Sociology and Legal Studies

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This is the collection for the University of Waterloo's Department of Sociology and Legal Studies.

Research outputs are organized by type (eg. Master Thesis, Article, Conference Paper).

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Enforced Government of the Self: Forced Dependence and Experiences of Sponsored Older Chinese Immigrants in Canada
(University of Waterloo, 2024-10-15) Li, Ivy Zhiyuan
Globalization and global competition have rendered Canada’s immigration regime and governance increasingly susceptible to market forces. Additionally, the pressure of an aging society in Canada has contributed to a significant reduction in the admission of family-class immigrants, especially older people, and in 2014, the federal government tightened and dramatically revised its parent/grandparent (PGP) immigration program by raising income requirements for sponsors, extending the period of sponsorship by offspring, and imposing an annual quota of applications. Scant literature has explored how the PGP program and its policy alteration affects the later life and well-being of sponsored older immigrants in Canada. Mainly through in-depth semi-structured interviews with sponsored Chinese parents, their offspring and social workers and qualitative analysis of documents, my PhD research explores the experience of sponsored PGPs in Canada; examines the state’s positioning of sponsored older immigrants, especially those from the global South, through a lens of governmentality; and analyses the workings and effects of neoliberal governance through immigration policy in Canada and its implications. Drawing on and contributing to the literature on governmentality and racism in migration, especially by engaging with notions of “government of the self,” neoliberalism, biopolitical citizenship, and racism and racialization, I construct my conceptual framework by examining the embedded tensions and contradictions in contemporary governance, which I term “neoliberal frictions.” I discuss three forms or levels of neoliberal friction and their manifestations and ramifications in the experience of sponsored Chinese PGPs. Additionally, taking on the insights of Anna Tsing (2004), I conceive of friction as not only consisting of contradictions, tensions, inequality, and injustice, but also as engendering a location and process of struggle that generates actions, changes, new knowledge, new social and political orders, and new forms of justice. Thus, I explore and discuss not only the challenges and difficulties of later-life immigration, but also how sponsored Chinese PGPs develop various strategies to handle challenges, adapt to new environments, resist dependence imposed by the PGP program, and pursue an independent and meaningful existence with dignity. Hence my approach, built on the concept of neoliberal friction, is consistent with the notion of assemblage (Wiertz, 2020), which accounts not only for situations where life is subordinated to systemic power but also for instances that fracture and challenge this power (p. 5). I prioritize the agency and experience of sponsored PGPs, highlight their struggles, perspectives, and concerns, and underscore moments of dissonance, agency, and resistance. My findings debunk the misconception and stigmatized portrayal of older immigrants as welfare seekers and reveal that their contributions are ignored and exploited by neoliberal governance in Canada. My study shows that Canada’s immigration regime, though becoming more implicit and subtler, remains structurally raced, classed, and gendered and interplays with dynamics such as ableism, ageism, ethnocentrism, otherness, and worthiness within the state’s power relations. My study reveals a new governance apparatus – dependent biopolitics – that targets sponsored older immigrants, enables the state to download its collective responsibility onto immigrant families, and justifies its othering and discriminatory practices in the name of facilitating family reunification. My study reveals that intergenerational relations and housing arrangements are the two key factors that affect sponsored PGPs’ satisfaction with life and well-being. It shows that sponsored Chinese PGPs need a mindset or desire for and the ability to realize independence, rather than relying on their offspring, if they are to age well and develop a satisfying life in Canada. My findings reveal that forced dependence by the undertaking/dependence clause of the PGP program, deepens the gap between their desired independence and actual independence. This research demonstrates that the PGP program, as a tool of government, cannot grant sponsored Chinese PGPs entrepreneurial spirit and facilitate their self-reliance, but instead tends to add hardship to their lives and engender social problems such as isolation, senior mistreatment and neglect, physical and mental problems, poverty, and precarious living conditions, which may use up more social resources and public funds. Accordingly, this thesis recommends a more sustainable PGP program and more supportive settlement policies and services for sponsored older immigrants. My study contributes conceptually and empirically to governmentality perspectives on the study of immigration policy and the governance of older immigrant populations. It does this by developing an assemblage approach: on the one hand, it shows that neoliberal frictions are embedded in the state’s governance systems and its practices, which cannot foster life for sponsored older Chinese immigrants and can even undermine their quality of life and well-being; on the other hand, it demonstrates how sponsored PGPs can, by performing agency, forming small, informal groups, and engaging with and helping to build community, conduct self-government and resist dependence imposed on them by the PGP program.
