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The majority of gang research has focussed primarily on American samples, with the rehabilitative field being no exception. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge base regarding the psychology of gang membership by exploring the narrative accounts of convicted street gang members within an English and Welsh prison sample.

Using semi-structured interviews with nine convicted male prisoners, data were analysed, systematically coded and themes generated in line with the principles of thematic analysis.

Three major themes emerged which depicted how members viewed gang membership. The first theme was around what being a gang member meant to them and the organisation within the gang (e.g. hierarchy and criminal activities). The second theme reflected their motivations for joining a gang with reference to their identity and survival. Lastly, within the third theme, participants spoke about what had motivated them to disengage from the gang, difficulties they faced because of disengagement, and what they felt had helped them in the process of disengagement.

The study emphasises the importance of avoiding labels and promoting choice as to how individuals refer to themselves, which can help remove stigma and strengthen professional relationships as part of their risk management planning. Policymakers, practitioners and programme developers are advised to reflect on the word “gang” and how this may influence perception of risk and contribute to bias in judgement. The study also provides insight into individuals experiences with rehabilitation initiatives and the logistical challenges of being open with their peer group. Also supports ideas on considering how to create opportunities to ensure those who wish to exit gangs can do so in a safe, legitimate and durable way. Findings could assist in the design of early preventative measures for those identified as being at risk of joining a gang. Offering training to professionals in the community on how to identify and communicate with those vulnerable to joining a gang may support this process.

Findings add to the limited yet growing evidence base in understanding the psychology of gang membership and helping to support the work undertaken with this cohort.

This study investigates the determinants of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) cash compensation in relation to corporate governance and performance in China's listed firms. This article also aims at analyzing gender earning differentials among CEOs.

The empirical analysis is based on the panel data set which contains information on the CEOs of 1,701 firm-year observations over the period 2006-2010. A Oaxaca decomposition is also implemented to measure the gap between male and female CEO compensation.

The paper observes that CEO compensation relies more on firm accounting performance than on stock market performance. This relationship is especially evident when accounting performance is measured as the return-on-assets. Dominant shareholders such as the state and block holders have a distinct impact on the use of incentive pay. The presence of a compensation committee in a Chinese listed firm is correlated with an excessive pay package for the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), even though there is evidence that pay-for-performance is more likely in the presence of a compensation committee. Furthermore, this context extends the international body of evidence on CEO compensation by offering a novel accounting of the gender gap in pay among China's listed firms. Examination of the dataset reveals that women represent approximately 6.8 percent of CEOs. In keeping with international norms, female CEOs are more senior and better educated than their male counterparts, yet they receive less favorable compensation. The Oaxaca decomposition shows a larger unexplained part of the pay-gap and suggests that the gender statistically explains a great deal of the gap in pay between male and female CEOs across China's listed firms.

This article contributes to the international corporate governance literature and implications for the design of good corporate governance for China's listed firms. Moreover, this article also highlights the current gender gap among CEOs in compensation.

REGULAR READERS of this column will have noted, perhaps with relief, the self‐restraint I have applied in recent months in connection with the game of cricket, not a word about which have I imparted to you throughout the summer.

This is an invited short overview from a clinician working in a national secure inpatient setting which aims to focus on inpatient forensic services for adolescents with developmental disabilities.

The paper gives a brief overview of the needs of this population and the requirements for inpatient assessment and treatment.

This is a complex population who are referred relatively late to inpatient services, often after recurrent failings in residential services where mental disorders are commonly unrecognised. Comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment and treatment are required for this group.

This paper will be useful to a range of professionals dealing with adolescents with developmental disabilities who are engaging in offending and other high risk behaviours.

ALL the auguries for the Bournemouth Conference appear to be good. Our local secretary, Mr. Charles Riddle, seems to have spared neither energy nor ability to render our second visit to the town, whose libraries he initiated and has controlled for thirty‐seven years, useful and enjoyable. There will not be quite so many social events as usual, but that is appropriate in the national circumstances. There will be enough of all sorts of meetings to supply what the President of the A.L.A. describes as “the calling which collects and organizes books and other printed matter for the use and benefit of mankind and which brings together the reader and the printed word in a vital relationship.” We hope the discussions will be thorough, but without those long auto‐biographical speeches which are meant for home newspapers, that readers will make time for seeing the exhibitions, and that Bournemouth will be a source of health and pleasure to all our readers who can be there.

