This thesis examines the interaction of criminal justice policy and social policy within the Prolific and Priority Offenders Scheme (PPOS), a government initiative which aims to reduce offending by persistent offenders. The research on which this thesis is based takes an interpretative approach to social inquiry and employs a qualitative methodology. It examines the operation of four PPO Schemes in the Thames Valley through semi-structured interviews with 22 practitioners and 16 offenders, and participant observation of over 45 multi-agency meetings. The interaction between crime and social policy is explored through examination of three aspects of the PPOS: the coercion of offenders within the Schemes; the working practices and roles of the police and probation officers seconded to the Schemes; and the way in which information and intelligence is used and generated within the Schemes. The central argument of this thesis is that the widely-accepted idea that social policy is being ‘criminalised’ provides an inadequate account of the relationship between criminal justice and social policy in the PPOS. Rather, this Scheme evidences a merger of criminal justice and social welfare agendas, which includes elements of the ‘socialisation’ of crime policy in addition to elements of ‘criminalisation’ of social policy. Whilst the ultimate aim of the PPOS is to reduce crime, and whilst social welfare services such as health, housing and benefits are provided in pursuance of this aim, the ways in which these services are provided accords with the ethos and values of social policy. The idea of a merger of criminal justice and social policy has relevance beyond the PPOS, providing a framework for analysis of other contemporary criminal justice policies, and contributing to broader debates in criminology which have for so long been dominated by the ‘criminalisation’ thesis.

This thesis examines the treatment and experiences of foreign national prisoners in England and Wales. It contains two main arguments. First, I contend that dominant prison theories rely on an outmoded understanding of the nation-state, and as a result, tend to ignore the effects of globalisation. Second, I argue that current prison practices reaffirm the boundaries of the British nation-state and promote an exclusionary notion of British citizenship. I conclude that research attuned to the affective, embodied dimensions of incarceration can help criminologists to develop a more ‘global’ perspective on state power. This argument begins and builds from ethnographic research. As a whole, the thesis is based on more than 200 interviews conducted over the course of a year in and around five men’s prisons in the north, southwest, and center of England. Structurally, it proceeds from a theoretical critique of prison studies, to an ethnographic account of prison life, to a conclusion about the purpose of prison scholarship. Thematically, it focuses on the relationship between identity and imprisonment, and in particular, on the ways in which normative beliefs about race, gender, sexuality, and class get infused in incarceration practices.

The thesis constitutes a detailed historical reconstruction of the creation, contestation and subsequent amendment of the Imprisonment for Public Protection sentence, the principal ‘dangerous offender’ measure of the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Underpinned by an interpretive political analysis of penal politics, the thesis draws on a detailed analysis of relevant documents and 53 interviews with national level, policy-oriented actors. The thesis explores how actors’ conceptions of ‘risk’ and ‘the public’ interwove with the political beliefs and political traditions relied upon by the relevant actors. It is argued that while there was general recognition of a ‘real problem’ existing in relation to dangerous offenders, the central actors in the creation of the IPP sentence crucially lacked a detailed understanding of the state of the art of risk assessment and management (Kemshall, 2003) and failed to appreciate the systemic risks posed by the IPP sentence. The creation of the IPP sentence, as with its subsequent amendment, is argued to highlight the extreme vulnerability felt by many government actors. The efforts of interest groups and other pressure participants to have their concerns addressed regarding the systemic and human damage subsequently caused by the under-resourcing of the IPP sentence is explored, and the challenge of stridently arguing for substantial change while maintaining ‘insider’ status is discussed. As regards senior courts’ efforts to rein in the IPP sentence, it is argued that the increasingly conservative nature of the judgments demonstrate that the judiciary are not immune from the creep of a ‘precautionary logic’ into British penal politics. Regarding the amendment of the IPP sentence, the Ministry of Justice’s navigation between the twin dangers of a systemic crisis and a political crisis are explored. In conclusion, the IPP story is argued to demonstrate a troubling ‘thoughtlessness’ by many of the key policymakers, revealing what is termed the ‘banality of punitiveness.’ The potential for a reliance on political beliefs and traditions to slip into this thoughtless state, and possible ways of ensuring that such policy issues are engaged with in a more inclusive and expansive manner, are discussed.

