International Review of Community Development

Number 11, Spring 1984 La prévention, entre le contrôle et l’autogestion

Table of contents (26 articles)

Éditorial

  1. La prévention, entre le contrôle et l’autogestion

    Gilbert Renaud

    pp. 3–5

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I. La prévention : un travail sur le social

1. Les avatars de la prévention

  1. La prévention : un travail sur le social

    p. 7

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  2. City slum

    Charles Tousignant and Nora Morales

    pp. 9–19

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    Abstract The "Grouillant" family has been tagged as "criminally dangerous" by the social service agencies involved with this family over the last ten years. All attempts at remedial action have met with little success as is evidenced by the eight inch thick file of letters, case reports and studies on this family.The authentic documents in this file reveal the raw reality of social control exercised by the social service network. On the balance, one can not help feeling that more of a case can be made for the Grouillant family than for social work practice.More than anything else, what becomes apparent is that social work practice has become a para-judicial system which functions on the basis of confidential documents and meetings behind closed doors. The principal accused—the Grouillant family—are totally excluded from the process.To the extent that the social control inherent in this type of social work is constantly present in the daily life of this family, it is essential to reveal these documents as they were really written in order to see the naked truth. This is the object of the first part of the article while the second part introduces us to the daily life of the Grouillant family.

  3. Prétendre prévenir

    Camil Bouchard

    pp. 21–27

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    Abstract The idea of prevention, while attractive, is plagued by fundamental ambiguities. To the extent that the various types of prevention are conceived of in terms of a medical model of (psycho)-pathology, they tend to be seen as different steps in an overall process of remedial action. To identify primary prevention as development only serves to maintain this confusion and keeps intact the reference to a medical model which really has no place in a community development project.With this in mind, the author explains a research project on the question of child abuse and neglect. The different levels of intervention used in this research involve both early and late intervention on the one hand and a developmental approach to the child and his or her community. The final result is a two pronged interactive model which attemps to integrate early and late intervention with an individual/community approach.

  4. Loi 24 : Délinquance juvénile et pratiques préventives

    Léonel Bernard and André Lapierre

    pp. 29–34

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    Abstract The authors discuss the issue of dejudiciarization as it has been put into practice in the case of the Youth Protection Act (Bill 24) in Québec. On the basis of an analysis of several so-called prevention programmes, they argue that the sectorial nature of these programmes (which deal with specific areas or "clients") prevent them from contributing to an overall policy of social welfare. In fact, youth protection action has remained substantially unchanged since the adoption of this act. It would appear that this law has served more to confirm already existing modes of intervention than to contribute in any real way to prevention. On the whole, the theme of prevention seems to be limited to an attempt to involve the community in the management of the problem of juvenile delinquancy.

  5. Les « progrès » de la prévention

    Gilbert Renaud

    pp. 35–44

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    Abstract Prevention has become an accepted objective for state action when it is harmonized with the technocratic goals of "rationalization", planning, programming and community participation. As such it is seen as part of the process of modernization of Quebec society as it seeks to increase its capacity to act upon itself. At the same time, this means that prevention becomes an issue for the social groups involved in a struggle for the control of this key area.Prevention thus becomes part of the process of technocratic modernization and as such, can be seen as an area for social development structured by the social relations of domination. There is a contradiction and a paradox here however. What appears on the one hand to be an attempt to modernize—to bring about progress and a more rational use of resources through an extension of the field of intervention, also contributes to the destruction of the vitality of social existence. To the extent that prevention policy is part of an overall "rationalization" of society by the state, it seeks to destroy the spontaneous operation of community life. In this sense, prevention policy contributes to the development of rational state control of social existence at the cost of the organic nature of daily life.

2. Vers de nouvelles stratégies d’intervention

  1. Une nouvelle stratégie de connaissance et d’action

    Nasser Baccouche

    pp. 47–51

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    Abstract The increasing division of intellectual labour has brought about a series of new specializations and an ever greater separation between theory and practice. The field of social work is no exception to this rule laid down by the demands of technocratic efficiency and any attemps at analysis outside this framework is increasingly difficult. And yet, a new understanding of reality and consequently, new approaches for action can only be achieved if there is a radical break with the traditions of analysis and action which legitimize state action in this area.