IN the April number of Public Libraries, Mr. Andrew Keogh, sometime of Newcastle‐on‐Tyne, now Professor of Bibliography at Yale University, comes forward in defence of American libraries from the aspersions alleged to be cast on them in this periodical. Other journalistic comments have also appeared, which we may have occasion to mention at another time; and altogether some pother has been caused in America over our very straightforward and simple remarks. Mr. Keogh assumes, quite erroneously, that the first Library World editorial was based on the one or two instances of American reference to European libraries which he quotes. He knows, however, just as well as ourselves, that the American pose in library work is to adopt an attitude akin to contempt for anything outside the boundaries of the United States, and this is shown in nearly every publication dealing with library work. The Nation example was only one which happened to come along at the moment, and it is direct confirmation of what was stated in these columns in April, namely, that even in secular journals the writers were, as Mr. Keogh now certifies, prominent members of the A.L.A. Our attitude is, therefore, not that of defence simply, against certain outsiders writing in non‐professional journals, but against American professional librarians lending themselves to the poor work of trying to belittle the efforts of European librarians on every possible occasion. The mere fact that, as Mr. Keogh affirms, the great research libraries of Germany were attacked in the Nation, does not justify the publication of such ungenerous articles, especially coming from librarians who profess so much friendliness and high feeling.

The preliminary figures for the production of fruit in the United States of America for the year 1930 issued by the Department of Commerce, Washington, are as follows:—Apples, 163,543,000 bushel; grapes, 2,368,557 tons; peaches, 53,286,000 bushel; pears, 25,703,000 bushel; strawberries, 59,996,000 quarts; cranberries, 570,000 barrels. Assuming the bushel to be equal to fifty pounds weight (Av.), the weights of apples, peaches and pears produced are 3,650,000 tons, 1,189,000 tons, 574,000 tons respectively. The Department of Commerce has no means of intimating the proportions of fruits used for the raw, canning and preserve markets. The production of canned fruits is, however, high in the United States, a much larger proportion of the total crop of fruit being used for this purpose than is the case in this country. In the United States the fruit that is preserved is marketed either as jam, the fruit for this purpose being more or less in the form of pulp; or as preserved fruit when the fruit is whole or unbroken; or as fruit butter, which is fruit juice and fruit pulp evaporated till they form a semi‐solid homogeneous mass with or without the addition of sugar, spices, or vinegar; or as fruit jelly, which is the juice or water extract of fruit concentrated to a suitable consistency with the addition of sugar. In 1929, according to the Bureau of Census figures, the total value of the four products above named amounted to $44,073,809, or in round figures about £9,000,000. It appears that some two hundred firms are mainly engaged in the manufacture of these, a small and unknown amount being made as a kind of side line by certain wholesale grocers. It may be observed that (1) the fruit used is home grown; (2) the product, whether it be preserved fruit, jam, fruit butter or fruit jelly, has to be made in accordance with Federal or State definitions of these products; (3) the label on the pot or tin must truly describe the contents as to nature, quality and quantity; (4) that misleading statements or designs on such labels are forbidden by law. At the request of the National Preservers' Association the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce recently completed a survey of the preserving industry. The results are incomplete, as many firms did not make returns, but the figures obtained would appear to cover about 40 per cent. of those relating to the industry for the year 1929. These figures are at least useful for comparative purposes, and multiplication by 2½ is probably justifiable under the circumstances as affording some guide to the total amount. Thus the actual figures obtained by the Department for production by “major classification” are as follows:—Preserves and jams, 62,490,389 lbs.; jellies, 32,301,654 lbs.; fruit butters, 40,019,560 lbs.; citrus marmalade, 1,849,104 lbs. Total, 136,660,707 lbs. This total when multiplied by 2½ shows that something over 150,000 tons, of 2,240 lbs. to the ton, of the products mentioned above were made in 1929. If the population of the United States be 125 millions, it is certainly near that figure, the output is low compared with the output in this country; for preserves and jams very low. The deficiency in this item is offset by the high percentage compared with our figures of fruit jelly (235), and of fruit butters (30) produced. Much fruit grown in the United States is, however, absorbed by the canning industry which has been long established and has reached enormous dimensions; and also in the production of fruit juices as beverages. Again, anything but a numerical comparison, even if that be directly permissible, is to our disadvantage. For while the fruit grower in the United States finds a ready market for his crops in the markets for jam and its associated products, our fruit growers would seem to receive no such measure of encouragement from our jam makers, who purchase large quantities of cheap imported fruit pulp of questionable wholesomeness in many cases. As to the quality of the material it is safe to say that much of the jam made in the country at the present time would be refused entry into the United States. As to the kind of jam and preserve made in the United States, there are three kinds: Standard, Compound, and Imitation. In round figures 75 per cent. of the jam is of standard grade, 19 per cent. is compound, and 6 per cent. imitation. For jellies the figures are: 45·45 per cent. standard, 27 per cent. pectin and apple base, imitation 27 per cent. As to the kinds of fruit used in making jam, strawberry jam heads the list with 39 per cent. of the total; raspberry with 19 per cent. No other percentages run into double figures. The next highest is peach 8·74 per cent., the lowest is gooseberry 0·13 per cent. 78·5 per cent. by weight of the strawberry jam is of standard quality, 19 per cent. compound, 2·3 imitation; 75·5 per cent. of the raspberry jam is standard, 21 per cent. compound, 1·6 imitation. The average invoice values of these jams are as follows:—Standard strawberry jam, 17.64 cents per lb., say 9d. per lb.; compound strawberry, 7d.; imitation strawberry, 5d. The corresponding figures for raspberry being 7½d., 6½d., 5¼d. These figures being about the average invoice prices for all kinds of jams of the three qualities named. From these figures it would appear that it is possible in the United States to market strawberry and raspberry jam of a nature conforming to Dr. Johnson's definition at a fairly low price. In the United States of America there are two laws which govern the purity of the food supply. One is the Federal Law of 30th June, 1906. The Federal Law applies to the Federal District of Columbia and to Inter‐State Commerce, that is to say to goods which may be sent from one State of the Union to another State of the Union. The other laws are the State laws which have been passed by the legislatures of the various States. Before these laws were passed, manufacturers of adulterated food products were at liberty to make and sell such products in their State. These State laws are applicable only to the particular States for which they have been passed. As a general rule they are founded on the Federal Law or follow the wording of this law closely as a matter of expediency, but the various States responsible for these enactments are not bound in any way by the wording of the Federal enactments. The State Laws, however, are complementary to the Federal Law. The power of a State to protect itself against the ill‐effects of unsatisfactory food products manufactured in another and imported within its boundaries is extremely limited. This is a matter for the Federal authorities in the enforcement of the Federal Law. On the other hand the Federal Law has no power over goods manufactured in any given State for sale in that State. It is only when such goods pass from one State to another and thus become part of Inter‐State Commerce that the Federal Law has authority. Nevertheless the Federal and State officials are in close co‐operation, and a network of protective legislation covers the United States, and the laws and regulations are administered by keen and experienced legal and technical officers.

