NCube/papyrus huggingface dataset:
Le Registre national des délinquants sexuels au Québec : un problème de mise en œuvre

Several studies have focused on the different registration systems for sex offenders across the world. Overall, such research presents a pessimistic outlook regarding the effectiveness of such instruments and the impact that registration systems have on the behaviour of these offenders. Regardless of such consistent drawbacks, sex offender registration systems continue to be implemented and used, often as a result of public demand. The history of the adoption of the Canadian Loi sur l’enregistrement de renseignements sur les délinquants sexuels (LERDS) illustrates how the contextual elements that underlie the public politics of this sensitive instrument generate symbolic impacts. The current study examines how this context influenced the implementation process of this registration system, while also having an impact on how this instrument is used by law-enforcement agencies in Quebec. This latter issue is important since the LERDS places police agents at its core, thus following the assumption that the implementation of the Registre national des délinquants sexuels (RNDS) will be conducted through them. To examine such a context, a qualitative method was required so as to access the actors and experiences that are at the heart of this process. The main observations that emerge from this study illustrate the political ambiguity and considerable conflicting views that surrounding this registration system. Indeed, the lack of uniform practices and the incoherent role of the RNDS, as well as the legal and practical implications that surround it, generate a false vision of this instrument for its main users (the police) and for those who turn to such data for specific inquiries (the CQEDS). One feature which is unique in the Quebec context is the lack of consideration that reflects patrol officers’ use of this instrument for investigative or preventive purposes. Finally, the training of police agents in regard to this instrument and the overall attribution of resources that render it operational also contribute to complicated the attainment of the LERDS objectives. In general, this study’s results offer a portrait that is not complete bleak, but that clearly reflect important deficiencies within the process that, after 12 years of implementation, has failed to adapt to the needs of local actors.

Keyphrases: Registre national des délinquants sexuels, Sex Offender Registry, Logging system, Registration system, Databases, Policing organizations, Public policy, Sex Offender Information Registration Act, Sex offender
Dissuasion et infractions routières chez les individus ayant une faible maîtrise de soi

Context and objectives. Several studies show that the deterrent effect of sanctions depends on individual characteristics and criminal opportunities offered in different contexts. Consequently, several authors compared the receptivity to sanction among individuals with different levels of self-control. Prior studies do not, however, agree on the effect of low self-control on deterrence process. The main objective of this master dissertation is to improve the knowledge on the deterrence process, including the relationships between exposure to sanction threat, perceptions about sanction properties and criminal intents. It specifically studies the effect of self-control levels on the deterrence process. The conceptual framework integrates concepts found in the situational and differential deterrence literature as well as in communication theories. Methodology. Data were collected with a questionnaire administered to approximately 500 young drivers. Information was available, among other things, on their driving habits, risk perceptions and level of self-control. Results. The level of self-control influences receptivity and interpretation of sanction threats at several degrees. First, a close exposure to channels delivering information about the sanction threat (i.e., exposure to police operations in the driving environment) has a greater impact on the perceived threat of social disapproval among those with a high self-control. Second, perceptions about the seriousness of traffic violations do not deter those at the highest end of the self-control continuum. Finally, people with a low self-control are more affected by their peers than those with a high self-control. Conclusion. Results confirm the need to account for individual characteristics of those targeted by deterrent strategies. They also highlight the relevance of considering how sanction threats are conveyed. The latest must be adapted to their target population.

Keyphrases: Infractions routières, Deterrence, Differential deterrence, Situational deterrence, Low self-control, Traffic violations, Sanction threat, Risk perceptions
L'expérience de la victimisation chez les femmes délinquantes vivant avec une déficience intellectuelle