  2. Éléments théoriques sur l’intervention du sociologue dans l’espace local

    Michel Autès and Dominique Duprez

    pp. 53–66

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    Abstract This article on a research project concerning a multi-ethnic community in a city housing project shows how the community is structured by a host of social relations—between age groups, social classes and ethnic groups. The traditional approaches which emphasize the strategies of various classes and actors have proven to be unable to explain the complexity of a local community when the importance of the specific context tends to obscure the more general social causes underlying the situation. The architecture, the physical installations and the way they are used, the environment, the history of the tenants who have lived there and their relations with the city all tend to make each situation unique and need to be understood both in their own right and in a more general theoretical framework. This research seeks to investigate the process of creation of a "community".The specifity of the object of research necessitates a specific research strategy. In addition to the more traditional modes of analysis which break down reality into analytical categories, the approach here involves action which seeks to modify this reality. The sociologists have become involved in opening lines of communication amongst the residents and between them and the local authorities. Results have included the creation of a Residents' Council and a youth organization seeking recreational as well as housing facilities.

II. La prévention mise en tension

  1. La prévention mise en tension

    Daniel Dind, Bernard Francq, Françoise Goffinet, Pierre-Yves Troutot and Michel Vuille

    pp. 69–75

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1. Rapport au savoir : comptes et mécomptes de la prévention

  1. Modèles de développement et régimes de prévention

    Robert Maier

    pp. 77–83

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    Abstract This article analyses the types of knowledge which, more or less implicitly, underlie prevention programmes. A development model is inherent in each of these types of knowledge. Three models are defined and explained: an atomistic model, a cybernetic model and a self-organizing model of development. Each of these models has a specific type of approach to prevention: a cumulative approach, a regulatory approach and an autonomous approach. In the context of the analysis of the relations between types of knowlege and prevention programmes, the author discusses the limitations and contradictions of these different approaches.

  2. Quand Zorglub s’en va-t-aux champs : Représentations des fléaux sociaux et politique de prévention

    Martial Gottraux and Patricia Roux

    pp. 85–97

    Record

    Abstract Prevention policy, like any other policy, is based on our knowledge of the consequences of one or more actions. Discussion on prevention is generally concerned with the validity of knowledge on which prevention policy is based but the specialist on prevention is far from being able to stake an exclusive claim on the validity of preventive actions. Furthermore, the daily reality of prevention is often a far cry from the recommendations of the experts. The authors look at the situation "from the point of view of the experts" and try to understand their vision of reality and how these perceptions influence decision making on prevention. On the basis of an analysis of certain experiences in Switzerland, the authors have found that the experts are generally disappointed both with the political uses to which prevention policy is often put and also with popular conceptions concerning social problems.After a brief discussion of various concepts used in social psychology and the sociology of knowledge which are necessary to understand popular conceptions of social problems—why people fear certain realities like drugs for example and value others—the authors try to show how studies on social problems fulfill an essentially political function by reinforcing the existing symbolic order. This political function is important when we try to understand the expert's perception of reality in the field. A discussion of the "Italian model" and its underlying theoretical framework points the way to an approach which can deal effectively with social problems by acting on the factors that cause them, as much in reality as in our perceptions of these realities.

2. Les luttes pour la santé : l’État anticipe-t-il ou non ?

  1. Promotion de la santé en milieu urbain : le Centre de prévention de Nyon

    Philippe Lehmann and Yolande Dormond

    pp. 99–109

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    Abstract The Nyon Center (in French-speaking Switzerland) is part of a programme of scientific research on the prevention of cardiovascular problems. The salient features of this programme, the research setting and the evaluations that have been done together with the experimentation it has stimulated elsewhere all tend to show how this programme has succeeded in combining scientific research, community education and follow-up with social considerations.Since the Nyon Center is in the process of becoming a point of reference for prevention policy in the community, it is useful to discuss its action in relation to two models of prevention: 1) the study of life styles and culture; 2) health policy. The authors conclude that the Center seeks to encourage a greater individual welfare and freedom—a kind of egoism of health. While this approach does not stress the collective dimensions of health it does help people, including the more disadvantaged sectors of the population, to look after their own health better.

  2. Théorie des besoins, luttes pour la santé et expériences de médecine critique dans la région de Naples

    Jean-Claude Paye and Nicoletta Mascilli

    pp. 111–122

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    Abstract The authors reject an approach in terms of deviance and normality in favour of an approach based on the needs of the working class. Using the work done by A. Heller on the theory of need and the problems she discusses, the article describes the effect that this author has had in Italy. The concept of need is essential if one is to be able to understand the new characteristics of the working class.The contribution of the Italian "movimiento" has also been important for struggles in factories as well as in the community. If Italy constitutes in some ways an exception, it is because it is the only European country where one can speak of working class autonomy in relation to state and private management. Furthermore, no prevention policy has been adopted largely because working class autonomy has reduced manoeuvering room for the state. In this sense, the authors argue that prevention policy can be seen as a kind of anticipation of power rather than as an expression of the needs of the working class.It is in this context that the struggles for health and the experience of the Center for Social Medicine of Guigliano (near Naples) are discussed.

