Canadian Narcotics Legislation, 1908–1923: A Conflict Model Interpretation

La legislation canadienne sur les narcotiques s'est developpee en tant que processus politique et elle traduisit les differenciations d'alors dans l'exercice du pouvoir. L'analyse met en relief les positions de subordination et de superordination definies par la loi et les interets incompatibles des legislateurs et des deviants. Les donnees provenant du Hansard et d'autres sources complementaires durant les annees 1908–1923, mettent en lumiere comment les positions de classe, les croyances culturelles et I'hostilite interethnique ont accentue le contenu punitif de la legislation. Le processus politique, dans une culture differente, aurait peut-etre produit une loi moins coercitive et moins repressive. De la meme maniere, la loi n'aurait peut-etre pas ete mise en force avec tant de zele et d'energie dans un climat moral et politique different.
Canadian narcotics legislation developed as a political process and reflected current power differentials. The analysis emphasizes the superordinate-subordinate relationship defined by the law and the incompatible interests of the rule-makers and deviants. The data from Hansard and elsewhere during the years 1908–1923 show how the stratification order, cultural beliefs and interracial hostility increased the punitive content of the legislation. The political process in a different culture and social structure might have produced a less coercive and repressive law. In a different political and moral climate the law might not have been enforced so energetically.     

Disproportionality and Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Mississippi River‐Gulf Outlet*

Objectives. Although many observers have interpreted Hurricane Katrina's damage to New Orleans as a case of nature striking humans, we draw on the sociological concept of the growth machine to show that much of the damage resulted instead from what humans had done to nature—in the name but not the reality of “economic development.” Methods. We triangulate findings from multiple qualitative techniques, including first‐hand fieldwork, interviews, and analyses of historical records. We focus on a particularly telling illustration: the Mississippi River‐Gulf Outlet, a transportation canal. Results. Although the canal was widely predicted to deliver prosperity, it mainly created environmental damage, destroying wetlands that had formerly protected New Orleans from hurricanes. Despite enthusiastic predictions about its economic importance—plus millions of dollars in ongoing federal investments—the “outlet” was used by only a dozen of the ships for which it was designed during the entire last year before Katrina hit. Conclusions. This was clearly not a case of an “enduring conflict” between the environment and the economy; it was a case where economic benefits to a tiny number of beneficiaries created profound costs to the environment, and to humans in turn. Claims about supposed “economic benefits” from environmentally harmful projects need to be examined more closely in other contexts, as well.     

Vulnerability,Risk Perception,and Health Profile of Marginalized People Exposed to Multiple Built‐Environment Stressors in Worcester,Massachusetts: A Pilot Project

Millions of low‐income people of diverse ethnicities inhabit stressful old urban industrial neighborhoods. Yet we know little about the health impacts of built‐environment stressors and risk perceptions in such settings; we lack even basic health profiles. Difficult access is one reason (it took us 30 months to survey 80 households); the lack of multifaceted survey tools is another. We designed and implemented a pilot vulnerability assessment tool in Worcester, Massachusetts. We answer: (1) How can we assess vulnerability to multiple stressors? (2) What is the nature of complex vulnerability—including risk perceptions and health profiles? (3) How can findings be used by our wider community, and what lessons did we learn? (4) What implications arise for science and policy? We sought a holistic picture of neighborhood life. A reasonably representative sample of 80 respondents captured data for 254 people about: demographics, community concerns and resources, time‐activity patterns, health information, risk/stress perceptions, and resources/capacities for coping. Our key findings derive partly from the survey data and partly from our experience in obtaining those data. Data strongly suggest complex vulnerability dominated by psychosocial stress. Unexpected significant gender and ethnic disease disparities emerged: notably, females have twice the disease burden of males, and white females twice the burden of females of color (p < 0.01). Self‐reported depression differentiated by gender and age is illustrative. Community based participatory research (CBPR) approaches require active engagement with marginalized populations, including representatives as funded partners. Complex vulnerability necessitates holistic, participatory approaches to improve scientific understanding and societal responses.