This thesis is an institutional ethnography of the Nigeria Police Force. It concentrates on evidence from 18 months of fieldwork in one particular police station, in the pseudonymised town of Dutsin Bature in central Nigeria, and draws comparative evidence from examples and locations elsewhere in Nigeria. The fieldwork evidence is also supported by analyses of public discourse, literature reviews, some formal interviews and historical research. The thesis aims to fill a gap in empirical scholarship by looking at policing in Nigeria primarily from the level of everyday practice, and deriving understandings of the ways the overall system works, rather than by taking normative structural approaches and basing suppositions of actual behaviour upon these. It also aims to document emic perspectives on policing in Nigeria, in contrast to most existing scholarship and public discourse which takes an external perspective, from which the voices and worldviews of police themselves are absent. The thesis situates this ethnography within three theoretical terrains. First, developing understandings of policing and public security in Africa, which have often neglected in-depth studies of formal police forces. Secondly, enlarging the ethnographic study of formal institutions in African states, to develop a closer understanding of what state systems are and how they function, beyond the overtly dysfunctionalist perspectives which have dominated recent scholarship. Thirdly, informing ongoing debates over state and society in Africa, problematising understandings which see these as separate entities instead of mutually constitutive, and drawing attention to the ways in which the two interpenetrate and together mould the public sphere. The thesis begins with a historical overview of the trajectory of formal policing in Nigeria, then examines public understandings and representations of policing, before moving inside the institutional boundaries, considering in turn the human composition of the police, training and character formation, the way police officers do their work in Dutsin Bature, Nigerian police officers’ preoccupation with risk and the systemic effects of their efforts to mitigate it, and finally officers’ subjective perspectives on their work, their lived realities, and on Nigeria in an era of transition. These build together to suggest some conclusions pertinent to the theoretical perspectives.

中國為控制龐大的人口，自1979年開始實施計劃生育政策，一轉眼已經過了30年，一群1980年前後出生的獨生子女紛紛邁入婚姻、走入家庭，形成了獨生子女相互婚配的「獨生父母」，也同時造就了有別於傳統中國「發散型」家庭結構的「四二一家庭」。 本研究以此為出發，探究「四二一家庭」結構中的新型家庭關係，並挑戰結構功能論大師帕森斯關於現代化家庭之理論。本文認為，由於夫妻雙方皆為獨生子女，父母要協助子女分擔家務不再分身乏術，三代同堂的擴大家庭將成為中國城市的主要家庭模式，並非現代化理論所認為的核心家庭為主；而在四二一家庭中，親子關係也將居於核心地位，有別於帕森斯所認為的以夫妻軸為主。 筆者於2010年5月親赴北京對10位「獨生父母」進行訪談，深入了解獨生子女從擇偶、新婚、一直到四二一家庭成形所遇到的種種情況，包括夫妻家務分工上的不適應、為人父母後的角色轉換，以及在四二一家庭中獨一無二的天倫樂。 本文最後依據中國2010年第六次人口普查結果及獨生父母的訪談內容，結合各方專家意見，對計劃生育政策做出利弊分析，並探究生父母們在邁入家庭、準備「哺乳」的過程中，對父母的依賴，究竟「斷乳」了沒。 / Abstract In order to control the colossal population in China, the Chinese Communist Party have been implementing the birth control policy since 1979.Thirty years on, more and more children born under the one-child policy have arrived at nubile age. Marriage of only sons and only daughters compose the dual-core family which is different from the traditional Chinese family structure. This text focuses on the dual-core family, to explore the new family relationships and to challenge the Modernized theory of family proposed by T. Parsons. The text is of the opinion that the extended family model with three generations will become the main family structure in urban China as opposed to the nuclear family described in the Modernized theory; the focus of the family will be on the parent-child relationship rather than the conjugal relationship Parsons suggested. The author visited Beijing in May 2010 for interviews with ten “only-child parents”, This granted deeper understanding of the range of circumstances encountered during the process of partner selection, marriage and family formation by adult only-children. These include maladaptation in housework allocation, the role switch after becoming parents and the familial relationships and happiness unique to the extended family structure. In summation, the text combined findings from the sixth Chinese national census 2010, the conducted interviews and the opinions of various specialists and scholars to comment on the pros and cons of the birth control policy and to assess the level of parental dependence of adult only-children in China and their readiness for parenthood.