The idea that all criminals were "idiots" was wide-spread for a long time. People whose behaviour deviated from the laws and social standards could not have a complete control of their acts; they were retarded (Ouimet, 2009). Naturally, this way of looking at criminality is out-dated. However, people living with an intellectual deficiency (ID) do sometimes commit offences. These individuals represent a particularly vulnerable group who often face numerous psychosocial problems, throughout their lives. They also have access to fewer internal and external resources in order to face these difficulties. Evidence of their vulnerability is reflected in the fact that people with physical and intellectual disabilities report significantly more victimizations than people without these disabilities. This study deals with the case of people who are vulnerable in two ways: women living with an ID. Although several studies have examined the crime among people living with an ID, few have pushed this exercise further. This research examines the link between victimization and crime among women living with an ID, an understudied subject. To explore this subject, female offenders living with an ID were interviewed, as well as professionals who are currently working with or who have worked with such clients. The interviews revealed that these women experience several daily sources of tension and adverse events throughout their lives, in addition to experiencing criminal victimizations. Robert Agnew's (2001) general strain theory is used to interpret the link between these experiences and their criminal acts. The results also demonstrated that these women may have some difficulty identifying victimization experiences, as well as their consequences. A lack of access to services and to resources, which could help them in different manners, was also noticed. This can be connected to the crimes they have perpetrated. The criminal justice system allowed all the participants to obtain services to improve their situation, which brings into question the criminalization of these people and the lack of access to the services for isolated and disadvantaged individuals. People who can’t manage their emotions and behaviors do commit crimes. It is the responsibility of criminological research to be interested in this disadvantaged group and find ways to improve their situation and avoid increasing their problems.

Keyphrases: crime, Intellectual disability, Victimization, Strain theory
L'utilisation et les enjeux du renseignement financier : un aperçu du CANAFE

This presentation aims to explore this insufficiently researched domain, that is the financial intelligence unit (FIU) of Canada, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). Our communication will discuss the issues faced by FINTRAC for its implementation and how the FIU uses the financial intelligence. This paper aims to question the impact of these issues in regards to cooperation and intelligence sharing amongst the Canadian security field, while also gathering knowledge relating to FINTRAC’s practices and partners. We are interested in FINTRAC’s path to its current position and their current stance on different subjects. Our methodological approach is based on semi-structured interviews conducted with the financial intelligence providers; namely actors from FINTRAC. Interviews have also been conducted with a few financial intelligence users, namely Sureté du Québec actors, as well as l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) actors in order to open on their perspective of the studied subject.

Keyphrases: FINTRAC, Financial intelligence, White collar crime, Money laundering
Les changements climatiques dans les médias québécois : une exploration de la responsabilité environnementale des citoyens sous la perspective de la criminologie verte

If individuals have their share of responsibility regarding climate change, it appears, however, that not only Canadian citizens are not well informed about the issue, but that they also do not feel quite concerned about it. The purpose of this thesis is to better understand this contradiction. To do so, we analyze the way media frames climate change as an environmental issue from the green criminology point of view, in which it is pointed out that climate change is mostly caused by legal harms, whether they are committed by individuals, businesses or governments. Regarding the fact that the way media frames environmental issues has an effect on how individuals understand these issues and on how they perceive their own relationship with the environment, this study seeks to specifically explore how the information presented by the media could influence Quebecers' perception of their individual environmental responsibility. This study is based on a qualitative content analysis of 100 articles drawn within the period of a month, between November 23rd and December 19th of the year 2015, from eight newspapers published in the province of Quebec. The results show that the media coverage of climate change is incomplete and not very scientific. This thesis highlights the fact that the media does not present climate change as an environmental issue, caused by legal harms, but rather as a security issue that can only truly be adressed by governments. Consequently, the media ignores the individual environmental responsibility regarding climate change and, thereby, probably contributes to the citizens' disengagement. Finally, in light of this study's literature review and results, we will explore the potential repercussions of this thesis. It will be pointed out that a green criminology relevant to the study of climate change must necessarily challenge the unequal relationship between humans, environment and non-humans, in which humans exploit the two others.

Keyphrases: Green criminology, Climate change, Global warming, Environmental crimes and harms, Individual responsability, Media coverage, Content analysis
L’environnement sous haute surveillance? : éclairage sur plus de quarante-cinq ans d’action publique au Canada

During his years in power, the Harper government was heavily criticized for its lack of commitment towards the environment. These criticisms are the starting point for this research project. This study attempts to contextualize the “Haper decade” by tracing the history of Canadian government action in the field of environment, starting with the creation of Environment Canada in 1971. Two objectives guide this research. On the one hand, to better understand how the environment and its protection were thought and gradually transformed as a public policy issue under successive federal governments. On the other hand, to understand how the evolution of political discourse in the recent history of Canada translated into sanctions. In order to do so, this study essentially relies on the analysis of a wide body of official publications associated with Environment Canada, which were published over the studied period (1971-2015). Following a broad outline of the key developments, the adoption of public policies is then linked to concrete measures taken to deal with offenses related to the application of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). Crossing the analysis of official environmental discourses with the implementation of sanctions under more than forty years of activities sheds light on the transformations, the points of tension and the paradoxes at the heart of public action in this field in Canada. Research thus illustrates that the Harper government’s “law and order” ideology has initiated a historic rise in the number of public interventions in environmental crime control, albeit a trend that appears to have affected corporations and smaller delinquent actors.

