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Juvenile delinquency research has identified two vital (and related) concepts to this area of study: age of onset and escalation. In this investigation, escalation is examined as a function of early drinking. Added to this are the influences of deviant peers and the social control effects of family and church. My analysis shows that consuming alcohol at a young age is correlated with illegal drug use, committing a greater number of illegal acts, committing more serious offences, and being confronted by police for delinquent behavior. Moreover, I show that peer influence has a greater impact on individual behavior than do other social control mechanisms. In conclusion, I offer a critique of current policies aimed at teenage drinking and argue in favor of preventative, rather than prohibitive strategies.

Seeks to highlight the major planning proposals of interest to practitioners. Summarises other changes as they apply to England and Wales. Concludes that while leaving the framework of town and country planning in place, the new Act makes significant changes and introduces important new procedures.

The Librarian's Christian Fellowship has taken the opportunity offered by the Library Association's “Under One Umbrella” training weekend to arrange a service of Thanksgiving and Rededication in St Georges's Church, Great George Street, Leeds, beginning at 5.50pm on Saturday 6 July 1991 to give delegates a chance for a brief period of worship and reflection during a busy conference programme. The speaker will be Canon David Hawkins of St George's Church, and Tom Featherstone, President of the Library Association, will participate in the service.

This paper aims to expand the debate around the catalysts required to develop, promote, implement and maintain effective collaborative practice.

A review of the benefits of business collaboration and partnering, with special reference to the world's first national standard, BS 11000, to address collaborative business relationships.

Collaborative working is not simply about cutting cost. It offers an alternative and enhanced capability to build new value propositions beyond the capabilities of an individual organisation. The concept of the supply chain is giving way to the concept of a more holistic value chain, value networks and ecosystems. Amid all the changes, one factor remains constant: relationships are a core ingredient for successful business. Staying competitive requires organisations to look beyond their traditional structures and develop both the skills and the processes to meet today's business challenges. It is impractical to rely on individuals and osmosis to deliver collaborative working behaviours. Collaboration must be embedded in the governance and processes of the organisation and reinforced in every aspect of the business through policy, process and systems. The world's first national standard: BS 11000 (collaborative business relationship management) provides a consistent model around which organisations can build more sustainable relationships.

This paper explores the interdependence between operational practices and the behaviours that underpin performance and outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to expand the debate around the catalysts required to develop, promote, implement and maintain effective collaborative practice.

A review of the benefits of business collaboration and partnering, with special reference to the world's first national standard in the world to address collaborative business relationships, BS 11000.

If appropriately integrated and executed, collaboration provides a valuable business model and enhanced performance. The adoption of a standard – BS 11000 – provides the foundation against which organisations can develop the right strategy and encourage sustainable relationships that can deliver value‐based performance. The BS 11000 standard provides consistency in developing a collaborative approach.

This paper explores the interdependence between operational practices and the behaviours that underpin performance and outcomes.

In recent years, a sizeable amount of research in finance and accounting has been devoted to the issue of bond rating and bond rating changes. A major thrust of these research efforts was to develop and test some prediction‐based models using mainly financial ratios and their trends. This paper tests the ability of statistical decomposition analysis of financial statements to predict bond rating changes. The results show that the decomposition analysis almost does not beat the a priori probability model and is no better than multiple discriminant analysis using simple financial ratios. One important piece of information for participants in debt markets is the assessment of the relative risk associated with a particular bond issue, commonly known as bond ratings. These ratings, however, are not usually fixed for the life of the issues. From time to time, the rating agencies review their ratings of the outstanding bond issues and make changes to these ratings (either upward or downward) when needed. Over the years, researchers have attempted to develop and test some prediction based models in order to predict bond ratings or bond rating changes. These prediction models have employed some variables that are assumed to reflect the rating agency decision‐making activities. Although the rating process is complicated and based mainly on judgmental considerations, Hawkins, Brown and Campbell (1983, p. 95) reported that the academic research strongly suggests that a reliable estimate of a potential bond rating or rating change can be determined by a few key financial ratios. Information theory decomposition measures have received in recent years considerable attention as a potential tool for predicting corporate events, namely corporate bankruptcy (e.g., Lev 1970; Moyer 1977; Walker, Stowe and Moriarity 1979; Booth 1983). The underlying proposition in these studies is that corporate failure, as an event, is expected to be preceded by significant changes in the company's assets and liabilities structure. Although the event of bond rating changes is different from the bankruptcy event in terms of consequences, one can still propose that a bond rating change, as a corporate event, is also expected to be preceded by some significant changes in the company's assets and liabilities structure. Therefore, the decomposition analysis may have a predictive ability in the case of bond rating changes. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test and compare the classification and predictive accuracy of the decomposition analysis with the performance of a multiple discriminant model that uses financial ratios and their trends in the context of bond rating changes.

