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This article reports on six evaluative research projects led by a research team at the RISQ (Recherche et intervention sur les substances psychoactives – Québec) on treatments offered in Quebec, mainly in public rehabilitation centres, between 1991 and 2005. Objectives: The goal of these studies was to evaluate: 1) whether the participants from drug addiction treatment centres in Quebec improved their situation during and after their treatment; 2) the spheres of life in which these improvements occurred; and 3) whether there was a relationship between the changes observed and the participants' exposure to the treatment. Method: The method is referred to as a “naturalist” approach: participants were exposed to the regular treatment offered in the centres where they were followed. By means of the ASI-IGT, their situation concerning consumption of psychoactive substances and their bio-psychosocial condition were evaluated at three measurement times, on their arrival in treatment, then at intervals of approximately 6 and 12 months. Measurements also included the quantity (hours of exposure to treatment) and the duration of the intervention they received. Results: In the six groups under study, a constant improvement of the participants on the ASI-IGT “alcohol” and “drug” scales was observed as well as most of the dimensions evaluated by this tool in time 1 and time 2, and maintenance of this improvement in time 3. There was no significant difference between the participants who had little or no treatment and those who had a great deal. Interpretation: The meaning and the extent of these results are discussed by the authors, particularly in relation to the limitations of these studies. Research strategies developed thereafter to respond to the questions raised by these studies are also presented.

Keywords: toxicomanie, recherches évaluatives, traitement, réadaptation, Québec, drug addiction, evaluative research, treatment, rehabilitation, Quebec, toxicomanía, investigaciones evaluativas, tratamiento, readaptación, Quebec

Canadian law provides many excuses for men who commit crimes of violence against women; this article analyses the defence of provocation, in light of the Common Law's historical bias in favour of male domination and of the current judicial treatment of conjugal femicide. The statutory defence of provocation partially excuses murder committed in a fit of anger, if the accused lost his self-control and if the legal authority is of the opinion that an "ordinary man", in the same circumstances, would also have been provoked by the victim to the point of losing his self-control and killing his spouse. Past and present case-law indicates that a threat to a man's right to sexually appropriate a woman is the paradigmatic foundation of this defence in cases of conjugal femicide. The plausibility of the "crime of passion" scenario is supported by popular culture and and by interpretative techniques that decontextualize the crime and render it susceptible to mythologization. The idea that men who commit crimes of violence against women "lose control" of themselves is a myth that has been debunked by social science research, but that lives on in the imagination of the legal profession. But why should we excuse crimes committed by men in anger, on a morbid desire to control "their" woman, but refuse to acknowledge the person who killed out of fear, or compassion ?

AbstractCompared to drugs that are currently legal, cannabis's impact on health is low. The plant has no lethal dose. Despite myths to the contrary, it does not sap motivation, lead to the use of harder drugs, or alter brain structure. Associations with mental illness suggest that people with psychotic disorders should avoid cannabis, as they should avoid all psychoactive drugs. Chronic daily use creates potential problems for the quick performance of complex tasks. Brain function is deviant in chronic daily users, but no worse than that found in alcoholics. Smoking daily can harm the lungs, but the new technique of vaporization might not. Occasional use by healthy adults does not create illness of any sort. A small percentage of regular users report cannabis dependence, but the disorder does not appear as aversive as dependence on other drugs. Cannabis seems to have fewer negative health effects than legal drugs like alcohol, caffeine, or tobacco, and kills far fewer people. The negative impact of penalties for cannabis possession appear to outweigh these negative impacts of the drug itself, suggesting that U.S. drug policy could improve by decriminalizing possession of cannabis and permitting each adult to grow 4 plants for personal possession. This new approach could save billions of dollars in law enforcement and judicial time and countless hours of hassle. It also has the potential to increase respect for the law and law enforcement.

AbstractMilitary literature, popular literature, youth literature, literature proper, newspapers and magazines: this paper deals with memory in that 1870-1914 French literature which developed war as its central theme. To heal defeat's wound, France seems to give itself over to a new great narrative and its therapeutic principles: the gende narrative of history's foam. However something escaped the optimism of the great narrative: frequent representations of a ludicrous Army, perverted or revolting, sometimes defeated, often called back to the frailty of its individual soldier.

AbstractKnowledge About Women : Imagining, Empowering and ManagingStarting with what seemed like a trivial conflict, this paper shows how scientific knowledges contribute to the construction of a representation of women in society and of their place in bureaucratie apparatus. By once again going over the officiai Quebec government policies concerning the status of women of 1978 and 1993, it clarifies certain aspects of this conflict and shows how scientific knowledges contribute to the formulation of administrative and legal measures which then have an impact on ail citizens. The analysis of the manner in which a small group of women challenged an imposing technocratie machinery clearly shows that such Systems are in fact indissociable from many actors and practices. Paradoxically, the efforts of the feminist activists towards a recognition of women in and by the administrative structures unexpectedly resuit in their management, that is their transformation into objects of knowledge, planification and intervention.Key words : Couillard, feminism, community organisations, expert knowledge, bureau-cracy, State, Québec.