Keyphrases: Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), Environment Canada, Canadian government, Environmental problems, Environmental crime, Public action, Public policy, Environmental protection, Documentary analysis, Differential management of illegalisms
Grossesse à l’adolescence et consommation de substances psychoactives : points de vue de jeunes mères sur leur expérience de recherche d’aide et de recours aux services

The maternity stage in a woman’s life brings its load of challenges. This is even more so when maternity occurs during adolescence. The principal challenges facing adolescent mothers are : physical and mental fitness, a stable family environment, schooling, financial security, social integration. With the right or the wrong balance, the lives of young mothers can take a turn for the best or the worst, and often scarred for life. When you combine psychoactive substances use, which is sometimes common with female adolescents, it’s fair to say that life will become even more complicated for these young mothers, and inevitably they will need help. A this stage, it is important to understand if these young mothers do go out and seek help through social programs and how do they perceive these: do they succeed in getting the help they require for their needs through social programs ?  The following thesis explores their point of view looking at their life paths before, during and after maternity through a dozen semi-structured interview consultations with young mothers aged 20 and below, and emphasizes on their quest for assistance and the resulting services available. Some of these young mothers revealed a history of psychoactive substances abuse, whereas others claimed that they only seldom or rarely consumed. However, a majority confessed that had experienced family and/or conjugal violence, a facet that was not expected out of these consultations.

Keyphrases: psychotropes, teen pregnancy, addiction, teen parent's life trajectories, motherhood
Regards des intervenants sur les stratégies de recherche d’aide des femmes issues de l’immigration victimes d’un mariage forcé marqué de violence au Québec, lorsqu’il y a présence d’enfants

The aim of this thesis is to give a meaning to forced marriages and to highlight the strategies of research assistance and services used by women in Quebec when violence and the presence of children are combined in a marriage, from the point of view of stakeholders working with these women. Can the fear that children would be removed from the custody of their mothers and be placed in foster homes given the violence shown compromise research assistance and recourse to services for coping with violence? What about the threat of being deported to her country of origin, a fortiori without her children? Are other circumstances or elements likely to impede research assistance and the recourse to services of these women victims of spousal violence in context of a forced marriage? Does the situation of forced marriages bring insights on any distinctiveness to the violence experienced and to research strategies support deployed by women victims?   This thesis, through the perspective of the people involved with, aims to: 1) give meaning to the experiences of mothers subjected to forced marriage living with spousal violence; 2) underline how this experience can be influenced when in presence of children; 3) unveil the direction taken by strategies of research assistance and of recourse to services to these women when there are children in their lives; and 4) based on the experience of stakeholders, suggest courses of interventions with children to help more effectively women in forced marriages affected by domestic violence. A qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews, supports the collection and analysis of data collected from 15 stakeholders of diverse backgrounds: Centre social d’aide aux immigrants de Montréal (CSAI), various shelters for women victims of spousal violence and the Youth Protection Directorate. Beyond individual experiences, seeking the narratives of practice from stakeholders brings more broadly into account the difficulties lived by these women facing a triple condition that is to live in forced marriage with violence while in the presence of children.

Keyphrases: immigration, forced marriage, domestic violence, presence of children, intervention
Victime ou pas? : le vécu des proches de personnes ayant commis un crime grave médiatisé