The brief announcement that the Government had accepted that there should be regulations on open date marking of food, to come into effect in 1975, will come as no surprise. It is a timely reminder of what public pressure can achieve these days; how sustained advocacy and publicity by interested sectors of society—magistrates, local authorities, public health workers, consumer groups—can secure legislative changes which, in this case, run counter to trade opinions and the recommendation originally made by the Food Standards Committee that such a proposal was not practical and the existing law was an adequate protection. This was stated in the FSC Report on Food Labelling of 1964, although there was no indication of the evidence reviewed or that the subject had been considered very deeply; it was, after all, only a small fraction of the problem of food labelling control. It was also stated in this Report that in certain cases, date‐stamping of food could give to purchasers a false sense of security, “not justified by the conditions under which the food has been kept since manufacture”.

Adolescent problem behaviours (substance use, delinquency, school dropout, pregnancy, and violence) are costly not only for individuals, but for entire communities. Policy makers and practitioners that are interested in preventing these problem behaviours are faced with many programming options. The purpose of this review is to discuss two criteria for selecting relevant parenting programmes, and provide five examples of such programmes.

The first criterion for programme selection is theory based. Well-supported theories, such as the social development model, have laid out key family-based risk and protective factors for problem behaviour. Programmes that target these risk and protective factors are more likely to be effective. Second, programmes should have demonstrated efficacy; these interventions have been called “evidence-based programmes” (EBP). This review highlights the importance of evidence from rigorous research designs, such as randomised clinical trials, in order to establish programme efficacy.

Nurse-Family Partnership, The Incredible Years, the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), Strengthening Families 10-14, and Staying Connected with Your Teen are examined. The unique features of each programme are briefly presented. Evidence showing impact on family risk and protective factors, as well as long-term problem behaviours, is reviewed. Finally, a measure of cost effectiveness of each programme is provided.

The paper proposes that not all programmes are of equal value, and suggests two simple criteria for selecting a parenting programme with a high likelihood for positive outcomes. Furthermore, although this review is not exhaustive, the five examples of EBPs offer a good start for policy makers and practitioners seeking to implement effective programmes in their communities. Thus, this paper offers practical suggestions for those grappling with investments in child and adolescent programmes on the ground.

The research aimed to reveal real behavioural preferences in fashion and clothing consumption, and analyses the similarities and differences between British, Brazilian and Chinese consumers. This approach was selected to consider the distinctions between a mature market, and emerging western and eastern markets.

The investigation was based around a research methodology using quantitative analysis with appropriate statistical techniques on three random surveys of consumers from the southeast of England (N=265), the northeast of Brazil (N=310) and mainland China (N=226) older than 15 years.

A new conceptual framework is proposed – the physical, identity and lifestyle (PIL) model, providing a tool for effective and more focused decision‐making techniques for developing better fashion products. British, Brazilian and Chinese consumers have different requirements for fashion and clothing products based upon age and gender. The evidence suggests that the fashion industry needs to be more aware of consumer indicators when targeting mature consumers.

The research was based on samples and not the entire population of target consumers, providing limitations. As an inferential statistical method was chosen, the results were susceptible to inaccuracy.

The survey came from three different continents, thereby providing rich perspectives into global consumption. Companies who own domestic market share and want to enter new global markets could use this data to improve their product design development decisions.