Native Migrant Labour in the Southern Alberta Sugar-beet Industry: Coercion and Paternalism in the Recruitment of Labour*

Les recherches commencent à révéler de façon de plus en plus évidente la présence des autochtones dans les emplois salariés au Canada. Bien que nous constations la participation des autochtones au travail salarié, nous savons peu de choses sur le rôle joué par l'État en vue de les mobiliser pour qu'ils travaillent dans l'industrie canadienne. À partir de l'exemple des autochtones qui sont venus dans le sud de l'Alberta au cours des années cinquante et soixante travailler dans l'industrie de la betterave à sucre, cet article analyse le rôle de l'État dans leur mobilisation. Nous montrons qu'à diffé-rents échelons l'État, par l'intermédiaire de comités de main-d'?uvre fédéraux et provinciaux ainsi que du ministère fédéral des Affaires indiennes, a eu recours à diverses mesures paternalistes et coer-citives pour aider les fermiers du sud de l'Alberta à recruter et à retenir ces travailleurs. L'une des principales mesures utilisées par les gouvernements fédéral et provincial pour pousser les autochtones àémigrer a été de priver de leurs prestations d'aide sociale ceux et celles que l'on jugeait aptes au travail. Research has begun to increasingly document Native peoples' participation in wage employment in Canada. Despite an acknowledgement of native participation in wage labour, little is known of the role of the state in mobilizing Native workers for Canadian industry. Using the case of Native migration to the southern Alberta sugar-beet industry in the 1950s and 1960s, this paper analyzes the role of the state in the mobilization of the native workers for employment. We show that the various levels of the state, acting through federal/provincial manpower committees and the Indian Affairs Branch of the federal government, used a variety of paternalistic and coercive measures to help farmers in southern Alberta recruit and retain Native workers. One of the main measures used by the federal and provincial governments to coerce Native people into migration was to cut off social assistance benefits to those Native people deemed to be employable.     

The Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus: A Modest Proposal

I model an attempt by radical parties to topple a modus vivendi between a ruling government and a moderate opposition group. Cooperation between the regime and the moderate opposition is possible if each player prefers mutual cooperation to mutual confrontation. If each player also prefers mutual confrontation to cooperating while the other defects then radical parties have a chance at breaking up this accord. Radical parties can succeed in bringing the government and opposition to mutual confrontation if they can agree on power-sharing arrangements after regime change. This paper also resolves central questions surrounding the trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I use an institutional approach to infer player preferences from historical and biblical sources and then use game theory to model the interactions between participants in these events. In so doing, I clarify aspects of the Gospel narrative that have puzzled readers for the past 2000 years.     

Independent child protection assessments: incorporating a therapeutic focus from an integrated service context

Assessment following serious child abuse is a significant activity for the social work, psychology and psychiatric professions. Notwithstanding the profound significance of the consequences for abused children and their families from recommendations made by such assessments, there is little research which examines the process and outcome of child protection assessments. This paper describes the professional practice principles of an independent assessment team and presents preliminary findings from a retrospective examination of 160 major independent assessments undertaken over a period of 11 years. The review suggests that nearly 60% of the families gained some therapeutic benefit from the assessment process and outlines the areas in which such benefits occurred. It is argued that structuring assessments in a way which maximizes the possibility of parents/carers effecting changes in problem areas is the essence of a constructive partnership relation with families. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Differences in Role Division Between Partners in Long-term Marriages and Their Well-being

The study aims were to examine the relationships of 128 elderly couples married longer than 45 years and the role division between the partners, including a comparison of their perceptions of their first 3 years of their marriage with today. The research hypotheses were (a) there will be a change in the couple's perceptions about the traditional roles at the time of their marriage as opposed to today, and (b) men and women who recognize a change in traditional role division will experience better mental well-being than those who do not. The results showed a change in the couple's perceptions about traditional role division during the years of marriage. It was also found that these changes showed a positive correlation to the couple's mental well-being in those couples who recognized the changes.     

