Revisioning society, economy and democracy for the 21stC. Change is inevitable. What to change and how to change it are the challenges we face now and in the next few decades. Our decisions will profoundly affect humanity's destiny. As we enter this critical period in our evolution this book examines the changes necessary to reach a destination described as "sustainable prosperity." Building on the truths we can all observe in our own lives, The Path to A Future creates a fascinating and provocative case for simple and fundamental changes to the way we elect our representatives, support each other and develop economic prosperity. Reading this book will change your vision of what is possible and your expectation of what we can achieve. Moving past cynicism to action, the ideas in this book describe The Path to A Future you want to live in.

Teenage drinking is a major social concern. Using data from a major UK birth cohort study this book examines both the early childhood predictors of underage drinking and the longer-term adult consequences. Around 10% of 16-year-old teenagers were classified as hazardous drinkers. Hazardous drinking was more common amongst boys, and was associated with higher rates of drug use, and violent offending. The main childhood predictors of hazardous teenage drinking included antisocial behaviour, high extroversion and maternal drinking in pregnancy. Depression, anxiety and socio-economic status were not associated with increased alcohol consumption. Adolescent drinking predicted adult drinking after controlling for a wide range of other predictors. Likewise, the relationship between maternal drinking (both during pregnancy and in the child's teenage years) predicted adult drinking. There was no evidence that emotional problems were associated with higher levels of adult drinking. This analysis has major implications for the design and development of alcohol prevention programmes, and should be especially useful to professionals working with teenagers across a wide variety of settings.

Integral cohomology algebras explores the algebraic objects consisting of cohomology groups with integer coefficients and the primary cohomology operations acting on them. These cohomology algebras are contrasted with their Eckmann-Hilton dual of homotopy groups and primary homotopy operations. They are also shown to generalize the Steenrod algebra structures for cohomology over finite fields. Several examples are given using the cohomology algebra structure to distinguish between topological spaces. The earlier chapters provide a comprehensive summary of the Eckmann-Hilton duality of integral cohomology and homotopy groups and the natural primary operations on them. A final chapter discusses directions for future research.

Child Welfare Policy and Practice - Issues and Lessons Emerging from Current Research explores the implications of recent research for all those concerned with child welfare and social work. It addresses the present concerns as expressed by Government bodies and central Government enquiries regarding the services and policies relating to children in need of care and attention. The book deals with social care issues that are common within the UK as well as covering specific aspects of Scottish and Irish child welfare. The current areas of concern covered by the contributors include: the development of children's service plans operationalisation of recent child care legislation management of the transition of young people with disabilities from childhood to adulthood use of live video links with child witnesses. The book also discusses the results of a long term, follow-up study of twenty years duration of failure-to-thrive children. In conclusion the book puts forward recommendations for influencing future policy and practice in child care. It is essential reading for social work students, social work policy-makers, day care and social workers, teachers, doctors, lawyers and psychologists.