In this study, we are interested in the experiences of relatives of offenders, who have committed a crime. The general objective of this study is to explore the experience of offenders’ relatives. In order to do this, four sub-objectives have been proposed: 1) to explore the perceptions of relatives regarding the consequences of the crime; 2) understanding the experience of offenders’ relatives regarding how they are be perceived by others; 3) explore the perceptions of the offenders’ relatives regarding their needs; and 4) highlight the role of the media on the experiences of offenders’ relatives.  In order to meet these objectives, seven relatives of offenders (N = 7) who committed a mediatized crime were interviewed in semi-directed interviews. A thematic analysis was then carried out in relation to the various research objectives. The analysis of the results revealed that there is a conflict between the perception of participants and the perception of society. The latter were reported to feel associated with the criminal and also experienced a loss of control. All of the participants mentioned the lack of empathy on the part of society and a lack of interest in their wellbeing (objective 1 and 2). The analysis also allowed us to identify the suffering arising from the conflict, experienced by respondents who often felt doubt and blame while also experienced needs such as the need for information, the financial need, and the need for psychological aid/support (objective 3). Also, the feelings of shame, loss of privacy and insensitive reactions by others were all themes that emerged during the analyzes related to the role of the media on the suffering and needs of the participants (objective 4). Finally, without questioning this aspect directly related to the role of the media, the themes of needs and the well-being of the children during the mediatization of the crime was noted in the narrative of the respondents.

Keyphrases: Recherche qualitative, Family of offender, Mediatized crimes, Suffering of relatives of offenders, Needs of offender family, Qualitative research
Impact of Maltreatment on Depressive Symptoms in Emerging Male Adults : the Mediating and Moderating Role of Coping Strategies and Cortisol Stress Response

An extensive body of work suggest that maltreated individuals are more likely to manifest depression at an early age and are more prone to experience recurrent depressive episodes that persist over long periods of time. However, the mechanism implicated in this association remain elusive. The present study examined the contribution of cortisol response to stress and coping strategies to the association linking childhood maltreatment to depressive symptoms. Data from 156 young men aged 18 to 35, of whom 56 were maltreated, were collected through self-reported questionnaires assessing maltreatment, depressive symptoms, and coping strategies. Cortisol was measured in response to the “Trier Social Stress Test” (TSST). Findings showed that maltreated individuals adopted emotion-oriented coping strategies more frequently and these, in turn, are more strongly associated with depressive symptoms. Conversely, maltreated individuals who were less prone to adopt task-oriented coping strategies reported higher levels of depressive symptoms. In addition, the more participants showed a higher cortisol response to stress, the greater was the association between maltreatment and depressive symptoms. In contrast, while cortisol response to stress is associated with depressive symptoms, it does not explain the association noted between maltreatment and depressive symptoms. These findings invite practitioners to consider coping strategies as a potential target for preventing or reducing depressive symptoms among young adults with a history of childhood maltreatment.

Keyphrases: Cortisol, Axe HPS, TSST, Maltreatment, HPA axis, Coping
Où sont les murs? : questionnement sur les pratiques quotidiennes de l'enfermement en télé-réalité

This research aims at understanding the media phenomenon that is the reality-TV of confinement through the specific case of the last confinement show still in force in the Francophone media environment: Secret Story. This show, as well as the interviews of the candidates participating in the show, highlights the different levels of manipulative games and negotiations at the heart of what constitutes reality TV. By mentioning the confinement coupled with surveillance in the television studio and the daily creativity procedures developed by the candidates, this research differs from other studies on reality-TV. It allows a larger understanding of the show by the study of its very structure. The results of this research will finally be discussed in the light of the concepts of dispositif and visibility.

Keyphrases: Secret Story, Reality-TV, Confinment, Everyday Life, Game, Visibility, Television
La flânerie et la ville intelligente : appropriation et co-construction

This research project explores the concepts of flânerie (strolling) and the smart city. By considering that cities, and the way they are organized, can influence the way people live in the city, and its culture, we ask what are the potential effects of this new phenomenon, the smart city? This city is perceived as the culmination of the internet of things, connected, and with the promise of a more open governance, aims at improving the quality of urban life for citizens. Using an ethnographic approach, an analysis of texts produced by the flâneurs, and semi-directed interviews, the thesis analyzes the motivations of strollers, the ways they move about the city, their different uses of information and communication technologies and their perceptions of this new space. By considering the act of flânerie as a cultural phenomenon, and an act of urban appropriation, this thesis tries to shed some light on potential effects of the smart city on flânerie. But also, by considering the flâneurs as producers of texts, this research tries to see how they might shape the smart city and points out some mechanisms that make it difficult. This thesis is about communication, urban sociology, mobility, uses of TIC and opens on several questions such as the efficiency of the smart city, the governance, and the civic engagement.

Keyphrases: flânerie, appropriation, co-construction, TIC, strolling, smart city, mobility, data, urban, civic engagement