Flying the Flag: A Mixed-Methods Study Examining Policing Subjectivity in a Canadian Auxiliary Police Service
(University of Waterloo, 2024-08-30) Sycz, Damian
Although studies have explored the recruitment and retention of sworn police officers, the recruitment, retention, and roles of Canadian auxiliary police officers have largely been overlooked. Examining this issue through the lenses of self-determination theory, symbolic representation, and relations between the state and civil society, this research addresses the deficiency in the literature by examining the demographic composition, recruitment, retention, and role of an auxiliary police unit in a police service in Ontario, Canada. This study utilizes a sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design that collects quantitative data using a survey and supports this data with semi-structured interviews. I present two arguments in this dissertation. First, the ideal subjectivity of police volunteers has shifted, along with the state’s monopoly on crime control, from a primary focus on physical attributes, such as toughness and brute strength, to one where police organizations seek subjects with the right attributes to support positive community relations. Second, I argue that the state empowers auxiliary police volunteers to contribute to public safety in this way by fostering interactions along the margin between the state and civil society. This marginal work enables both the enfolding of civil society values and norms into the policing apparatus and the unfolding crime control functions into civil society. Despite being an indispensable resource, volunteerism in the public sector is decreasing, and recruiting and retaining auxiliary police volunteers has become challenging. Researchers should continue to study police auxiliaries due to the vital role they play in determining how police organizations relate to the communities they serve.
An Organizational Perspective on Experiential Education in Ontario Higher Education
(University of Waterloo, 2024-06-14) LaCroix, Emerson
Experiential education has long been appreciated for its pedagogical value. There is a considerable body of evidence suggesting that students reap particular benefits when ‘learning by doing’ and engaging in practical learning experiences. Though, change is underway. In Ontario, experiential education has been incorporated into strategic funding metrics by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, and thus subsumed in the neoliberal tradition of quantification and measurement. Universities are now required to ensure all students have at least one experiential learning opportunity before graduation and are required to measure and report where these opportunities are in their programs. This transformation prompts many questions about how organizational change takes place, and how different constituencies within and across Ontario universities are reacting to these changes. Rather than taking a conventional pedagogical view, in this dissertation I analyze experiential education through an organizational lens. I ask questions about the ongoing organizational change, drawing on a variety of organizational theories to capture institutional, organizational, and actor-level perspectives. The first research chapter (Chapter 3) focuses on the field-level dynamics of experiential education in Ontario via the Strategic Mandate process. Using three cohorts of Strategic Mandate Agreements between 2014 and 2025, I uncover how experiential education has evolved over time at the discursive and policy level. The second and third research chapters draw on 132 survey responses from faculty across the province, and 47 interviews from faculty at six Ontario universities. In the second research chapter (Chapter 4), I examine how faculty have experienced the changes to experiential education. This chapter captures recoupling in action and considers how faculty have experienced a changing organizational conception of experiential education. The final research chapter (Chapter 5) draws on the same qualitative sample but takes a more micro-level view of faculty sensemaking, delineating the various lenses through which faculty have made — and continue to make — sense of experiential education. Together, these chapters contribute a gradual narrowing from meso-level dynamics down to micro-level sensemaking to understand how a particular organizational change occurs, instigates responses, and spurs actor-level sensemaking. By taking an organizational approach, I uncover a much more nuanced understanding of experiential education and its relative complexities. My thesis concludes with policy recommendations, and implications for future research.
