was introduced into general practice in the UK in 2004, and it links pay to performance far more than in the past. As a result, accurate data collection about patients and the care that they receive is now not only important for good patient care but also to prove that targets are being met. The use of electronic records and information technology has thus become much more sophisticated. This article reports the results from an ethnographic study of the early stages of the new contract in two general practices. As expected, electronic data collection had increased in importance in both practices, with consequences both for clinician–patient interactions and for the structures and processes in the practices, as uniform data collection instruments are put in place that privilege ‘hard’ biomedical data that can be easily coded above ‘softer’, more patient-centred information. Roles and responsibilities had been changed to reflect the needs of the new systems, and new software applications allowed increased surveillance of both doctors’ and nurses’ performance; both of these had an impact on patterns of authority in our study practices. Furthermore, the structural changes that were found acted to embed the new ways of working, ensuring their reproduction in the future. In spite of these effects, we found little opposition to or critical reflection on the changes, and the doctors in our study continued to view their improved computer systems as neutral recording devices. The implication of these findings is discussed.     

Journal Access Initiatives: Where Are They? Why the World Health Organization? and What Is HINARI?

The move from print to online journal publishing has allowed the proliferation of journal access programs aimed at poor countries. These programs offer access to online journals on very favorable terms to developing country institutions and readers and are based on the premise that developing world scientists can contribute significantly to ameliorating the conditions of life in their countries. The authors give a brief overview of the environment in which these programs emerged, discuss different orientations of the major programs, examine the case of the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI), consider why the World Health Organization (WHO) runs a journal access program for developing countries, and conclude with the accomplishments of HINARI.     

A scientist's viewpoint on promoting effective use of experimental design: Ten things a scientist wants to know about experimental design

This paper tackles the practical application of statistical tools. Chemical development is a rich area for collaboration between statisticians and chemists, but most statisticians encounter difficulties in promoting the tools to this client group. This paper, presented from a chemist's perspective, is intended to help bridge the gap between the two professions. The paper explores differences in uptake and attitudes towards adopting these techniques and suggests what has hindered or helped the process of effective application of experimental design. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Empirical Evaluation of Conflict in the Franchise System

This paper articulates the theoretical rationale for conflict in franchising, operationalizes conflict through the measurement of franchisee satisfaction and labels empirically supported stratified satisfaction levels. Two propositions are advanced in relation to the drivers of conflict in franchise systems. The first proposition is underpinned by relational exchange theory, which postulates that franchisee–franchisor goal congruence is important to the fulfilment of the alliance efficiencies which motivate inter-organizational forms. Cooperation, communication, coordination and commitment, as perceived by the franchisees, are used in the context of a survey instrument to operationalize goal congruence.
The second proposition involves franchisor-provided services. Transaction-cost analysis suggests that long-term contractual relationships must be flexibly interpreted and governed if the relationship is to be maintained over a series of transactions. We propose that the transactional intersection of the franchise system is in franchisor-provided services. The perceived importance and subsequent adequacy of delivery of these services established a tolerance zone within which transactions support and/or enhance the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee.
The empirical objectives of the study are accomplished utilizing a questionnaire sent to nine franchise systems, to which 621 franchisees responded. Three clear clusters of franchisee conflict emerged in near equal proportions. The propositions are supported and illustrated empirically and in CHAID tree diagram form.     

Patterns of Change in Families Following Severe Head Injuries in Children

After severe head injuries, children can display behavioural problems for many years. Factors related to the individual have been discussed in other articles, and authors have also suggested that resulting behaviour problems may affect the family. This paper assesses the direct effect of the injury and events around it on the family. The reaction of the family may contribute to the persistence of the behavioural change, rather than just be a result of it. This paper describes the effect of the accident on family relationships and discusses the behaviour of the identified victim in terms of the stage of the family life cycle. The family as a whole, and not just the child, is a victim of the event, and therefore the use of family therapy is an important and appropriate part of treatment. A comparison of family and individual therapy is made, and the problem of assessing whether behavioural changes are related to organic brain injury is addressed.     

Professionals' attitudes towards men in early childhood education: A national study

A national sample of women and men working in early childhood education was drawn from the membership of the National Association for the Education of Young Children in order to assess their attitudes toward the suitability, professional practice, and administrative capabilities of men in early childhood education. Men and women were found to hold similar views toward the capabilities and roles of male preschool teachers across all these areas. The general lack of polarity of attitudes between men and women on many popularlyheld beliefs about men in the early childhood field is discussed in relation to previous alleged stereotyped attitudes toward male preschool teachers.