Benoit Duguay, Moustapha Bamba and Danièle Boulard
pp. 11–30
Record
Abstract
Many studies demonstrate the impact of violence on our sense of security. Any type of offence, from the most serious crimes such as homicide to less violent misdemeanours such as vandalism, may give rise to a feeling of insecurity, especially among vulnerable people. This article reports the results of a study on the sense of security among such a vulnerable segment of the population, namely senior citizens residing in low-rent housing. Our study confirms the findings of other authors that problems typical of certain inner city districts are now spreading to the suburbs.
Éric Gagnon, Michèle Clément, Marie-Hélène Deshaies and Émilie Raizenne
pp. 31–52
Record
Abstract
Residents’ committees of nursing homes are part of a vast network of committees established across all health facilities and social services in Quebec. Composed of residents of nursing homes and their close relatives, these committees meet to discuss their concerns and needs and to formulate requests and recommendations for management regarding the living conditions, the respect of human rights and the quality of services. Nevertheless, the status and mandate of the committees is uncertain, raising questions as to their autonomy within these institutions and their ability to change and contribute to an understanding of the issues. We show how these mechanisms for public participation insert themselves into the organization and become a management tool, yet also how they establish an autonomy, contribute new perspectives on the topics under discussion and exert an influence.
Céline Le Bourdais, Évelyne Lapierre-Adamcyk and Alain Roy
pp. 53–78
Record
Abstract
This article examines common-law relationships through the prism of conjugal instability. In a comparative perspective, we show that common-law relationships, more popular in Quebec, are more stable there than elsewhere in Canada, where marriage is more prevalent. Yet across Canada, marriage – even more so than the arrival of a child – tends to decrease instability in couples whose conjugal life began as a common-law union. It is only after living together for a fairly long period of time that the stability of common-law couples, with or without children, begins to approximate that of married couples.
Monica Heller, Lindsay Bell, Michelle Daveluy, Hubert Noël and Mireille McLaughlin
pp. 79–104
Record
Abstract
The image we have of French Canada is one of calm and settled communities that are well established and entrenched in a well-defined territory. This notion, carried over from a romantic type of nationalism, ignores almost entirely the status of Francophone workers as a mobile labour reserve in the formerly colonial and now capitalist employment market. However, this overlooked mobility has nevertheless been critical for upholding the traditional strongholds of French Canada. In this paper, we explore the historical and contemporary interdependence of mobility and immobility in the construction of Canadian Frenchness, starting from the results of an ethnographic study linking Acadia to northwestern Canada. We show that erasing the existence of the mobile workforce from our national imaginary creates inequalities within French Canada, yet that current conditions make this erasure increasingly difficult.
Sandrine Jean
pp. 105–134
Record
Abstract
Year after year, about 20,000 people leave the City of Montreal to settle in the suburbs. In light of the competition facing communities to attract young families, we examine the residential choices of middle class families for either the city or the suburbs. Some 51 interviews were conducted between 2011 and 2012 in two districts of the Montreal metropolitan area, one representing the suburbs – Vimont-Auteuil – and the other representing the city – Ahuntsic. Beyond housing prices, residential choices of families are determined by their notions of the city and suburbs, to uses made of a neighbourhood and home, to their daily mobility patterns, their identity, and their overall lifestyle. Negative images of family life in the city held by those living in the suburbs as well as a stereotyped view of the suburbs on the part of urban dwellers suggest that the city/suburb dichotomy is far from obsolete, at least in the representations held by today’s young middle class families.