Book Review

This paper reflects critically on management consultants. The paper acknowledges those commentaries which suggest that management consultants must be understood as an element or node within a wider network which constitutes an advice or knowledge industry. However, the paper argues that our understanding of the consultant node within such networks has been fashioned in a manner that serves to restrict our appreciation of the nature and scope of the advice available to managers. To this end the paper attempts to identify a larger network of actors and agencies excluded from both critical and celebratory accounts of the advice industry, which is none the less fundamental to the reproduction of management. The paper concludes with the suggestion that Latour’s analysis of world‐building may offer a useful heuristic to those who would seek to understand the ways in which networks constitute the managed world.     

Gender differences in perceptions of aftercare supports and services

Youth depart residential care with many continued risk factors, unique needs, and challenges as they reintegrate into the home, school, and community settings. Currently, there is limited research on needs and best practices in aftercare services and supports for youth departing from residential settings and even less is known about how these differ by gender. While preliminary studies have explored perceptions of need during reintegration and aftercare by youth and caregivers, little is known about how these may differ by gender or if perceptions change over time after experiencing the initial transition period. One way to address this knowledge gap is to identify how prepared males and females feel for reintegration in critical life domains, their beliefs about aftercare, and preferences regarding potential services or supports to aide in the reintegration at discharge. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore if males and females differ on preparedness for reintegration across critical life domains, beliefs about aftercare, and preferences regarding potential services or supports to aide in the reintegration at departure from a residential treatment facility (N = 132). Overall, very few differences were found between males and females at departure. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.     

An evaluation of the postqualifying framework

A new strategy for postqualifying training in social work was launched in 1990 by CCETSW with the publication of Paper 31. This paper reviews the subsequent implementation of the policy framework and identifies several core issues: level and parity; access and numbers; funding and resources; consortia formation and cohesion; quality and standards; and the role of CCETSW in relation to a UK wide system.

It is argued that the slow development of the new system stemmed from an excessively decentralised partnership approach in developing consortia and the low priority and funding devoted to postqualifying education and training. The quicker pace of development since 1995 has only been achieved through government pressure and CCETSW taking on a stronger lead role together with the continued ring-fenced funding for consortia and bursaries. Without substantial funding from the Department of Health/National Offices and CCETSW, it is questionable whether the objectives of a national widely accessible system of postqualifying education and training will be achieved. The rapid development since autumn 1995 has led to some compromise in standards and the new systems of quality assurance have yet to be tested. Whatever the general merits of partnership/collaboration, CCETSW needs to maintain its more positive development role and clarify the relationship to consortia and the legal status of consortia.

Published research and data on postqualifying education and training is extremely limited and the authors have drawn on their experiences and impressions of the evolving PQ systems during the 1990s. Now that the framework is operational, accrediting programmes/portfolio routes and recruiting and assessing candidates, it is essential to undertake independent research and evaluation into the system and its effectiveness.     

Responding to a Critique of ‘The Interpersonal Process in Generic Social Work’

The Social Workers Oncology Group is a professional support network, which brings together a group of specialist professionals with a unique knowledge about the psychosocial consequences of a cancer disease. The Group provides professional peer support, as well as providing a forum for the utilisation of research programmes and resource development.     

Perceived Relational Support in Adolescence: Dimensions,Configurations, and Adolescent Adjustment

The perceived relational support from four key providers (father, mother, special sibling, and best friend) on five provisions (quality of information, respect for autonomy, emotional support, convergence of goals, and acceptance) was examined for 2,262 adolescents (aged 12 – 18 years). In a variable‐centered approach, factor analyses yielded five dimensions of support: three specific to providers (parent, friend, and sibling support) and two specific to provisions (convergence of goals and respect for autonomy). Only parental support was found to change (decrease) across age. In a person‐centered approach, five types of adolescents with different configurations of perceived support were identified. The first three types differed in overall level of support (high, average, and low) for all of the five dimensions; the fourth type represented extremely low support from parents with above‐average support from best friends; the fifth type consisted of adolescents with no best friend. These configurations were significantly related to different patterns of adolescent adjustment in various domains (psychological well‐being, delinquency, substance use, and peer‐group functioning).