In this thesis, we consider optimal control problems arising in high-speed integrated communication networks with Quality of Service (QOS) constraints. Integrated networks are expected to carry a large variety of traffic sources with widely varying traffic characteristics and performance requirements. Broadly, the traffic sources fall into two categories: (a) real-time sources with specified performance criteria, like small end to end delay and loss probability (sources of this type are referred to as Type 1 sources below), and (b) sources that do not have stringent performance criteria and do not demand performance guarantees from the network - the so-called Best Effort Type sources (these are referred to as Type 2 sources below). From the network's point of view, Type 2 sources are much more "controllable" than Type 1 sources, in the sense that the Type 2 sources can be dynamically slowed down, stopped or speeded up depending on traffic congestion in the network, while for Type 1 sources, the only control action available in case of congestion is packet dropping. Carrying sources of both types in the same network concurrently while meeting the performance objectives of Type 1 sources is a challenge and raises the question of equitable sharing of resources. The objective is to carry as much Type 2 traffic as possible without sacrificing the performance requirements of Type 1 traffic. We consider simple models that capture this situation. Consider a network node through which two connections pass, one each of Types 1 and 2. One would like to maximize the throughput of the Type 2 connection while ensuring that the Type 1 connection's performance objectives are met. This can be set up as a constrained optimization problem that, however, is very hard to solve. We introduce a parameter b that represents the "cost" of buffer occupancy by Type 2 traffic. Since buffer space is limited and shared, a queued Type 2 packet means that a buffer position is not available for storing a Type 1 packet; to discourage the Type 2 connection from hogging the buffer, the cost parameter b is introduced, while a reward for each Type 2 packet coming into the buffer encourages the Type 2 connection to transmit at a high rate. Using standard on-off models for the Type 1 sources, we show how values can be assigned to the parameter b; the value depends on the characteristics of the Type 1 connection passing through the node, i.e., whether it is a Variable Bit Rate (VBR) video connection or a Continuous Bit Rate (CBR) connection etc. Our approach gives concrete networking significance to the parameter b, which has long been considered as an abstract parameter in reward-penalty formulations of flow control problems (for example, [Stidham '85]). Having seen how to assign values to b, we focus on the Type 2 connection next. Since Type 2 connections do not have strict performance requirements, it is possible to defer transmitting a Type 2 packet, if the conditions downstream so warrant. This leads to the question: what is the "best" transmission policy for Type 2 packets? Decisions to transmit or not must be based on congestion conditions downstream; however, the network state that is available at any instant gives information that is old, since feedback latency is an inherent feature of high speed networks. Thus the problem is to identify the best transmission policy under delayed feedback information. We study this problem in the framework of Markov Decision Theory. With appropriate assumptions on the arrivals, service times and scheduling discipline at a network node, we formulate our problem as a Partially Observable Controlled Markov Chain (PO-CMC). We then give an equivalent formulation of the problem in terms of a Completely Observable Controlled Markov Chain (CO-CMC) that is easier to deal with., Using Dynamic Programming and Value Iteration, we identify structural properties of an optimal transmission policy when the delay in obtaining feedback information is one time slot. For both discounted and average cost criteria, we show that the optimal policy has a two-threshold structure, with the threshold on the observed queue length depending, on whether a Type 2 packet was transmitted in the last slot or not. For an observation delay k > 2, the Value Iteration technique does not yield results. We use the structure of the problem to provide computable upper and lower bounds to the optimal value function. A study of these bounds yields information about the structure of the optimal policy for this problem. We show that for appropriate values of the parameters of the problem, depending on the number of transmissions in the last k steps, there is an "upper cut off" number which is a value such that if the observed queue length is greater than or equal to this number, the optimal action is to not transmit. Since the number of transmissions in the last k steps is between 0 and A: both inclusive, we have a stack of (k+1) upper cut off values. We conjecture that these (k + l) values axe thresholds and the optimal policy for this problem has a (k + l)-threshold structure. So far it has been assumed that the parameters of the problem are known at the transmission control point. In reality, this is usually not known and changes over time. Thus, one needs an adaptive transmission policy that keeps track of and adjusts to changing network conditions. We show that the information structure in our problem admits a simple adaptive policy that performs reasonably well in a quasi-static traffic environment. Up to this point, the models we have studied correspond to a single hop in a virtual connection. We consider the multiple hop problem next. A basic matter of interest here is whether one should have end to end or hop by hop controls. We develop a sample path approach to answer this question. It turns out that depending on the relative values of the b parameter in the transmitting node and its downstream neighbour, sometimes end to end controls are preferable while at other times hop by hop controls are preferable. Finally, we consider a routing problem in a high speed network where feedback information is delayed, as usual. As before, we formulate the problem in the framework of Markov Decision Theory and apply Value Iteration to deduce structural properties of an optimal control policy. We show that for both discounted and average cost criteria, the optimal policy for an observation delay of one slot is Join the Shortest Expected Queue (JSEQ) - a natural and intuitively satisfactory extension of the well-known Join the Shortest Queue (JSQ) policy that is optimal when there is no feedback delay (see, for example, [Weber 78]). However, for an observation delay of more than one slot, we show that the JSEQ policy is not optimal. Determining the structure of the optimal policy for a delay k>2 appears to be very difficult using the Value Iteration approach; we explore some likely policies by simulation.

