The representation of ethnic and linguistic groups in the federal civil service of Belgium and Canada

This article investigates how the struggles of national groups have affected the politics of bureaucratic representation of ethnic minorities in Belgium and Canada, and vice‐versa. It argues that the politics of multinational representation in Belgium limited the adoption of measures seeking to guarantee a greater representation of ethnic and racial minorities. In contrast, the politics of multiculturalism in Canada associated with the political mobilization of ethnic groups, contributed to the rejection of measures of guaranteed representation of Francophones in the federal bureaucracy. Measures adopted to increase the representation of Francophones, however, did not impede later attempts to augment representation of visible minorities in the civil service.     

La gouverne dans la tempête de verglas: Le volet politico-administratif d'un sinistre

Sommaire: L'analyse détaillée des rapports d'autorité entre les acteurs de l'arène politique qui impliquent les différentes instances décisionnelles a contribuéà la compréhension des stratégies et des objectifs poursuivis par chacun des acteurs en présence. En outre, la gestion de la crise du verglas a permis de rendre compte de diverses stratégies, notamment celles qui ont conduit les autorités municipales à exercer davantage leur rôle de porte-parole. Des dew rôles du décideur politique, soit dirigeant et porte-parole, celui de porte-parole est le plus manifestement politique car il participe directement au processus de la médiation et de la régulation. En cela, il contribue à une fonction de repréntation de la collectivité. Cette fonction de porteparole des décideurs municipaux a été soutenue, voire favorisée par la centralisation déisionnelle de la gestion de la crise au niveau national, parfois au détriment du rôle de dirigeant des autorités municipales. Le cas de la crise de verglas participe à une tendance générale du système de régulation des rapports entre les élus des différentes instances décisionnelles et il s'inscrit comme mode de contrôle et d'intervention du pouvoir national sur les pouvoirs qui lui sont subordonnés. L'appropriation des opérations par les acteurs politiques de la gouverne nationale s'est réalisée par l'implantation d'un dispositif organisationnel visant la substitution du modèle fonctionnel par un modèlead hoc centralisé. Le modèlead hoc a permis d'intégrer les liens d'autorité habituels et a conduit par la suite à l'établissement de ce que nous avons désigné le modèle effectif.Le bon fonctionnement du modèle effectif exige l'absence d'acteurs potentiellement en situation d'opposition. Les relations entre les acteurs engagés dans les opérations associées à la gestion du sinistre ont dés lors été soumises aux règles et intérêts des acteurs politiques de la gouveme nationale. Abstract: The detailed analysis of the authority relationships between players in the policy arena and the various decision-makers contributed to understanding the strategies and objectives of each player. Moreover, management of the ice storm crisis highlighted various strategies, including those that led municipal authorities to expand their spokesperson role. The role of the spokesperson is more clearly political because it plays a direct part in the mediation and regulatory process, thus contributing to a community representation function. This spokesperson function of municipal decision-makers was supported and even fostered by the centralization of decisions while managing the crisis at the national level (i.e., Quebec), sometimes to the detriment of the leadership role of municipal authorities. The ice storm case is part of an overall trend within the system for regulating the relationships between elected representatives at the various decision-making levels, and it is also a means of national control and intervention over the powers subordinated to the national authority. National policy-makers operated by implementing an organizational system substituting a centralized, ad hoc model for the functional model. Using the ad hoc model, the usual authority linkages were integrated, subsequently leading to the setup of the effective model. For smooth operation, the effective model requires that there be no players holding diametrically opposite positions. The relationships between the players in crisis management operations were thus governed by the rules and interests of national policy-makers.     

