The article critically examines the Strategic State approach to social policy as represented by the ‘Scottish Approach’ to policy-making and delivery. The article outlines the defining features of a strategic approach to social policy and critically appraises the Scottish Government’s claim to reflect these principles in flagship welfare reforms. The article considers how far a strategic policy approach has been applied in Scotland and draws upon research exploring the response of local leaders to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to examine what this experience reveals about how ‘strategic’ these actions were. The article concludes that, in contrast to previous slow progress in implementing a strategic approach, the exigencies of COVID compelled innovations in policy making and accelerated practices consistent with a strategic approach. The article concludes with some reflections on what this evidence implies for strategic social policy making and governance.

Although long-term outcomes of girls with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are understudied, high risk for adolescent and young-adult self-harm is salient. We present data on predictors and mediators of such risk, highlighting a recent dual-process model involving trait impulsivity plus family- and peer-related contributors. We conclude with recommendations for assessment and preventive intervention.

The identity, richness, and abundance of true flies (Diptera) from the nests of three cavity-nesting raptors (Aves) were investigated in northern Nova Scotia, Canada. After fledging, flies were extracted from the nest material using Berlese funnels within an emergence chamber. Thirty-one species/morphospecies from 14 families were collected, including eight new records for Nova Scotia and two new records for eastern North America.

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivars ‘UFV1’ and ‘UFV2’ grown at Viçosa and Florestal, Brazil, and ‘Bonus' and ‘Wells' at Urbana, Illinois, were sprayed at growth stages R5.5 to R6 (full-pod) or R7 (50% defoliation) with the desiccant/herbicides glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine], paraquat (1,1′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium ion), or sodium chlorate:sodium borate (50:50, w/v). Desiccation of plants by paraquat significantly reduced seed weight and germination at all locations and increased the incidence of Alternaria and Phomopsis spp. at Urbana. Analysis of the combined data from the Brazilian locations showed a significant decrease in seed germination for all treatments except paraquat sprayed on the UFV2 at R7 and sodium chlorate: sodium borate sprayed on UFV1 at R7. Herbicide application at R7 did not result in consistent increases in seedborne Fusarium or Phomopsis spp. at any Brazilian location. Rainfall and temperature at seed maturation were more important variables in pod-to-seed infection by these fungi than increased rates of tissue senescence caused by the desiccants.

This themed section discusses the conceptual development and related empirical applications of social innovation (SI), a concept acquiring a prominent position in both academia and the world of policy. When SI started being used in the early 1990s relatively few social scientists were familiar with it, mainly those interested in urban policy. Less than two decades later, not only is SI at the heart of the largest public research funding programme in Europe (Horizon 2020), it is also constantly referred to in the discourses of senior level policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Social innovation (SI) is an increasingly prominent but contested issue in discussions of social policy reform. Although not yet a familiar concept, nor widely understood (least of all by policy makers), it has entered mainstream policy discourses. However whether SI marks a significant departure in either theory or in practice, or merely in rhetoric, remains to be determined. This Review Article, and the Themed Section as a whole, aims to set out some of the questions social policy analysts should ask about SI, and to help clarify whether or not it is a significant development which merits attention. The Review begins by considering some of the reasons for the recent interest shown in SI before clarifying the meaning of the concept and outlining some of the different forms SI has taken. This discussion is followed by a consideration of some of the practical and theoretical questions which SI raises for social policy analysis. The Review concludes that social policy analysts cannot afford to ignore SI, but that the most effective contribution the discipline can make is to apply a critical empirical perspective to test the significance, value and impact of SI.

Using behavioral and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response indices through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the current study investigated whether youths with disruptive behavior disorders (conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder) plus psychopathic traits (DBD + PT) show aberrant sensitivity to eye gaze information generally and/or whether they show particular insensitivity to eye gaze information in the context of fearful expressions. The participants were 36 children and adolescents (ages 10–17 years); 17 had DBD + PT and 19 were healthy comparison subjects. Participants performed a spatial attention paradigm where spatial attention was cued by eye gaze in faces displaying fearful, angry, or neutral affect. Eye gaze sensitivity was indexed both behaviorally and as BOLD response. There were no group differences in behavioral response: both groups showed significantly faster responses if the target was in the congruent spatial direction indicated by eye gaze. Neither group showed a Congruence × Emotion interaction; neither group showed an advantage from the displayer's emotional expression behaviorally. However, the BOLD response revealed a significant Group × Congruence × Emotion interaction. The comparison youth showed increased activity within the dorsal endogenous orienting network (superior parietal lobule and inferior parietal sulcus) for fearful congruent relative to incongruent trials relative to the youth with DBD + PT. The results are discussed with reference to current models of DBD + PT and possible treatment innovations.

Access to and engagement with information and communications technologies (ICTs) are increasingly important aspects of social inclusion. This paper draws upon analyses of UK survey data and a review of research on communications and social exclusion published in the UK between 2001 and 2006 to examine the social distribution of access to and uptake of ICTs and to explore key factors restricting the digital engagement of young people from lower income households and communities. It argues that effective strategies to bridge digital divisions in the UK must pay more attention to the social rather than technological barriers which inhibit communications inclusion.

Androgenetic alopecia occurs in men and women, and is characterised by the loss of hair from the scalp in a defined pattern. Determining factors appear to be genetic predisposition coupled with the presence of sufficient circulating androgens. The prevalence of this condition is high (up to 50% of white males are affected by 50 years of age) and, although there are no serious direct health consequences, the loss of scalp hair can be distressing. Knowledge of the pathogenesis of androgenetic alopecia has increased markedly in recent years. Pre-programmed follicles on the scalp undergo a transformation from long growth (anagen) and short rest (telogen) cycles, to long rest and short growth cycles. This process is coupled with progressive miniaturisation of the follicle. These changes are androgen dependent, and require the inheritance of several genes. To date, only one of these genes, which encodes the androgen receptor (AR), has been identified. Of the many treatments available for androgenetic alopecia, only two (finasteride and minoxidil) have been scientifically shown to be useful in the treatment of hair loss. However, these therapies are variable in their effectiveness. Discovery of the involvement of the AR gene, and the identification of other genes contributing to the condition, might lead to the development of new and more effective therapies that target the condition at a more fundamental level.

Occasionally it seems as if it might have been more pleasant to have studied Social Policy in, say, the 1950s. From the fluid and turbulent perspective of the 1990s it appears an era of relative tranquillity and certainty: there were fewer books to read, apparently more certainty of both purpose and means (although it is a sign of our times that there is currently a revisionist debate going on about the reality of the so-called ‘Butskellite consensus’), and generally less to know. It is said that in the thirteenth century Roger Bacon was able to compend all the scientific knowledge of his day in a single work. This has long been impossible even for any single discipline, but at least the latest edition of the Social Policy Review does give the reader a taste of the range and diversity of issues which now characterises the subject.