Why the war on drugs in sport will never be won

Drug free sport is an unattainable aspiration. In this critical, paradigm-shifting reappraisal of contemporary drug policy in sport, Bob Stewart and Aaron Smith argue that drug use in sport is an inexorable consequence of the nature, structure and culture of sport itself. By de-mythologising and de-moralising the assumptions that prop up current drug management controls, and re-emphasising the importance of the long-term well being and civil rights of the athlete, they offer a powerful argument for creating a legitimate space for drug use in sport. The book offers a broad ranging overview of the social and commercial pressures impelling drug use, and maps the full historical and social extent of the problem. With policy analysis at the centre of the discussion, the book explores the complete range of social, management, policy, scientific, technological and health issues around drugs in sport, highlighting the irresolvable tension between the zero-tolerance model as advanced by WADA and the harm-reduction approach adopted by drug education and treatment agencies. While there are no simple solutions, as long as drugs use is endemic in wider society the authors argue that a more nuanced and progressive approach is required in order to safeguard and protect the health, social liberty and best interests of athletes and sports people, as well as the value of sport itself

Do institutional arrangements make a difference to transport policy and implementation? Lessons for Britain

This paper describes local government decision-making in transport in three areas of the UK, London, West Yorkshire and Edinburgh, in which major changes in local government decision-making structures have taken place over the last decade, and between which arrangements are now very different. The research discusses whether institutional change has had a beneficial or adverse effect, and whether any of the current structures provides a more effective framework for policy development and implementation. The results show that although the sites share a broadly common set of objectives there are differences in devolved responsibilities and in the extent to which various policy options are within the control of the bodies charged with transport policy delivery. The existence of several tiers of government, coupled with the many interactions required between these public sector bodies and the predominantly private sector public transport operators appears to create extra transactional barriers and impedes the implementation of the most effective measures for cutting congestion. There is, however, a compelling argument for the presence of an overarching tier of government to organise travel over a spatial scale compatible with that of major commuter patterns. The extent to which such arrangements currently appear to work is a function of the range of powers and the funding levels afforded to the co-ordinating organisation

Parents' involvement in care order decisions: a cross-country study of front-line practice

This article examines parents’ involvement in care order decision-making in four countries at one particular point in the care order process, namely when the child protection worker discusses with the parents his/her considerations regarding child removal. The countries represent different child welfare systems with Norway and Finland categorized as ‘family service systems’ and the US as a ‘child protection system’, with England somewhere in between. The focus is on whether the forms and intensity of involvement are different in these four countries, and whether the system orientation towards family services or child protection influences practice in the social welfare agencies with parents. Involvement is studied in terms of providing information to parents, collecting information from parents and ensuring inclusion in the decision-making processes. A vignette method is employed in a survey with 768 responses from child protection workers in four countries. The findings do not show a consistent pattern of difference regarding parental involvement in care order preparations that align with the type of child welfare system in which staff work. The goal in each child welfare system is to include parents, but the precise ways in which it is done (or not) vary. Methodological suggestions are given for further studies

Neutrality of narrative discussion in annual reports of UK listed companies

This paper reports the results of an investigation into the neutrality of the narrative discussion of financial performance and position, as evidenced in 179 annual reports of UK listed companies. Neutrality of narrative discussion was determined by comparing the average proportions of good and bad news contained in the narrative and statutory accounts sections of the annual reports. The results of a comparison of the proportion of good news in the two sections of the annual reports suggest that the narrative sections contained a significantly higher proportion of good news than the statutory accounts sections. Comparison of proportions of bad news, however, indicates that the narrative sections contained a significantly lower proportion of bad news compared to the statutory accounts sections. Finally, the results also suggest that the proportion of good news as compared to bad news in the narrative sections is significantly higher than the proportion of good news compared to bad news in the statutory accounts section. The results are consistent with the suggestion that company management highlights good news in narrative discussions. The implications of the findings for company management, users, auditors and regulators are discussed

The dark flow induced small scale kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect

Recently Kashlinsky et al. 2008, 2010 reported a discovery of a $\sim 10^3$ km/$s$ bulk flow of the universe out to $z\simeq 0.3$, through the dark flow induced CMB dipole in directions of clusters. We point out that, if this dark flow exists, it will also induce observable CMB temperature fluctuations at multipole $\ell\sim 10^3$, through modulation of the inhomogeneous electron distribution on the uniform dark flow. The induced small scale kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich (SZ) effect will reach \sim 1\muk^2 at multipole 10^3\la \ell\la 10^4, only a factor of $\sim 2$ smaller than the conventional kinetic SZ effect. Furthermore, it will be correlated with the large scale structure (LSS) and its correlation with 2MASS galaxy distribution reaches $0.3 \mu$K at $\ell=10^3$, under a directional dependent optimal weighting scheme. We estimate that, WMAP plus 2MASS should already be able to detect this dark flow induced small scale kinetic SZ effect with $\sim 6\sigma$ confidence. Deeper galaxy surveys such as SDSS can further improve the measurement. Planck plus existing galaxy surveys can reach \ga 14\sigma detection. Existing CMB-LSS cross correlation measurements shall be reanalyzed to test the existence of the dark flow and, if it exists, shall be used to eliminate possible bias on the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect measurement through the CMB-LSS cross correlation.Comment: Minor revisions. 5 pages, 3 figures. MNRAS letters in pres