1929年世界恐慌後，美國對日本生絲與絹織品的消費力降低，以及日本紡織業在世界市場被中國取代，以紡織業為首之日本出口貿易值大幅衰退，促使日本政府強化對紡織業的統制政策。本文探討1929至1937年，日本政府對紡織業逐步實施產業統制與貿易統制措施下，滿洲國在這些統制政策下的角色變化，以及石橋湛山追認滿洲國並修正其經濟自由主義的過程。 石橋湛山 (1884-1973)，歷經東洋經濟新報社主筆、日本首相，至今被喻為經濟自由主義的先驅。石橋的經濟自由主義，除了表現個人與東洋經濟新報社的立場，也反應當時日本民間在經濟上不同於政府的另一種看法。日本政府實施產業統制政策，紡織業受最廣的影響。 日本政府自1929年起，陸續實施「絲價安定融資補償法」(1929)、「重要產業統制法」(1931)、「通商擁護法」(1934)、「貿易調整法」(1937)，又於日中戰爭爆發之1937年，在滿洲國實施「重要產業統制法」與「棉花統制法」，足見紡織業在這些經濟政策中具有舉足輕重的地位。日本政府為獲得外匯、解決農村失業問題與備戰，控管棉花與紡織品的生產與供應價格，期望實現自給自足的目標。 滿州，是日本從中國取得原料與食料的中繼站，自中國華北棉花品質逐漸提升，滿州對日本的經濟也日益重要。日本歷經1929年中國關稅自主、美國因世界恐慌經濟衰退，加深對滿州的經濟依賴。石橋以貿易數字為依據，1932年「滿洲國」成立前，他並不看好滿州。1932年「滿洲國」成立，促使石橋逐步修正其經濟自由主義。 石橋作為日本經濟自由主義的先驅、東洋經濟新報社的主筆，在1929至1937年這段期間，積極對產業統制與貿易統制政策提供意見。這反應滿州在日本貿易市場的地位變化，也反應日本朝野針對紡織業統制政策，整合國內對經濟政策之共識，更促成石橋在1937年後擔任商工省的統制委員。 / In 1929, the Great Depression caused Japan into economical panic, the price of silk in Japan fallen and Japanese textile industry market was replaced by Chinese, prompting Japanese government to strengthen the industry and trade control policies. This report tries to explain the impacts of Japanese government’s industry and trade control policies which responded to the textile products price oversupply or insufficient upon the Manchuria from 1929 to 1937. Otherwise, Tanzan Ishibashi considerd the benefit of Manchuria to Japan and change his economic liberalism. Tanzan Ishibashi (1884-1973), to go through an economic magazine “Toyo Keizai” journalist, the Japanese Prime Minister, is a famous pioneer of economic liberalism in Japan. Tanzan Ishibashi’s economic liberalism stood in for him and “Toyo Keizai”, appear different point of Japanese government’s economic policy. The industry and trade control policies Japanese government implemented made great influence upon Japanese textile production and price, such as in 1929, the enactment of the “ Silk Price Stable Finance Law”; in 1931, the enactment of the “Important Industry Law”; in 1934, the enactment of the” Important Industry and Trade Law”; in 1937, the enactment of the”Trade Adjust Law”. Otherwise, Manchuria’s “Important Industry Law” and “Cotton Control Law” was put into 1937, we can understand the Japanese government exhausted to make Manchuria people’s livelihood, achieve the goal of “self-sufficiency” for Japan. Manchuria, a place to offer nature materials and foods from China, also important to Japanese economy since the North China cotton’s quality has gradually edged up. Before the Manchuria was founded in 1932, Tanzan Ishibashi denied it’s important for Japan’s trade by imports and exports turnover. However, the overall economic decline furthered Japanese textile industry’s bankruptcy significantly after the Great Depression. After 1929 the economy depressed, Tanzan Ishibashi revise his economic liberalism. Be a pioneer of economic liberalism in Japan, Tanzan Ishibashi is also a leader of the economic magazine”Toyo Keizai”, he participates actively about industry and trade control policies to Japanese government in”Toyo Keizai” between 1929 to 1937. Economic recession made Japanese people realize the importantance of Manchuria, a general consensus of textile industry control policy reached from the court and the commonalty, it’s a key that Tanzan Ishibashi being a commissioner of trade control police after 1937 for Japan Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Due to the detrimental effects of ride vibrations on occupants and increasing safety concerns, improvement in vehicle dynamic characteristics has become a key focus of researchers. Typically, ride and handling problems have been dealt with independently. There is a dearth of vehicle models capable of capturing occupant biodynamics and its implication on vehicle ride and handling. Also in general, the objective of conventional control systems has been to attenuate vertical dynamic response of the sprung mass of a vehicle. Feedback control based algorithms are predominantly used in active/semi-active suspensions that ignore the biodynamics of occupants. In the current work, a new 50 degree-of-freedom (DOF) combined nonlinear multi-occupant vehicle model is developed using the lumped parameter modelling (LPM) approach. The current model provides a platform for performing a combined