3. La prévention : comment s’en débarrasser... comment elle ressurgit

  1. De la prévention à l’aide sociale : Réflexions à partir de la situation au sein de la Communauté française de Belgique

    André Pick

    pp. 125–133

    Record

    Abstract The first objective of this article is to demystify prevention as "new social practice" by showing how it is related to traditional conceptual frameworks which were in vogue long before the present economic and social crisis. On the basis of an analysis of prevention policy for youth, the author suggests that the idea of prevention was attractive and operational because a certain social concensus existed concerning the important values of society. The breakdown of this concensus has placed the practitioners of prevention in a difficult situation.After discussing this situation in some detail, the author suggests that a social assistance approach would appear to be more apt to meet the problems that youth encounters in its attempt to find its own collective place in society. This approach is not oriented towards "normalization" but rather towards the idea of a right to obtain assistance when one is in a situation which blocks all chances for personal development. The author outlines the principles upon which a policy of social assistance should be conceived and discusses the problem of how such a policy could become a priority of all involved rather than a specific programme to be implemented by "competent" institutions.

  2. Prévention et petite enfance : trois scénarios

    Marie-Louise Carels and Gentile Manni

    pp. 135–140

    Record

    Abstract In the present context in French-speaking Belgium (characterized by an attack on social security programmes, by shrinking job possibilities and by measures designed to encourage women to remain home) the question arises whether available places in day-care centers will be filled by social work "cases" (i.e. children from severely underpriviliged families or victims of child abuse and neglect). If this is to be the case, will it be possible for day-care centers to continue to fulfill their educational role in relation to children while at the same time recognizing the primary role of the parents? Or is day-care going to become a place for screening, guiding and observing problem children and families. The authors outline three possible scenarios concerning prevention and early childhood and show how the specialists which are coming into the picture (sent by social work agencies) are tending to transform the role of day-care from one of primary prevention to one of secondary prevention. The authors suggest that under the right circumstances—financial, educational and cultural—a third scenario can be envisaged in which day-care would be integrated into an overall programme of basic services offered on an universal basis in much the same way as is already the case in France and Italy.

  3. La prévention comme mégalomanie

    Willibrord de Graaf

    pp. 141–148

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    Abstract Prevention took on a megalomaniacal character in the Netherlands during the seventies. The temporary convergence of interests between the state and progressive groups allowed for prevention policy to be conceived of in terms of "change" rather than "adaptation". This coalition between the welfare state and progressive groups was short-lived however, and resulted in only limited attempts at democratization and participation. Insufficient awareness of the limitations involved meant that prevention policy ended up by reinforcing the social service system rather than encouraging the creation of autonomous community groups. The recent developments in the field of youth unemployment have shown clearly the degree to which prevention policy is limited by existing social and economic relations. The breakdown of the coalition between the state and progressive groups has also meant that prevention is once again seen in terms of control and conformity to norms. In this sense, it is aimed first and foremost at the most "vulnerable" groups like youth, which because of limited training and the present job shortages, puts them in a disadvantageous situation in the labour market.

4. Le socialisme et la prévention : l’expérience française

  1. Une nouvelle politique de Prévention ? « Le cas de l’opération Été 82 »

    François Dubet and Adil Jazouli

    pp. 151–162

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    Abstract Summer 1981: A few months after the victory of the Left in the French elections, trouble broke out in some of the housing districts in low income suburbs of Lyon. The Socialists discovered the real dangers of violence in these areas. Their first reaction was repressive and met with widespread public approval but this initial response was followed up with an attempt to develop a policy to prevent a recurrence of the troubles of 1981. The authors describe the various approaches adopted by the authorities: moving the most troublesome délinquants out of the area, providing vacations for the most disadvantaged youths, encouraging community activities, etc... The main constraints on government action are discussed.On the whole, the operation was a success and the summer of 1982 was not as "hot" as in 1981. A working relationship between government agencies and community groups was rapidly established. The only significant criticism of the project came from social workers whose traditional forms of intervention were called into question. The authors examine this point in some detail.

