Research suggests that adolescent recovery from substance use disorders is a complex and dynamic process requiring multiple resources at intersecting ecological levels. The recovery capital framework is one model that allows for the modeling of these different resources, but has only been studied among adult populations. Thus, the present dissertation explores the relevance of recovery capital for adolescents and also incorporates a demonstration of exploratory methods for social scientists studying similar complex issues and populations. The first paper presents a latent class analysis to distinguish whether adolescents who are in need of treatment have different patterns of recovery capital. The results suggest that there are five qualitatively distinct classes of recovery capital among this adolescent population and that demographic characteristics are predictive of the type of recovery capital class to which an adolescent belongs. The second paper uses data from an ongoing observational study to address whether recovery capital resources predict attendance at a recovery high school (RHS), one form of community recovery capital, using four different quantitative approaches: logistic regressions, SEARCH, classification trees, and random forests. The results of this study indicate that predictors of RHS attendance are diverse, represent factors in multiple recovery capital domains, and are not necessarily linked to higher levels of recovery capital. Additionally, the different exploratory approaches highlight potential important variable interactions for future research to explore. The final empirical paper uses the dataset in paper two to demonstrate the utility of data mining approaches as compared to traditional logistic regression approaches for covariate selection prior to propensity score estimation. The results suggest that logistic regressions produce the best balance on included covariates, yet the random forest method retains the largest sample and identifies key interactions that are important to include in propensity score estimation. Together, these three studies highlight the applicability of the recovery capital model as an ecological framework specific to addiction and recovery for understanding adolescent recovery processes, while also identifying gaps in the current recovery capital model. In addition, these studies demonstrate both the utility and potential challenges of utilizing exploratory quantitative methods to study complex social science research questions.

This research is concerned with finding out about the nature of the relationship between the change manager and the change project. An action learning approach to the investigation and analysis was adopted throughout in order to achieve a 'practitioner's perspective' in a range of inter-related learning environments. The research tracks the progress of six change managers. To attempt to minimise the variables, six smaller organisations (i.e. those employing fewer than 250 employees) from the manufacturing and production sector were recruited; all were based within a 20 mile radius; and all were attempting to change to meet the key indicators of a national performance standard from a similar starting point. Please see Table 1 below for further details. From the work with the change managers and the action learning set, all of whom acted as co-researchers during the analysis phase, some conclusions were drawn. The most significant being that the relationship between the change manager and the change project could be described as being essentially symbiotic in its nature, insofar as the change project impacted directly and indirectly upon the change manager, and the change manager's direct and indirect actions influenced the degree of success of the change project. From the conclusions drawn, and as might be considered to befit an action learning approach to research, a practical solution was proposed for achieving more successful organisational change outcomes - a framework to enable the change manager to develop, within the context of the demands of the change project. The framework was not intended to be a constant, but rather a guide for action. Some conclusions were also drawn about the form of the development which might be required by those advising on change, as a consequence of the findings.

Les pesticides utilisés en agriculture posent aujourd’hui des problèmes avérés sur le plan sanitaire et environnemental. Malgré l’implication du monde agricole et l’apport de financements publics significatifs, les politiques publiques déployées depuis 40 ans en matière d’agri-environnement peinent à atteindre leurs objectifs, là où les systèmes de production durables développés en réaction au modèle productiviste s’avèrent probants mais marginaux. La transition vers des systèmes de production plus respectueux de l’environnement demeure ainsi un défi pour les pouvoirs publics et l’agriculture conventionnelle : comment s’organiser collectivement pour « sortir des phytos » ? A partir de l’exemple d’un dispositif expérimental visant la suppression des herbicides en viticulture et initié par des professionnels de la filière, la thèse propose de réinterroger, par le prisme d’une sociologie de l’action, la capacité d’innovation du monde agricole et de réaction des pouvoirs publics en matière d’agri-environnement, en prenant comme clé de lecture l’analyse de l’action collective professionnelle se développant en-deçà des dispositifs institués d’action publique. La thèse montre que, dans de telles conditions, les objets, les mobiles et les collectifs de l’action environnementale ont pour propriétés d’être hétérogènes, équivoques, variables et flexibles, tout au long de leur mise en débat. Qu’il s’agisse des solutions alternatives mises en œuvre ou de leurs capacités de transfert, la pluralité et la variation des situations soulignent une impossibilité de standardisation, susceptible d’appeler des réponses institutionnelles différenciées pour un même problème d’environnement. / Pesticides used in agriculture are a known environmental problematic fact. Despite the involvement of agriculture and the contribution of significant public funding, agri-environmental public policies deployed for over 40 years struggle to achieve their goals, where sustainable production systems remain convincing but marginal. Faced with this context, designing and spreading alternative techniques to chemicals remains a challenge for government and professionals. From case of a professional project aiming at removing herbicides in the South West of France vineyards, this thesis proposes to re-examine, through the prism of a sociology that pay attention to action (less than actors), the innovation capacity of agriculture and the responsiveness of public authorities about agri-environment, focusing on the analysis of professional collective action as a way of regulating environmental public issues, and considering its development out, in parallel, upstream or below established public policies offer. The research shows that in such conditions, objects, mobiles and collectives comprised by environmental action are heterogeneous, ambiguous, variable and flexible, throughout their discussions. Plurality and change situations emphasize as much unpredictability of collective action that impossibility of standardization, that are likely to call (on the contrary) differentiated institutional responses to the same environmental problem.