study of ride, handling and occupant biodynamics. The model is capable of simulating the combined effect of sitting occupancies, road inputs and driving maneuvers on biodynamic responses. It is analyzed using MATLAB/SIMULINK functionalities and validated by independently correlating the computed responses with existing experimental results. A study is performed on ride behavior of a vehicle-occupant system under two different transient road inputs. In addition, the effect of road roughness on vehicle ride is also studied. Random road profiles are generated from road roughness spectrum given in the ISO 8608:1995 manual. Insights are developed into the ride dynamics of a vehicle traversing over roads of classes A, B, C and D at given test velocities. The effect of sitting occupancies and vehicle velocities on lateral dynamics is also studied. Results underscore the need for considering sitting occupancies while analyzing vehicle dynamics and also highlight the potential of the current model. Furthermore, a Moore-Penrose Pseudoinverse based feed-forward controller is developed and implemented in an independently acting semi-active seat suspension system. Feasibility of feed-forward control in primary suspensions is also investigated. Finally, issues of stability, performance and limitation of the controller are discussed.

[pt] Apesar de existir na literatura modelos propostos para gestão de estoques, as premissas consideradas por tais modelos podem inviabilizar suas aplicações. Este trabalho propõe uma metodologia de programação estocástica para reposição e controle de estoques de produto único numa rede logística de duas camadas. O enfoque revisão periódica proposto pode considerar tanto atendimentos à demanda em atraso (backorders) como vendas perdidas (lost sales) sem restrição de pedidos pendentes. Além disso, a fim de alcançar um melhor nível de serviço para o cliente, é introduzida uma regra de rateio proporcional a quantidade faltante do item em estoque no centro de distribuição para atender simultaneamente a demanda de todos os varejistas, a qual é capaz de lidar com as alocações negativas da falta. A periodicidade e o nível alvo da posição dos estoques são determinados através de modelos de programação estocástica de dois estágios e de uma técnica baseada em simulação de Monte Carlo, conhecida como Sample Average Approximation, que levam em conta a natureza incerta dos níveis de demanda pelo item por meio da geração de conjuntos finitos de cenários. Os equivalentes determinísticos são apresentados como modelos de programação não-linear inteira mista e em seguida linearizados. Experimentos numéricos com a metodologia proposta para instâncias do problema geradas aleatoriamente demonstram seu potencial ao obter resultados com erros de aproximadamente 1 por cento. / [en] Although several methods for inventory management are proposed in the literature, the required assumptions can hinder their application in practice. This work proposes a methodology for stock replenishment in two-echelon logistic networks through stochastic programming, considering a single item, periodic review and uncertain demands. The proposed approach is flexible enough to consider backlogs and lost sales cases without limitations on the number of outstanding orders. Also, in order to achieve better customer service, we introduce a variable rationing rule for quantities of the item in short at the distribution center to meet simultaneously all the demands of the retailers, dealing with imbalances or negative allocations of quantities of the item in short. The optimal review periodicity and the target level for inventory position are determined through two-stage stochastic programming models and a Monte Carlo simulation based-technique, known as Sample Average Approximation, which takes into account the uncertain nature of the item demand levels through the generation of finite sets of scenarios. The deterministic equivalent models are presented as mixed-integer non-linear programming models, which are then linearized. Numerical experiments with the proposed approach for instances of the problem randomly generated shows its potential, as the errors of the obtained results are around 1 percent.