  2. De la mise à l’écart éducative à la rééducation par le travail : le cas des Opérations Été-jeunes 83 en France

    Dominique Duprez

    pp. 163–167

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    Abstract "Operation Summer '82" had three main characteristics: 1) getting the kids out of the housing project during the summer vacation, 2) the use of direct state intervention with a view towards developing new approaches in social work, and 3) adopting a temporary redefinition of prevention policy for youth. "Operation Summer '83", on the other hand, placed more of an emphasis on job training programmes and a return to more conventional approaches to social work."Operation Summer '82" was more of an ad hoc and creative affair which involved a large degree of flexibility but by 1983, closer formal co-operation between social workers and government agencies led to a more traditional defensive approach to prevention. One of the more interesting developments to come out of the 1982 experience was the hiring of some of the disadvantaged youth as community organizers for their own areas. The authors examine some of the contradictions and tensions that this created in 1983.

  3. Au-delà de la prévention : une pratique politique de rectification permanente : Association de recherche et de promotion en éducation populaire (ARPEP)

    Bernard Francq and Françoise Goffinet

    pp. 169–173

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    Abstract This group, located in Lille (northern France) has been active since 1974 in a largely immigrant community. From the time it began by setting up a drop-in center until its more recent initiatives in the area of job training, it has developed an interesting self-correction process which encourages active solidarity and autonomous organization of immigrant youths. When the Socialists came to power, it was no longer possible to continue prevention work with youths on a totally voluntary basis and the group has sought to create a social network capable of organizing its own projects—both in terms of recreational activities and in terms of job creation.

5. Le travail social préventif : un travail sans fin ?

  1. Les aides financières et le travail social

    Didier Lapeyronnie

    pp. 175–186

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    Abstract The evolution of prevention policy as implemented by social welfare agencies should be seen in terms of crisis and change. The crisis is evident in the sense that the changes which have occurred in the social welfare sector are perceived as threatening by the actors involved. In this context, prevention is often sacrificed to the benefit of direct social assistance. Social work is made meaningless as it disappears under the avalanche of bureaucratic paperwork.This crisis should be understood within a more general context of change. There is a change in the sense that one model of action is replacing another and in the sense that this change is, in itself part of a twin development: a change in the nature of requests for social assistance on the one hand and a parallel evolution of administrative action on the other. The combination of these two changes leads to two different uses of financial assistance. First, financial aid applications are swallowing up the major part of the job load of social workers which reduces the time available for therapeutic intervention. Second, financial aid is increasingly divorced from social work as such. The latter tends to become more diverse and flexible.In the first case, prevention which was initially conceived of as a mean to avoid the deterioration of family situations through therapeutic intervention is progressively replaced by direct financial aid based on technical criteria. In the second case, prevention is no longer defined in terms of general categories but rather become tributary to specific partial objectives.Research in the area of social policy and social work should study these developments further if the hope is to be able to evaluate and analyse reality and not simply to describe it.

  2. Échouer, c'est réussir (à propos de la prévention et de quelques autres paradoxes)

    Michel Autès

    pp. 187–194

    Record

    Abstract Prevention is a misunderstanding... This is easy to show: first of all, communication is only possible on the basis of a misunderstandig and social work is entirely caught up in this dilemma. Secondly, the fundamental misunderstanding concerning prevention in the field of health (curative and preventive approaches) is unsurmountable. These two keys to misunderstandig can help us gain a better perspective on the problems of prevention in the "drop-in centers" in France.Three lines of thought are pursued in this article: 1) the author discusses the contradictions that make prevention impossible or at least interminable; 2) he then raises the question as to the meaning of pursuing such an impossible policy, and 3) in much the same way as Michel Foucault concerning prisons, the author investigates the function of "failure" as it applies to prevention.The emphasis on anormality and mal-adaptation has been of little therapeutic use for those for whom it was developed but it is terribly effective for the rest of the population because it is a mirror-image of what is held to be normal. This is where prevention is effective. It is unable to prevent mal-adaptation but is successful in producing it through a system of legitimate significations concerning stigmatized behaviour.

Notes de lecture

  1. Henri Lamoureux, Robert Mayer, Jean Panet-Raymond, L’intervention communautaire, Éditions Saint-Martin, Montréal, 1984, 237 pages / Association pour la diffusion de la recherche sur l’action culturelle, Le petit Robert de l’animation, A.D.R.A.C., 3, rue Paul Dupuy, 75015 Paris, octobre 1983, 44 pages

    Frédéric Lesemann

    pp. 196–197

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  2. Michel Maffesoli, L’Ombre de Dionysos. Contribution à une sociologie de l’orgie, Paris, Méridien/Anthropos (Sociologies au quotidien), 1982, 212 p.

    Guy Ménard

    pp. 198–200

    Record

  3. Dorval Brunelle, Socialisme, étatisme et démocratie, Éditions Saint-Martin, Montréal, 1983, 175 pages

    Pierre Hamel

    pp. 200–201

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  1. Résumés

    pp. 203–218

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  2. Erratum

    p. 219

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