La présente thèse porte sur un examen des discours des représentants politiques dans le cadre des débats sur l'adoption du projet de loi antiterroriste C-36 et cible essentiellement les documents officiels du Hansard de la Chambre des communes et du Sénat, ainsi que les rapports et les témoignages de leurs comités respectifs. Cette étude identifié comment ces parlementaires perçoivent le potentiel d'abus des droits et libertés de cette loi, quelles sont les protections qu'ils croient nécessaires pour les éviter, et quels sont les éléments de ces discours qui ont prévalu dans la version finale de ce projet de loi au regard de son dépôt initial. L'analyse de cette imposante documentation nous a permis de constater le lien unissant la compréhension de la menace et les solutions perçues, donc la perception de ce qui est abusif, équilibré, efficace et nécessaire, mais également d'identifier les débats passés sous silence.

Since the 1980's a number of amendments have been made to the Canadian criminal justice system and Canadian police services in an effort to increase the reporting of sexual assault cases. According to the Department of Justice Canada (1997) the term sexual assault is used to refer to criminal acts, which range from any unwanted sexual touching to forced intercourse. However, despite reforms, under-reporting continues to remain drastically high. This study uses Anthony Giddens' social theory of structuration as a theoretical framework and employs semi-structured in-depth qualitative interviews as a data collection method to analyze and further an understanding of female sexual assault survivors' perceptions of police investigations and their reasons for not reporting their assaults. The data collected for this study was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings suggest that survivor perceptions of police investigations had an impact on their decisions not to report their assaults to police. Additionally, survivors indicated that their decisions not to report were also contingent upon the overarching theme of fear of being discredited. Within this theme, the sub-themes of self-blame and guilt, previous sexual history, lack of understanding of police investigation, and distrust of the Canadian criminal justice system also impacted participants' decision-making processes in regard to that which they elected to report to police. These findings were analyzed using Anthony Giddens' theory of structuration, and can be used to further our understanding of why sexual assault survivors may choose not to report their assaults to police.

In December 2007, the Ministry of Public Safety published the Report of the Correctional Service of Canada Panel Review, a comprehensive analysis of Canada's federal prison system. The release of this report, and the 'transformation' agenda that it presents, is being hailed as a pivotal moment in Canadian corrections, one that will significantly change the manner in which prisons and prisoners are governed. Using a form of Foucauldian discourse analysis, this study 'unpacks' the various meanings and effects that are produced by this report. Drawing on these findings, and through an application of the work of Michel Foucault and the governmentality approach, it then engages with the different ways in which mentalities and strategies of government, discipline and sovereignty are implicit in the 'transformation' agenda that is put forth. In doing so, it engages with Foucault's notion of the 'triangle' of governmentality. The conclusion of this study explores how the agenda presented constitutes a programme of governance with a dual mandate of repression and responsibilities, one that vacillates between strategies of coercion and subjugation and more 'gentle' and 'distant' technologies of self-government.

This thesis assesses the role conceptions of masculinity, more particularly hyper-masculinity play in male prisoners' strategies for coping with the challenges posed by a virtually unisexual prison environment. The study used eight autobiographies by former male prisoners who served sentences in either Canada or the United States in the last forty years. The findings were gathered using a qualitative three-stage coding process and were analyzed using masculinity theories. The results reveal that male prisoners use both hyper-masculine, violent coping strategies and non-violent strategies depending on the circumstances. Critical masculinity theory is better able to explain the violent strategies rather than the non-violent ones. This research is significant because it illuminates the impact of gender on male prisoners' lives and their abilities to cope with imprisonment. The results can be used to inform both treatment and policies regarding male prisoners' incarceration.

Often simplistic and misleading, the reporting of child sexual abuse has long been a staple of commercial news media's portrayal of crime and criminal justice. A mixed quantitative/qualitative content analysis methodology is applied to the study of three Toronto-based newspaper's construction of Internet Child Luring, between the 1st of January, 1998, and August 1st, 2008. Erected as a serious problem, above which a sober appraisal of known facts could sustain, a Textual Panic is said to exist within newsprint's rendering of the information-age crime. Rational cogitating offenders, undeterred by weak legislation and underfunded police forces, are described as exploiting the communication medium in attempts to lure defenseless children into illicit sexual activity.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / L. Susan Williams / Law enforcement is widely regarded as one of the most stressful and violent professions. Officer stress is associated with a number of negative behaviors and psychological outcomes including high rates of substance abuse, divorce, and violence. Concerns over officer violence include both work-related acts, like use of excessive force or unwarranted deadly force, and non-work related violence such as domestic abuse. Despite interest in the interplay between subcultural attitudes, organizational structure, and high stress events, most research on police violence fails to address a fundamental concern--that of gender. In fact, the majority of research addressing officer stress fails to mention gender or concentrates on gender as a simple control variable. In order to examine how gender, stress, and law enforcement structures predict violent behavior among police officers, this dissertation utilizes both existing data and direct officer interviews. Findings show that law enforcement remains largely a masculine enterprise, and that gender drives images, interaction, and organizational behavior, often at the expense of both men and women officers. Stress, burnout, and use of violence by officers are not simply a response to high stress events, but are embedded in the gender structure and process of policing.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.