Au Canada, la prévalence du tabagisme a diminué de façon significative. Ce succès est attribué aux politiques populationnelles de lutte contre le tabagisme telles que les campagnes anti-tabac, les interdictions de fumer, les hausses de taxation et les restrictions sur la vente des produits tabagiques. Néanmoins, les inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme s’accroissent; la prévalence de tabagisme demeure élevée au sein des groupes défavorisés, notamment ceux ayant un faible statut socio-économique (SSE). Malgré la recherche existante qui porte sur les effets des politiques de lutte contre le tabagisme selon le SSE, comment ces politiques affectent ces inégalités est peu documentée. Ainsi, dans le contexte où le Québec s’est engagé dans une lutte contre le tabagisme avec l’adoption d’une politique populationnelle en 2015, « Loi visant à renforcer la lutte contre le tabagisme » (L44), et le développement d’une stratégie populationnelle en 2020 qui priorisent la réduction des inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme, cette thèse aborde une question de grande pertinence pour la santé publique : comment les politiques publiques populationnelles, telles que L44, pourraient-elles affecter les inégalités sociales de la santé? Cette thèse explore cette question de recherche par l’entremise de trois articles : un article conceptuel et deux articles empiriques. L’article conceptuel présente l’intérêt de la théorie de l’intersectionnalité pour la recherche sur les inégalités sociales de la santé, particulièrement lorsque cette recherche intègre les deux principes de l’intersectionnalité : le principe soulignant le rôle des structures sociales dans la reproduction d’inégalités sociales étant souvent négligé pour privilégier le principe faisant valoir les expériences des groupes sociaux défavorisés. Cet article permet donc d’encadrer cette thèse afin qu’elle considère les politiques de lutte contre le tabagisme et les pratiques des praticiens en lutte contre le tabagisme (PLT) comme étant des facteurs structuraux qui influencent les inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme. Guidés par un devis qualitatif basé sur l’analyse critique du discours, les deux articles empiriques (articles 2 et 3) examinent le discours des politiques de lutte contre le tabagisme comme un mécanisme reliant ces politiques et les pratiques des PLT aux inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme. D’abord, l’article 2 applique l’analyse poststructuraliste de Bacchi aux transcriptions des consultations parlementaires pour le projet de loi L44 avec des acteurs québécois de lutte contre le tabagisme. Cette analyse démontre que L44 renforce et avance des discours problématisant « le fumeur » comme groupe moralement déviant et duquel les non-fumeurs doivent être protégés. Il y est discuté la façon dont cette problématisation concrétise les relations de pouvoir entre les non-fumeurs et les personnes qui fument, ce qui donne le « droit » aux non-fumeurs de réguler ces dernières personnes. Il apparaît ainsi que L44 renforce l’identité sociale du fumeur qui se retrouve aux intersections du SSE, du genre, ou de la race. En employant un tel discours, il est soutenu que L44 pourrait perpétuer les inégalités sociales en matière de tabagisme. L’article 3 emprunte le concept poststructuraliste des « pratiques discursives » afin d’analyser des entrevues faites avec des PLT au Québec. Cet article illustre comment leurs pratiques sont issues de discours sur la prévention du risque et le changement de comportement. Ces pratiques favorisent les interventions visant la réduction de la prévalence du tabagisme auprès de groupes « à risque » au détriment d’interventions ciblant les facteurs structuraux inéquitables dont découlent les inégalités sociales en matière du tabagisme. Toutefois, les PLT qui travaillent avec des personnes défavorisées qui fument, contrairement à ceux qui travaillent en prévention du tabagisme, tiennent un discours plus nuancé qui attribue une importance à l’amélioration des conditions sociales liées au risque de fumer. Cet article suggère que d’élargir les discours dominants en santé publique, notamment en intégrant l’expérience vécue des groupes défavorisés, a le potentiel de produire des discours et des politiques axés vers la promotion de l’équité en santé. Bien qu’ancrée dans le contexte de la lutte contre le tabagisme, les connaissances générées par cette thèse pourront éclairer d’autres discours et politiques de santé publique. En utilisant une approche critique et théorique novatrice, l’importance d’adopter une perspective réflexive envers les connaissances, présuppositions et valeurs qui sous-tendent la problématisation d’un phénomène de la santé (p.ex. le tabagisme), est établie. Cette recherche démontre également qu’il est impératif d’intégrer l’expérience vécue dans l’élaboration de politiques publiques, de cibler les déterminants structuraux ainsi que d’engager les