Effects of Social Status on Concerns with Status Losses and Status Gains in Impaired Driving Scenarios: Loss Aversion and Deviance in Peer Groups
(University of Waterloo, 2024-04-15) Lisk, Rachel Anne
At the forefront of current peer influence research in criminology is an attempt to understand how peers impact an individual’s participation in crime and deviance. Research seeks to explore whether social forces shape decision-making processes that lead a person to commit a deviant or dangerous act. This study examines how social status (popularity and social competency) and peer relations affect individuals’ willingness to engage in impaired driving related actions. More specifically, through the use of a survey experiment, this research project examines whether a person's social status and peers framing an act of deviance as social status losses or gains impacts a person’s willingness to drive impaired or get into a car with an impaired driver. In addition to the survey experiment, to further understand connections between impaired driving and young people, this project includes a thematic analysis examine the ways in which these effects of peer influence and social status are presented (or not) in relevant public engagement materials that seek to educate youth about impaired driving.
An Analysis of How Community Organizations Support Abused Chinese Immigrant Women in the Canadian Context
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-23) Niu, Mengyao
This thesis explores the assistance provided by community organizations in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, and Vancouver regions to Chinese immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence. Guided by postcolonial feminist insights and through interviews with community service providers, this study examines how the service providers define the needs of these women. In addition, it explores how they act with cultural sensitivity and acknowledge the distinct experiences of racialized immigrant women, while challenging orientalist narratives about ‘minority cultures’ causing domestic violence. My findings reveal the complexity and contradiction in how service providers conceptualize and respond to the women’s needs. Specifically, they blame ‘Chinese culture’ and the ‘women’s foreignness’ for their victimization and reluctance to seek support. They strive to inculcate a ‘non-culturalized’ way of thinking, despite knowing the multidimensional barriers and complex immigrant reality that shape the women’s actions. At the same time, this understanding encourages them to offer additional support, addressing the women’s immigrant- and cultural-specific needs. While doing so, they strategize to reduce the impact of structural constraints on women with limited resources. Their objective is to mitigate the system’s harm and women’s vulnerabilities. However, their understanding of ‘immigrant realities’ is not always accurate. This inadequacy is reflected by their assumption that financial empowerment approaches would also help immigrants. By analyzing the logic of these support services and what they entail, this study reveals a grassroots anti-violence approach that is culturally sensitive and informed by understandings of immigrant women’s distinct experiences, even though this approach can prove insufficient. At the same time, my findings indicate that the practices of anti-violence workers are both informed by and reproduce orientalist, hegemonic assumptions about abused immigrant women.
Doing Transparent and Reproducible Quantitative Sociology
(University of Waterloo, 2024-01-08) Browne, Pierson
The ongoing replication crisis (Baker 2016; Gelman and Loken 2016; Freese and Peterson 2017; Wiggins and Christopherson 2019; Bird 2020; Colling and Szűcs 2021) has laid bare quantitative sociology’s need for better standards of transparency and reproducibility in all published research. This dissertation’s core contribution is the proposal and articulation of a ‘foundational cycle’ of three interrelated methodological practices: Causal Inference (Rubin 1974; Pearl 2009b, 2009a; Pearl, Glymour, and Jewell 2016), Principled Data Processing (Ball 2016a, 2016b; Barrett 2022), and Bayesian Inference (Bayes 1763; Jaynes 2003). By enshrining the principles and practices of the ‘foundational cycle,’ researchers ensure that transparency and reproducibility is woven into each critical juncture of the research project – this permits other researchers to comprehend and reconstruct all aspects contributing to the published findings. The first of the dissertation’s four substantive chapters contributes an account of the development of causal inference with a particular focus on the role the ‘graphical’ paradigm played in motivating the development (and, later, dismantling) of causal methods in quantitative sociology. It also provides a brief description of Judea Pearl’s theory of inferred causation (Pearl 2009b) and argues that quantitative sociology should adopt it as the baseline model for the purposes of causal transparency and reproducibility. The second substantive chapter – which builds directly on that of the first – addresses a gap in extant sociological literature about the prevalence of explicit causal methodology in the field. This chapter contributes a review of the causal methods employed in the quantitative articles published in ‘top’ sociological journals in the year 2022 (see: Jacobs 2016). The review, which examined 283 quantitative sociological articles (out of a total 574 in the review’s corpus), found that – as judged by the criteria articulated in Pearl (2009b) – only 5 among them were ‘causally adequate.’ The third substantive chapter’s contribution takes the form of a software-based implementation of Patrick Ball’s Principled Data Processing framework (Ball 2016b, 2016a), which is designed to permit the development and maintenance of transparent, reproducible data processing pipelines, even in the context of large, distributed, collaborative, and technically-complex research efforts. The software package, titled pdpp (Browne et al. 2021), is an accessibility-oriented iteration on Ball’s original framework. The fourth and final substantive chapter makes two contributions: the first is the development and articulation of an ‘ameliorative’ class of argumentation designed to address gaps in Gelman’s typology of arguments in favour of Bayesian inference (Gelman 2008) – extant modes of argumentation focus on ‘winning’ the debate between Frequentism and Bayesianism, whereas ‘ameliorative’ arguments seek to address Frequentists’ concerns and trepidations about the Bayesian paradigm or the transition thereto. The second contribution is an ameliorative argument reified as a software package titled pyKrusch (Browne 2021), which automates the creation of – and builds upon the functionality of – John Kruschke’s Bayesian dependency structure diagrams (Kruschke 2014).
Exploring the Care-Control Nexus Through Police Monitoring of Vulnerable Groups: A Case Study of Project Lifesaver
(University of Waterloo, 2023-12-13) Shore, Krystle
Contemporary surveillance practices increasingly pursue the dual objectives of ‘care’ and ‘control.’ For instance, governments increasingly deploy surveillance to protect the health and welfare of those being monitored, though such practices tend to be coercive and prioritize implicit agendas. Thus, it is important to scrutinize emerging forms of ‘protective’ surveillance. This dissertation conducts a qualitative case study of ‘Project Lifesaver,’ a police surveillance program that involves equipping people with cognitive differences who wander (e.g., people who have dementia) with electronic monitoring bracelets so that first responders can track them if they become lost. This work explores how Project Lifesaver is designed, rationalized, and used, and the implications of this surveillance for individuals and society. Using an abductive approach, this study mobilizes Foucauldian theory to illustrate how surveillance logics are (re)shaping social practices. To achieve these aims, this study encompasses content and thematic analyses of a variety of data sources including Project Lifesaver marketing material, observations from international Project Lifesaver events, interviews with caregivers and first responders, and police documents obtained through Freedom of Information requests. Project Lifesaver is rationalized through constructions of ‘risk’ as a necessary protective measure for people who wander and, even more so, as a source of ‘peace of mind’ for their caregivers. Yet, in practice, the program operates primarily as a form of social control, undermining the autonomy and personhood of people with cognitive differences and placing the responsibility of managing their behaviour squarely on their caregivers. Notably, the program seems inherently aligned with police perspectives, treating both wandering behaviour and caregiver program compliance as matters of public security. Moreover, Project Lifesaver appears tailored to suit a distinct policing agenda that is largely unrelated to the protection of vulnerable populations, serving instead as a tool for reducing police operational costs and improving their public legitimacy. These findings prompt reflection on the tensions inherent to how protective state surveillance is framed and how it operates, and the interests prioritized when support for vulnerable groups is entrusted to the police. The state’s expanded use of electronic monitoring, from a punitive security mechanism to a form of population protection, transcends mere repurposing of carceral technology; it signifies the infiltration of carceral logic into the state’s provision of support for those in need. In the context of Project Lifesaver, this manifests in a coercive care practice that objectifies people with cognitive differences and deputizes their caregivers as agents of social control. Simultaneously, it extends the reach of an increasingly militarized and self-serving police apparatus into public health and welfare domains. These outcomes, however, are obscured by the ‘caring’ elements of the surveillance, which position it as in the best interests of all who engage with it. Thus, this study provides an empirical example of how, through protective police surveillance, population care and control not only coexist but collapse into one another.
