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Objectives To determine the impact on teenage pregnancy of interventions that address the social disadvantage associated with early parenthood and to assess the appropriateness of such interventions for young people in the United Kingdom. Design Systematic review, including a statistical meta- analysis of controlled trials on interventions for early parenthood and a thematic synthesis of qualitative studies that investigated the views on early parenthood of young people living in the UK. Data sources 12 electronic bibliographic databases, five key journals, reference lists of relevant studies, study authors, and experts in the field. Review methods Two independent reviewers assessed the methodological quality of studies and abstracted data. Results 10 controlled trials and five qualitative studies were included. Controlled trials evaluated either early childhood interventions or youth development programmes. The overall pooled effect size showed that teenage pregnancy rates were 39% Iower among individuals receiving an intervention than in those receiving standard practice or no intervention (relative risk 0.61; 95% confidence interval 0.48 to 0.77). Three main themes associated with early parenthood emerged from the qualitative studies: dislike of school; poor material circumstances and unhappy childhood; and Iow expectations for the future. Comparison of these factors related to teenage pregnancy with the content of the programmes used in the controlled trials indicated that both early childhood interventions and youth development programmes are appropriate strategies for reducing unintended teenage pregnancies. The Programmes aim to promote engagement with school through learning support,ameliorate unhappy childhood through guidance and social support, and raise aspirations through career development and work experience. However, none of these approaches directly tackles all the societal, community, and family level factors that influence young people's routes to early parenthood. Conclusions A small but reliable evidence base supports the effectiveness and appropriateness of early childhood interventions and youth development programmes for reducing unintended teenage pregnancy. Combining the findings from both controlled trials and qualitative studies provides a strong evidence base for informing effective public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which used three U.K. trials of social interventions to consider issues relating to he use of random allocation for social intervention evaluation. Strategies for the successful implementation of social randomized control trials; Background on the three trials; Ethical objections to the use of randomization.

The article argues that the evolution of the British eugenics movement during the years 1935-1950 holds important clues to the emergence of Richard Titmuss's own leadership of the field of social welfare in Great Britain. The pursuit of health by a society or social group requires a position to be adopted on two central issues. One issue concerns the relative importance of nature and nurture, while the second, related question has to do with whether it is the individual or the environment that is seen as the appropriate focus of health-promoting activities. Titmuss's entrée to the eugenics movement was secured largely via his work on the statistics of fertility. In the course of his insurance work, he had occasion to note the impossibility of predicting future insurance trends without a knowledge of 'politico-economic event,' and especially the demographic patterns which indicated that the British population was not replacing itself, and would in future become increasingly elderly. The connection between war and declining birth rates was, argued the Titmusses, to be sought in 'The pattern of human behavior dominated as it has been by a competitive rather than by a cooperative way of life.' In the book Parents Revolt, the Titmusses developed the differential fertility argument, contending that, 'an undue proportion of our future human wealth...is being reared in homes least equipped to produce healthy, alert, informed and courageous citizens.' Titmuss's approach to social class and health was not, in the light of today's knowledge, particularly sophisticated; indeed, it ignored several important considerations raised since, including the process of 'biological drift' whereby some less fit individuals may tend to lower their social class membership, the unsatisfactory proxy nature of occupationally based social class for true material disadvantage, and, last but not least, the unresolved, position of women as carriers of male class.

This article does not aim to be a systematic review of women's studies and its ramifications in British sociology; rather it aims to present some of the key themes and areas attended to, and in the process reach some assessment of the extent to which the exercise of doing sociology has been in any way transformed by the feminist impetus. Three prior remarks are called for: one is that, since, by its very nature, women's studies is an interdisciplinary activity, restriction of the field of vision of sociology per se is not always possible or desirable. In particular, work done in the fields of social policy, social psychology, and social anthropology has fed into the concern of women's studies in sociology over this period. A cross-cultural perspective was especially important in the early years, when concern with the origin and meaning of observable social differences between men and women was high on the agenda. A second preliminary qualification relates to the exercise of locating women's studies within the academic domain. There are those who argue that this is, itself, improper; that, insofar as feminism is concerned with political action, the introduction of women into the academic syllabus is inappropriate and may even lead to political stasis.

This study describes the characteristics of clients referred to two UK parent support initiatives — Newpin and Home-Start — and documents key aspects of the referral process and clients' responses to the help provided. Data were collected from referral records on 214 families referred during 1992 to four Newpin centres and 349 families referred between April 1994 and March 1995 to four Home-Start schemes. Families were sent questionnaires. Qualitative interview data were collected from a sub-sample of families and from staff and referrers in the Newpin study; volunteers and referrers completed questionnaires in the Home-Start study. Socially disadvantaged families were less likely to return the study questionnaires. The kinds of families and problems referred to the two organizations were very similar. Mothers' loneliness and low emotional well-being were the main reasons for referral; children at risk represented a small part of the caseload. Both Newpin and Home-Start respondents had low levels of support from family and friends. Most referrals were made by health visitors, and there was a significant problem of non use among referred families. Most users of Newpin and Home-Start were enthusiastic about the help provided. Common difficulties in family life, such as poverty, stress and low social support, make up an increasing part of the workload of health professionals and social workers, and of voluntary sector initiatives for supporting parents. This study raises questions about the claims such initiatives may make about their effectiveness in reaching and providing help to ‘at risk’ families. Further evaluation of such schemes is needed to provide a sound evidence-base for policy and purchasing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the study concerning sexual health education interventions for young people in Britain. Objectives; Design; Results; Need to improve the design of evaluations in sexual health interventions; Generation of reliable evidence of the effectiveness of different approaches to promoting young people's sexual health. INSETS: Recommendations for future work.;Key messages..

Offers the author's thoughts on misdiagnosis in medicine, ineffective treatment regimens and the National Health Service (NHS) of Great Britain. How she was diagnosed with Sciatica, which presented with pain in her buttuck, leg and foot; Use of several referrals; Role of her general practitioner in her diagnosis.