Lessons in suffering: Greek tragedy’s teachings on disability through Sophocles’ Philoctetes

Political theory often sees disability through the negative language of abnormality and inability, which perceives disability as a deficiency that deviates from the able-bodied. However, critical disability studies strives to transform the disabling language of political theory into an enabling project that sees the ability, unique perspectives, capacities, and contributions of people with disabilities. Through Sophocles’ Philoctetes, this article examines the negative ways in which disability is conceptualized, socially constructed, and (dis)valued, as well as the possibilities for a positive and enabling theory of disability. The character of Philoctetes exposes the negative social construction of disability as well as the extraordinary ability of those who live with chronic impairments. The Philoctetes meditates on the status of the disabled who are unfairly isolated from human community and who are often unfairly seen in an instrumental fashion that fails to recognize their fundamental status as human beings who are capable, valuable, and essential for the success of human endeavors and community. For political theory, the Philoctetes demonstrates the ability in disability, and shines brightly on the essential contributions that people with disabilities make in our societies. Philoctetes shows that the lives of people who live daily with chronic impairments need not be seen as necessarily tragic. Instead, these modes of being speak to human diversity, ingenuity, and triumph.     

History of interpersonal violence, abuse, and nonvictimization trauma and severity of psychiatric symptoms among children in outpatient psychiatric treatment

In a clinical sample of child psychiatry outpatients, chart review data were collected for 114 consecutive admissions over a 1-year period at a Child and Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic. Data included history of documented maltreatment, potentially traumatic domestic or community violence, neglect or emotional abuse, and noninterpersonal stressors as well as demographics, psychiatric diagnoses, and parent-rated child emotional and disruptive behavior problems. On a bivariate and multivariate basis, any past exposure to interpersonal violence-but not to noninterpersonal traumas-was related to more severe disruptive behavior problems, independent of the effects of demographics and psychiatric diagnoses. Noninterpersonal trauma and psychiatric diagnoses were associated with emotional problems; exposure to interpersonal violence appeared to partially account for this relationship despite not being independently associated with emotional problem severity. History of exposure to interpersonal violence warrants clinical and research attention as a severity marker and potential treatment focus in psychiatric outpatient services for children, particularly those with disruptive behavior problems.     

Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Movers Scale in a French-Canadian Population

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study that draws upon a collaborative research strategy and has two main objectives: 1) Translating and adapting into French the Measure of Victim Empowerment Related to Safety (MOVERS scale) (Goodman et al. Psychology of Violence, 5(4), 355-366, 2015a); 2) Validating the French version of the MOVERS scale in a population of French-Canadian women receiving shelter services. The French-Canadian MOVERS (FCM) was administered to 189 women receiving shelter services in the province of Québec (Canada). The factorial structure, reliability and validity of the FCM were tested. This paper highlights that the FCM replicates the three dimensions found in the original version (Goodman et al. Psychology of Violence, 5(4), 355-366, 2015a), displays significant correlations with measures of depression, anxiety and stress, self-esteem, perceived social support, satisfaction with life and self-efficacy, and has overall good reliability estimates. The FCM is a valid and reliable scale to assess safety-related empowerment among women receiving shelter services. Furthermore, the scale provides interesting opportunities to shelter workers, which will be discussed in the paper.

     

The effect of a judicial declaration of competence on the perceived credibility of children and defendants

Purpose. Three studies were conducted to determine the effect of a judicial declaration of competence on perceptions of credibility towards a child witness and an adult defendant. Methods. Undergraduates read vignettes about a 5‐ or a 13‐year‐old child witness or an adult involved in either a sexual assault case or a motor vehicle accident case. In the child conditions, the case was either preceded by a declaration of the child's competence to testify (either specific or general declaration) or there was no mention of the competence of the child. Participants then rated the perceived credibility of both the complainant/witness and the defendant. Results. A judicial declaration of competence that was targeted at the particular child sometimes increased the credibility ratings of the child and decreased those of the defendant, sometimes to levels beyond those observed in the adult conditions. These effects on credibility were not replicated when a general declaration of all children's competence was used. In fact, the general declaration sometimes resulted in more positive ratings of the defendant. Conclusions. These results are discussed in the context of recommendations for the use of competence evaluations and declarations of competence in court.