Where did the first divorced people live in Paris and its suburbs?

ABSTRACT

Following the law of 1884 that re-authorised divorce in France, divorce was more frequent in the large cities before spreading to other urban areas and then to rural ones. Divorce rates were especially high in the Seine département from 1884 to the eve of the First World War. In this region, divorced people lived more frequently in Paris than in the suburbs. More precisely, they resided more often on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris proper (intra-muros) and, as an extension of this area, in the suburban cities to the west and, to the east, around the Bois de Vincennes. A comparison of the share of divorced men and women to the economic, demographic and cultural characteristics of the 20 Paris arrondissements and 74 suburban municipalities in the Seine département shows that a portion of the spatial distribution can be explained by the occupational structures of the area. Divorced people seldom lived in the most rural areas. This urban/rural divide can be explained by two main factors that can be complementary: the economic possibility to divorce – and here we will add the economic possibility for women to leave live alone after a divorce – and the social and cultural acceptance of divorce.     

Environmental predictability influences the relationship between virtues and antisocial/delinquent behavior

ABSTRACT

Despite the notion that characterizes criminals as lacking virtues or character strengths, evidence shows that people who engage in antisocial and delinquent behavior are not dissimilar in possessing character strengths as compared to the general population. Character strengths may be used to either do ‘good’ or ‘wrong’; so that the question is, what situation does direct this use to either choice? This study hypothesized environmental predictability may influence a person using their character strengths to inhibit antisocial or delinquent behavior. Two samples were examined, one consisting of individuals convicted of a criminal offense, and the other composed of non-convicted participants. Individuals responded to a series of instruments targeting virtues and character strengths, antisocial and delinquent behaviors, and environmental predictability in their environment –inferred from life-history strategy. In both groups, virtues were negatively and significantly associated with antisocial/delinquent behavior. A further test of the moderating and mediating influence of environmental predictability showed that this environmental dimension modified the aforementioned relationship, decreasing the inhibitory influence of virtues on antisociality. This means that, in predictable contexts, possessing (or lacking) character strengths is not important to inhibiting antisocial behaviors; however, in unpredictable environments virtues are useful to prevent antisociality and delinquent behavior.     

Development of an instrument for assessing the quality of forensic evidence and expert testimony from three feature-comparison methods: DNA,voice, and fingerprint analysis

In a context of rising violence and long-lasting impunity, in 2008, Mexico's criminal justice system underwent a radical change from an inquisitorial model to an adversarial one, to make it more effective, transparent, and expeditious. The new system tasked judges with publicly determining the admissibility of forensic evidence, as well as assessing its technical quality and probative value—tasks for which they currently receive little to no training. With the aim of contributing to the consolidation of the adversarial model, a comparative framework—in the form of a checklist—of the analysis of fingerprints, DNA samples, and voice recordings was created. To do so, a review of the academic literature, published reports, and guidelines was performed. The collected data were synthesized and submitted to a panel of Mexican judges, who provided feedback on its adequacy. The framework focuses on the steps on which quality assurance of forensic evidence depends, organized in five discrete stages that span from the collection of samples at the scene of a crime to the presentation of evidence at trial, specifying the main technical criteria experts should state to allow a decision maker to examine its accuracy and reliability. Differences and commonalities among the three methods were identified, particularly in terms of how qualitative and quantitative analyses are performed in each. Besides its potential usefulness as an aid for judicial decision-making, the checklist could be a valuable resource for training programs aimed at judges, as well as quality assurance programs.     

Female bigamists: their particular position in the Canadian courts and media

Concentrating on women bigamists allows one to gauge social conceptions and attitudes towards marriage. Their relatively high presence in the courts, especially during wartime, points to closer monitoring of their lives. Patriarchal society tolerated less their perceived crossing of morality lines. Paradoxically, the courts by imposing lighter sentences, and the media by portraying many female bigamists first and foremost as victims, recognized that they did not threaten Canadian society to the same extent that male bigamists did. Although jurists did not make it explicit in bigamy laws that marriage served to protect women and children, the courts did not hesitate to assign that function when passing judgment. The analysis of bigamy prosecutions and press coverage, instead of showcasing how the patriarchal institution of marriage oppressed women, highlights its paternalistic benevolence.     

Introduction: disability,partnership, and family across time and space

ABSTRACT

Notions of family life and romantic partnership, like notions of disability, have been culturally constructed and socially produced over historical time, and our understandings of these notions are being continually challenged and re-negotiated across time and space. Policies, institutions, and cultural practices across the globe have brought about changes to the construction of the family and to the rights and inclusion of disabled people in private and public life. This special issue brings together a collection of studies from different countries and time periods to explore the interplay between disability, romantic partnerships, and family life across the individual lifetime and between generations. With this interdisciplinary collection, we seek to merge disability research and research on family and partnerships through a life course lens. This offers unique insights and opportunities to interconnect historical and cultural location and changing social institutions with individual and family experiences. This introduction presents the eight studies in the collection and discusses them within a life course frame that views disabled people’s roles as partners, spouses, and members of a family. In so doing, it engages in an analysis of (dis)similarities concerning how family dynamics, romantic relationships, and disability have developed over time and in different spaces.     

The European Union as an opportunity: structures and uses of European soft law in French,Austrian and Irish eHealth policies

Abstract

Does European soft law matter? In order to answer this question, the article investigates the processes through which the European Union (EU) affects domestic politics and policies in the eHealth sector in France, Austria and Ireland. More precisely, it shows how the hardening of EU soft law creates a new rationale for the use of European instruments by domestic actors, thus expanding their strategic opportunities for policy making at the national level. Despite the empirical diversity of the cases, similar patterns of variation in Europeanisation mechanisms emerge over time, and the data show how the varying structure of European soft instruments (i.e. their degrees of ‘hardness’) accounts for these changes. This comparative analysis includes multiple process-tracing cases of eHealth public policy making in France, Austria and Ireland in which Europeanisation processes are at work.     

The Far North Act in Ontario,Canada: a sons of the soil conflict in the making?

In 2010, the Government of Ontario, Canada passed the controversial Far North Act. The Act purportedly aims to promote land use planning and sustainable development while recognising Aboriginal and Treaty rights. There are, however, early warning signs that the Act could be a breeding ground for future conflict between Indigenous peoples and other stakeholder groups. This article adopts a ‘sons of the soil’ conceptual framework to explore the mechanisms that could give rise to the escalation of Indigenous vs. non-Indigenous conflict. The findings provide important insights for theorising the contentious politics around land and territory in diverse settler-colonial contexts.     

From Renascer to Velho Chico: negotiations between cordiality and modernity in the Brazilian telenovela

ABSTRACT

This article takes as its focus the main Brazilian cultural and media product, the telenovela or soap opera, to discuss the characteristic of the Brazilian personality referred to as the homem cordial (“cordial man”). The article analyses two telenovelas: Renascer (1993) and Velho Chico (2016), which, written by the same author, but in very different historical contexts, sought to recover the trait of cordiality in its essence. In its comparison of the two telenovelas, this study presents and discusses the changes, permanencies and negotiations of a cordial tradition in the face of a particular aspect of modernity represented by both the process of urbanisation and by television itself.