ANDREW Carnegie stands apart from all other library benefactors. No other man has given so much, or given so widely, in the cause of library progress. Although the United Kingdom was not the main recipient of his bounty, it received from him, personally, about £12 million, and considerable sums, in addition, from the Trust which he founded. It might well be expected, therefore, that his name would always be in our minds and that we would remember him more kindly than any other library benefactor. But it is not so.

Purpose – To provide pre-service and in-service teachers with a framework for using formative assessments to inform their literacy instructional practices.

Design/methodology/approach – Assessment as inquiry is a cyclical problem-solving stance that can be applied to instructional decision making in the classroom.

Findings – Teachers are urged to keep six design features in mind when creating formative assessments and analyzing the data gathered from them.

Practical Implications – This chapter is a helpful resource for teachers when evaluating their uses and analysis of classroom literacy assessments.

Originality/value – Teachers who apply the information in the chapter will gain a deeper understanding of each student's developing levels of literacy knowledge, skills, strategies, and dispositions. This information will facilitate a teacher's ability to better meet the needs of all students in his or her classroom.

A significant number of people held within the secure forensic hospital estate in this country suffer from neuropsychological deficits (e.g. Lowings, 2010; Williams et al., 2010). These deficits, many of them cognitive, have a detrimental impact on patient's abilities to benefit from psycho-educational materials thereby slowing the progress of their rehabilitation. Understanding these difficulties enables interventions to be more effectively targeted and facilitated to the patients’ cognitive strengths. It was against the backdrop of the evidence that a review was commissioned into neuropsychological activity at Rampton Hospital.

The review of the neuropsychological assessment activity was confined to the male patients residing within Mental Health Services (MHS) and the National High Secure Learning Disability Service (NHSLDS) of the hospital. With regards to the MHS, 129 patient files were examined in order to identify the volume of neuropsychological assessment previously undertaken and the make up of the neuropsychological test batteries administered with the current patient group. With regard to the NHSLDS 48 files were similarly examined. In addition, MHS psychologists were surveyed to assess their knowledge of patients within that service who to their knowledge had previously suffered an acquired brain injury (ABI) or had suffered a significant neurological illness likely to have resulted in cognitive impairment.

A scoping exercise identified that a significant amount of neuropsychological assessment was being undertaken, albeit in an unstructured way. This led to a number of patients being subjected to a significant delay before the need for neuropsychological testing and rehabilitation possibilities became apparent. There was a huge variance on when a patient was tested ranging from one month to 14 years and the size of the test battery used, with the number of tests conducted per patient ranging between one single test to 16 tests during a patients stay at the hospital.

Opportunities to more appropriately place patients based upon their abilities could be achieved if the hospital were to adopt a policy of conducting neuropsychological assessments, including cognitive functioning, for all patients upon admission to the hospital. A proportion of patients were known to have had a ABI or a significant illness likely to have resulted in cognitive impairment. This was considered to be an underrepresentation and the taking of a thorough history specifically covering ABI and specific illnesses known to have an impact on cognitive ability and behaviour was also recommended.

In light of this review, services are to take a more systematic approach to assessing neuropsychological difficulties. Consideration is being given to neuropsychological screening becoming part of the admission process.