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A district‐wide evaluation of a residential service for mentally handicapped adults is described. The measures relate to the conditions for a reasonable quality of life for the residents. The results show that, in an ordinary service, client outcomes can compare reasonably with findings published by exemplary projects, although there were marked variations. A direct observation methodology is described which can be applied in services without special resources. Such an approach may help meet the increasing requirements, in Community Care legislation, to monitor the quality of services provided to people with long‐term needs. The role of evaluation in service development is discussed, as is the relation of evaluation to quality. Finally, the key influence of managers on the quality of staff performance is highlighted.

This article describes one of the issues that arose from my research into the Longcare abuse scandal: how local authorities place learning‐disabled adults in out‐of‐area settings far from their original homes, and then fail to visit them regularly to check on their welfare. It describes the failings of three local and health authorities in the Longcare case, and then reveals that the problem was not confined to those authorities that placed adults at the Longcare homes. It also suggests that placing vulnerable adults in out‐of‐area homes puts them at a greater risk of abuse. The article concludes that, ten years on from the exposure of the Longcare regime, many local authorities are still placing vulnerable adults in out‐of‐area homes and failing to visit them. It calls for a national audit of out‐of‐area placements and for measures to be introduced to allow learning‐disabled adults to live in placements closer to their families and friends… and care managers.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the changing role of business in a globalized society, focusing on transnational corporations as private authorities which have gained power in global governance. The paper will aim to address the following issues: the development of CSR as a voluntary framework based on self‐regulation instruments through which corporations can manage their social and environmental impacts; corporations' exercise of power and authority in developing CSR standards globally through inter‐firm cooperation; and CSR as a mechanism to transform business culture through the development of co‐regulatory instruments between corporations and their stakeholders.

This paper describes the emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a new governance framework, essentially created by the pressure of global civil society on corporations. The research focuses on the analysis of new forms of business political activities: self‐regulation and co‐regulation.

The findings describe how transnational corporations have become private authorities, competing or collaborating with global civil society or public authorities to develop a new framework of social and environmental regulations to manage their responsibilities and exercise their global power.

This paper highlights the need for regulatory tools to transform global governance. CSR requires the development of public accountability mechanisms for private authorities, an issue that can be resolved by developing global governance networks between public and private actors.

This paper explains why CSR has taken shape through the creation of self‐regulation management standards and co‐regulating norms and instruments where transnational corporations are a major driving force.

To examine the impacts experiential learning can have on student learning in and out of the classroom. Models of experiential learning are presented including the experiential learning theory.

The historical roots of experiential learning are reviewed before a new experiential learning theory is presented, VAKT-enhanced, to demonstrate the many unique paths that learners take toward content learning, retention, and synthesis.

Apprenticeship experience is universally recognized as an effective method of learning; we learn from doing. Yet, the field of literacy has maintained for decades that reading skills must be taught, often carried out in a drill fashion, also known as the proverbial skill-and-drill technique

A multisensory approach that involves experiencing literature through hands-on and e-learning environments can promote reading acquisition efficiently, bridging the gap between diverse student bodies. Students must be rejuvenated to become interested or maintain interest in literacy, and using technology and experiential learning should be of central focus.

This chapter depicts the burden of suicidal behavior among African American males. It describes the public health approach to preventing suicidal behavior among African American males. This approach includes assessing and describing the problem; identifying causes or risk and protective factors; developing and evaluating programs and policies; and implementing and disseminating findings and activities. The chapter provides a review of the epidemiology of fatal and non-fatal suicidal behavior; a summary of what is known about the risk and protective factors of the problem; and a descriptive analysis of the circumstances associated with suicides among young African American males is presented. Lastly, the authors give a summary of evidenced-based prevention programs which could be applied in preventing male suicidal behavior.

The term “crowdwork” describes a new form of digital work that is organized and regulated by internet-based platforms. This chapter examines how crowdwork platforms ensure their virtual workforce’s commitment and control its performance despite its high mobility, anonymity, and dispersion. The findings are based on a case study analysis of 15 microtask and macrotask platforms, encompassing 32 interviews with representatives of crowdwork platforms, and crowdworkers, as well as an analysis of the platforms’ homepages and community spaces. The chapter shows that performance control on crowd platforms relies on a combination of direct control, reputation systems, and community building, which have until now been studied in isolation or entirely ignored. Moreover, the findings suggest that while all three elements can be found on both microtask and macrotask platforms, their functionality and purpose differ. Overall, the findings highlight that platforms are no neutral intermediaries but organizations that adopt an active role in structuring the digital labor process and in shaping working conditions. Their managerial structures are coded and objectified into seemingly neutral technological infrastructures, whereby the underlying power relations between capital and labor become obscured.

The purpose of this paper is to study the use and value of practical work in the secondary school science classroom. Informed by the findings of a large survey of students from a wide variety of schools, a case study of pupils in the middle secondary range sought to investigate the precise role of practical work in the learning of a specific topic over a series of lessons.

Qualitative and quantitative assessment of academic progress of two classes of pupils revealed that students who undertook practical tasks made greater gains in knowledge and understanding than those who undertook non-practical alternatives. In order to explore students’ views about the practical tasks and whether they found them to be an affective and effective aid for their learning, data were collected using questionnaires, lesson observations and interviews of focus groups.

The data suggest three reasons why practical work supported pupils’ learning. First, practical work supported their visualisation of abstract concepts and provided a stimulus for the recall of key facts later. Second, it provided a distinctive opportunity for pupils to work collaboratively, with associated gains. Finally, hands-on tasks promoted a classroom atmosphere rich in variety, semi-autonomous learning and self-discovery, which pupils found intrinsically motivational.

This study, which responds to the criticism practical work has received in recent years, sheds some light on the mechanisms through which the strategy supports learning in certain contexts. Moreover it argues that practical work needs to be effectively planned to maximise the learning gains made by pupils.

The purpose of the paper is to explain how and why strategic alliances, in the form of clubs and consortiums, played an important role in the internationalisation of banks.

A longitudinal analysis, commencing in 1964 with the emergence of the Eurocurrency market and culminating with the creation of the European single market in the early 1990s, is used to provide an insight into the creation of clubs and consortium banks. The authors adopt the Lawson realist methodology and identify broad structural changes in the markets in which banks operate, i.e. “mechanisms” and relate these to major trends, i.e. “events” such as the creation of strategic alliances.

It is generally recognised that banks became international in response to the globalisation strategies of their multinational customers. However, the paper reveals that banks were also internationalising in response to structural changes in the financial services markets.

A criticism of the Lawson methodology is that it is not always possible to discern causal linkages between mechanisms and events. This explains why research of this kind is typically retrospective because it is only with the benefit of hindsight that the causal linkages can be fully understood.

The study provides new insights into the emergence of international banking and the role of clubs and consortiums in this process.