Contribution of records management to audit opinions and accountability in government

Background: Auditing can support national democratic processes, national development and government good will. Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI), such as offices of Auditor General, publish consolidated reports on audit outcomes for local authorities, government departments, parastatals and related public entities. These reports identify broad areas analysed during audit exercises that often include financial management, governance, asset management, risk management, revenue collection and debt recovery. They highlight trends that were detected during audit exercises at the end of a financial year. The reports further show how records and records management affect audit exercises as well as financial management within the audited institutions. Objectives: The intention of the research was to ascertain the contribution of records management to audit opinions and accountability in financial management in Zimbabwean government entities. Method: A document analysis of Comptroller and Auditor General of Zimbabwe (CAGZ)’s reports was used to identify the types of decisions and recommendations (audit opinions) issued, in juxtaposition to the records management issues raised. Results and Conclusion: This study shows that there is a strong correlation between records management concerns and audit opinions raised by the CAGZ’s narrative audit reports. Inadequate records management within government entities was associated with adverse and qualified opinions and, in some cases, unqualified opinions that had emphases of matter. There was a causal loop in which lack of documentary evidence of financial activities was the source cause of poor accounting and poor audit reports. Errors resulting from incomplete or inaccurate records meant that government entities were not showing a true picture of their financial status and their financial statements could be materially misstated. As an important monitoring and control system, records management should be integrated into the accounting and auditing processes of government entities

The Risk of Unexploded Ordnance on Construction Sites in London

Greater London, among many large cities, was subject to bombing by the German military in both the World Wars and was the target of many air raids during the Second World War (WW2). This was particularly the case during the Blitz, September 1940 – May 1941, when over 28,000 high explosive bombs and parachute mines were dropped on London. Post war research conducted in 1949 estimated that approximately 12,750 t of bombs, including V1 and V2 rockets, were dropped on London. The night of 16th – 17th April 1941 was one of the worst bombing raids, when 446 t of bombs were dropped on London and over 58 t did not detonate. Unexploded bombs remain buried underground today, as they were unidentified at the time or abandoned owing to difficulties in recovering them. Uncharted bombs continue to pose a potentially significant hazard for developments around London. This paper considers the probability of discovering unexploded ordnance (UXO), particularly WW2 ordnance, during intrusive groundworks in London. The prevalence of unexploded ordnance has been assessed using data obtained from governmental organisations to estimate the likelihood of discovery in London

The translation of articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into education legislation:the narrowing of Article 12 as a consequence of translation

This paper is concerned with the inclusion, exclusion and reshaping of articles within the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) as they are translated into English education legislation. The CRC comprises 54 articles aimed at outlining rights and freedoms for children and was ratified by the United Kingdom (UK) government in 1991. The paper builds on a previous publication by the authors which highlighted how the mobilisation of articles within the CRC into professional practice undergoes multiple translations. This paper takes an in‐depth and critical look at the first stage of the translation process in which articles are mobilised from the CRC into national legislation. Specifically, the paper presents findings from a documentary analysis which explored the translation of principles pertaining to Article 12 of the CRC into English Education Regulations, Acts and Statutory Guidance for schools. Findings demonstrate that the reshaping of the article within education legislation strongly reflects the government's priorities and agendas. The study raises new insights into the need to establish processes to ensure the full mobilisation of Article 12 and questions whether specific principles pertaining to the article could or should be incorporated into national legislative systems.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Onlin

The effect of audit committee characteristics on intellectual capital disclosure

This paper, using data from 100 UK listed firms, investigates the relationship between audit committee characteristics and intellectual capital (IC) disclosure. We find that IC disclosure is positively associated with audit committee characteristics of size and frequency of meetings, and negatively associated with audit committee directors’ shareholding. We find no significant relationship between IC disclosure and audit committee independence and financial expertise. We also observe variations in the association between audit committee characteristics and IC disclosure at its component level, which suggest that the underlying factors that drive various forms of IC disclosure, i.e. human capital, structural capital and relational capital, are different. These results have important implications for policy-makers who have a responsibility to ensure that shareholders are protected by prescribing appropriate corporate governance structures and accounting regulations/guidelines

Mental health care and resistance to fascism

Mental health nurses have a critical stake in resisting the right-wing ideology of British fascism. Particularly concerning is the contemporary effort of the British National Party (BNP) to gain credibility and electoral support by the strategic re-packaging of a racist and divisive political manifesto. Evidence that some public sector workers are affiliated with the BNP has relevance for nursing at a series of levels, not least the incompatibility of party membership with a requirement of the Professional Code to avoid discrimination. Progressive advances, though, need to account for deep rooted institutionalized racism in the discourse and practice of healthcare services. The anomalous treatment of black people within mental health services, alongside racial abuse experienced by ethnic minority staff, is discussed in relation to the concept of race as a powerful social category and construction. The murder of the mentally ill and learning disabled in Nazi Germany, as an adjunct of racial genocide, is presented as an extreme example where professional ethics was undermined by dominant political ideology. Finally, the complicity of medical and nursing staff in the state sanctioned, bureaucratic, killing that characterized the Holocaust is revisited in the context of ethical repositioning for contemporary practice and praxis