praticiens en santé publique dans le travail intersectoriel afin de réduire les inégalités sociales de la santé. / Significant reductions in smoking prevalence in Canada are attributed to population-level tobacco control policies, such as media campaigns, smoke-free policies, tax increases, and restrictions on the sale of tobacco products. Despite this public health success, social inequalities in smoking have been increasing, with smoking prevalence remaining high in certain socially disadvantaged groups, notably those of low socio-economic status (SES). Although research investigates potential effects of tobacco control policies across SES groups, evidence on how such policies come to have these inequitable effects is lacking. With Quebec’s implementation of a 2015 population-level tobacco control policy, An Act to Bolster Tobacco Control (L44), and a 2020 strategy addressing the reduction of social inequalities in smoking, this thesis attends to a pressing public health question: how might population-level policies, such as L44, impact social inequalities in health? To answer this question, the thesis is comprised of one conceptual article and two empirical articles. The conceptual article discusses the important insights that can be gained from using intersectionality theory when researching social inequalities in health, notably when examining both tenets of intersectionality – the tenet highlighting the role of intersecting social structures in the reproduction of social inequalities is often neglected to privilege the tenet underlining the experiences of intersecting social identities – to better understand the complexity of such inequalities. This article led the thesis to focus on tobacco control policies and practices of tobacco control practitioners (TCP) as structural factors influencing social inequalities in smoking. Using a qualitative critical discourse analysis design, the two empirical articles (articles 2 and 3) critically examine tobacco control discourse as a mechanism linking tobacco control policies and TCP practices to social inequalities in smoking. Article 2 applies a Bacchian post-structuralist approach to policy discourse analysis to documents detailing L44 parliamentary consultations with Quebec tobacco control policy stakeholders. This article demonstrates that L44 reinforces and advances anti-smoking discourses by problematising “the smoker” as a distinct morally deviant category of people from which non-smokers need to be protected. This problematisation is further shown to reify power relations between non-smokers and people who smoke, providing non-smokers the “right” to regulate people who smoke. It appears that by subjectifying and regulating people who smoke, L44, via its discourse, contributes to anchoring smoking status as a social identity intersecting with other social identities such as SES, gender, and/or race. In this way, it may contribute to perpetuating social inequalities in smoking. In article 3, the post-structural concept of “discursive practices” is used to analyse interviews with Quebec TCP. This article illustrates how their practices are shaped by discourses of risk prevention and behaviour change. This was observed through their practices, which reproduced stigmatising representations of “the smoker” (echoing findings from article 2) and supported interventions targeting reductions in smoking prevalence for “at-risk” groups, rather than those addressing inequitable structural determinants of smoking. However, TCP working directly with socially disadvantaged people who smoke, compared to those working in policy, held comparatively more nuanced discursive practices, leading to reduced stigma and attention to the social conditions placing their patients at greater risk of smoking. This article concludes that broadening dominant public health discourses to integrate the lived experiences of socially disadvantaged people who smoke will likely produce more inclusive discourses and favour social policies that reduce social inequalities. This in contrast to risk prevention and behaviour change discourses that may entrench such inequalities. The insights from this thesis can be applied to the relationships between a range of public health policies and social inequalities in health. By offering a critical perspective on tobacco control discourse through a novel theoretically-combined approach, this thesis ultimately aims to inform public health policy design by demonstrating strategies to reduce social inequalities in health and promote health equity. Chiefly, it underlines the importance of questioning unexamined knowledge, assumptions, and values shaping conceptualisations of health problems (e.g., smoking) and policy responses (e.g., tobacco control policies). It also demonstrates the importance of integrating lived experience in policy design and for public health practitioners to work intersectorally in order to achieve reductions in social inequalities in health.