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A number of studies have found that adolescents in foster care expect and perceive stigma related to their “foster care youth” status. Yet, little is known about how this perceived stigma manifests, as well as how youth manage it. The current study therefore aimed to explore how young women with a history in foster care integrate these experiences into their life stories. The focus is on discursive manifestations of stigma in participants’ narratives about placement in foster care, their own perceptions of care-experienced girls and women, as well as how they self-present. Special attention is also given to the ways in which youth try to reduce, deflect, or eliminate stigma. The present study draws on semi-structured interviews conducted with a sample of 20 young women with a history in foster care. Our findings suggest that participants do anticipate and perceive public stigma in relation to their history in foster care. The results also highlight the various strategies used by participants to resist self-stigmatization. The main strategy used was to distance themselves from their “foster care youth” status, insisting that they should never have been placed in foster care and that they are not faring badly as adults, unlike typical care-experienced youth.

Keywords: foster care, identity, stigma, management strategies, adulthood

This article presents the result of a descriptive and empirical research based on a qualitative approach. It was conducted in Cameroun and aimed to point out the contribution of female managers to social services evolution in that country. After having referred to the main research trends on the topic of the under-representation of women in management, the authors present a new tendency in research which is concerned by management styles of women and their contribution to administration. The process and the methodology used in the study are explained by the authors, who sketch out the demographic, academic and career profils of the participants. The main results of the study bear on the female managers' contribution to organization and managerial styles and to social services development. Links are made between the context of social services in Cameroun and in Quebec.

Keywords: Esclavage-servitude, droit romain, ancien droit, crise, pars fundi, familia urbana, familia rustica, habitation, capacité juridique, liberté (affranchissement), pécule, Jésuites, Lumières

The Federal Government's decision in the 1950s to force the Sayisi Dene and the Ahiarmiut to abandon their nomadic life out on the land and to settle in the communities of Churchill and Arviat resulted in disastrous consequences. The Sayisi Dene, who had been competent hunters and trappers, became a broken people living off the garbage dump at Churchill. Today, their children and grandchildren at Tadoule Lake are still trying to heal the wounds inflicted by the forced relocation. As for the Ahiarmiut who were relocated in a series of stages from Ennadai Lake to Nelting Lake, from Ennadai Lake to Henik Lake and from Henik Lake to Arviat, Rankin Inlet and finally to Whale Cove they are still awaiting the explanation from the federal government and acknowledgement of their painful experiences. Using oral and archival documents, this paper compares these two relocations, confronts the strategies, choices and decisions of the federal administration with the experiences and views of the participants and underscores the resilience of these caribou hunters.

AbstractPurpose: The current study investigates the impact of substantiated maltreatment on antisocial behavior and other outcomes among young adult women in a representative community sample followed longitudinally.Methods: Data come from the Rochester Youth Development Study (RYDS), a cohort study of the development of problem behaviors in a sample of 1,000 urban youth followed from age 13 into adulthood. Subjects include 68% African American, 17% Hispanic, and 15% White youth. This analysis focuses only on the 271 young women in the panel. County Child Protective Service records were searched and 74 (27%) of the young women experienced substantiated maltreatment. Outcomes include arrest, self-reported general and violent offending, drug use, problem alcohol use, partner violence perpetration and victimization, depressive symptoms, and STD/HIV risk in early adulthood (ages 20-22).Results: We find that experiencing substantiated maltreatment increases the risk of most outcomes at the bivariate level. Employing logistic regression, maltreatment increases the odds of several negative consequences after controlling for confounding sociodemographic variables including poverty, family structure, parental education, race/ethnicity, and adolescent delinquency. Results also suggest that sex abuse may be particularly problematic for these young women in emerging adulthood.Implications: We discuss implications for understanding pathways and processes, and for improving prevention and treatment for abused and neglected young women.

The aspirations for the future that vulnerable young mothers develop early in adulthood tend to be influenced by their life experiences, including their experience of motherhood. Using a narrative approach, this study examines the aspirations expressed by 20 young mothers across all aspects of life, with a view to achieving a broader understanding of their experiences and how such aspirations can serve as sources of hope. Research participants, all of whom were between 18 and 26 years old, were recruited through community organizations for socio-economically vulnerable women with psychosocial adjustment issues. Semi-structured interviews revealed their strong desire to be good mothers, a notion they associated with having greater stability in their lives, access to material goods, positive relationships, and a stronger sense of well-being. They also expressed a desire to support those around them and give back to society. The results of our study therefore highlight the high expectations that these young mothers have for themselves, despite the limited opportunities currently available to them. Our findings also point to the importance of paying close attention to such women’s aspirations for the future when offering them support services.

Keywords: young mothers, jeunes mères, vulnérabilité, vulnerability, aspirations, aspirations, future, avenir, transition à la vie adulte, transition to adulthood, Québec, Quebec