Recent research has suggested that a social justice education (SJE) increases studentsâ awareness of social issues affecting communities, while simultaneously equipping students with skills they can apply in a real-world context. As an extension to the more traditional civic curriculum or traditional service-learning opportunities, scholars suggest that SJE in classroom and community settings provide students with a more expansive understanding of what it means to be a productive and contributing citizen in society. However, there is limited research about human service organizations as an additional site for providing social justice education to individuals. By using a civic praxis theoretical framework, this study explores how young adultsâ conceptualization of social justice evolves throughout a summer educational program hosted by a human services organization. Through participatory observations and interviews with students, significant components of the curriculum are compared to traditional SJE goals and objectives as students develop emerging definitions of social justice. Findings suggest that the human services context provides students concrete experiences through the organizationâs activities and services that ground studentsâ emerging conceptualization of social justice. Furthermore, a human services orientation to SJE addresses many, but not all, of the key components of traditional social justice curricula.

En raison des principes de la durabilité et de la complexité de l'action foncière, les acteurs publics de l'aménagement s'interrogent sur les usages de l'espace et la connaissance des marchés fonciers Cette thèse s'est déroulée dans le cadre d'ateliers associant des collectivités locales et des services de l'État. Elle s'appuie sur des données socioéconomlques, sur les actions foncières publiques, sur les marches fonciers et sur l'utilisation du sol à différentes échelles spatiales et temporelles. Premièrement, elle montre en quoi les thématiques traitées dans les études foncières ont changé depuis trente ans et tend à définir un système d'observation face à la question récurrente de l'accès à des données exhaustives sur les marchés fonciers. Les modalités de l'aménagement dans le Nord-Pas de Calais sont comparées à la situation française. Puis, l'incertitude de l'information sur les marchés fonciers et sur l'utilisation du sol incite à évaluer et sélectionner des données adaptées à un système d'observation voué aux acteurs publics. Dans un troisième temps, les changements d'utilisation du sol sont étudiés entre 1990 et 2005 en Europe, en France et dans le Nord-Pas de Calais à partir d'une méthode couplant des techniques d'analyse spatiale et l'identification d'enjeux de gestion de l'espace à partir de documents de planification et d'entretiens auprès de gestionnaires du territoire. Enfin, les dimensions spatiale et temporelle des marchés sont analysées entre 1989 et 2005. Les relations entre les cessions de propriété et les changements d'utilisation du sol sont analysées, ainsi que les rôles des vendeurs et des acquéreurs dans les usages et les valeurs de l'espace. / On account of the sustainability principle and because of the complexity of land-use policy, public sector players in spatial planning are wondering about the evolution of space uses and about our knowledge of land markets. The work for this thesis was conducted in the context of workshops associating local authorities and state authorities This thesis builds on a set of socioeconomic data, on public land-use policies, on land markets and on land use at various spatial and temporal scales. First of all, it maps the changing themes in land studies over the past thirty years and attempts to define an observation framework to deal with the recurring problem of access to comprehensive data on land markets. The land planning methods implemented in the Nord-Pas de Calais region are also analysed by comparing them with the methods used in the rest of France. Secondly, the uncertainties regarding information about land markets and land use led us to collect, estimate and select data adapted to an observation framework intended for public sector players. Thirdly, land use and its changes are studied between 1990 and 2005 in Europe, in France and in the Nord-Pas de Calais region by means of a method combining spatial analysis techniques with the identification of the stakes involved in spatial management through reading planning documents and interviews with territorial managers. Fourthly, the spatial and temporal dimensions of land markets are analysed between 1989 and 2005 in the Nord-Pas de Calais region. Particular attention is paid to the relations between property sales and land use changes, as well as to the roles of sellers and purchasers in the uses and values of space.

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Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

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In recent years there has been renewed interest in the use of air ionisers to control of the spread of airborne infection. One characteristic of air ions which has been widely reported is their apparent biocidal action. However, whilst the body of evidence suggests a biocidal effect in the presence of air ions the physical and biological mechanisms involved remain unclear. In particular, it is not clear which of several possible mechanisms of electrical origin (i.e. the action of the ions, the production of ozone, or the action of the electric field) are responsible for cell death. A study was therefore undertaken to clarify this issue and to determine the physical mechanisms associated with microbial cell death. In the study seven bacterial species (Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium parafortuitum, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumanii, Burkholderia cenocepacia, Bacillus subtilis and Serratia marcescens) were exposed to both positive and negative ions in the presence of air. In order to distinguish between effects arising from: (i) the action of the air ions; (ii) the action of the electric field, and (iii) the action of ozone, two interventions were made. The first intervention involved placing a thin mica sheet between the ionisation source and the bacteria, directly over the agar plates. This intervention, while leaving the electric field unaltered, prevented the air ions from reaching the microbial samples. In addition, the mica plate prevented ozone produced from reaching the bacteria. The second intervention involved placing an earthed wire mesh directly above the agar plates. This prevented both the electric field and the air ions from impacting on the bacteria, while allowing any ozone present to reach the agar plate. With the exception of Mycobacterium parafortuitum, the principal cause of cell death amongst the bacteria studied was exposure to ozone, with electroporation playing a secondary role. However in the case of Mycobacterium parafortuitum, electroporation resulting from exposure to the electric field appears to have been the principal cause of cell inactivation. The results of the study suggest that the bactericidal action attributed to negative air ions by previous researchers may have been overestimated.