Victim Services’ Implementation of Mobile Tracking Systems for Victims of High-Risk Gender-Based Violence Cases in Ontario
(University of Waterloo, 2023-07-19) Buehlow, Emily
Since 2012, Ontario Victim Services providers have been a leading force in implementing Mobile Tracking Systems, a technological device some victim advocates and law enforcement officials believe will reduce risks in gender-based violence cases. The Mobile Tracking System resembles a small pager-like device that clients carry at all times. When activated in a high-risk gender-based violence emergency, the device aims to facilitate timely law enforcement assistance by emitting a GPS tracking signal and alerting first responders to a ‘Priority 1’ call. Mobile Tracking Systems have undergone a rapid increase in attention by the media, government, service providers, and wider public as the devices are perceived to be a safety-enabling technology for gender-based violence cases. Mounting calls to fund such technologies have emerged in light of pandemic safety measures and during a 2022 Coroner’s Inquest held to investigate a triple femicide in Renfrew County, Ontario. In this Inquest, the Jury recommended that Mobile Tracking System technologies be funded by the Government of Ontario, while recently in Quebec, 41 million dollars was invested into GPS tracking technologies for gender-based violence cases. Despite gaining substantial traction in public and media discourse, Mobile Tracking Systems have been underrepresented in scholarly literature. To respond to this gap, this thesis employs qualitative methods to examine Mobile Tracking Systems in the context of gender-based violence cases in Ontario. In particular, through the examination of 91 textual documents and 10 semi-structured interviews with service providers involved in case referral and the administration of Mobile Tracking Systems, this study traces the history, development, and use of Mobile Tracking System devices in the context of gender-based violence cases in Ontario, and investigates the impact of panic button alarms on criminal justice responses to gender-based violence. To examine Mobile Tracking Systems, this thesis draws on relevant theoretical frameworks in the fields of Science and Technology Studies and critical perspectives on law and criminal justice. By tracing the development of panic button alarms to their current use in Ontario, this thesis reveals a shift toward pro-carceral safety measures that embrace technology as a perceived tool to reduce gender-based violence. As this thesis details, approaching safety work in this manner not only reflects, but also perpetuates particular assumptions about victims that pressure them to align their behaviour with the goals of the criminal legal system. The thesis argues that designing and administering a technological tool for victims of gender-based violence that centers the criminal legal system has direct impacts on victims when seeking support. The findings of this project have implications for Ontario Victim Services providers, police services in Ontario, and other agencies that support victims of gender-based violence cases, as they draw attention to how the implementation of panic button alarms as a perceived safety-enabling technology directly impact victims accessing support services for gender-based violence cases. Finally, the study’s findings can inform policy and practice related to the GPS tracking technologies in the context of mounting calls to fund panic button alarm technologies in Ontario.
Pressuring Others: Examining the Motivations Behind Deviant Instigation and the Strategies That Accompany Them
(University of Waterloo, 2023-06-30) Ryan, Ashley
Research on the motivations behind peer pressure and deviance has been close to non-existent. This dissertation presents a mixed methods study that was conducted exploring the motivations and strategies behind deviant instigation. In phase one of this research, semi-structured interviews (n=40) were conducted with people who have encouraged others to either steal or use alcohol or drugs in a context that was against the law. Phase two of this research tested the main motivations and strategies resulting from phase one in an online survey (n=214) with people residing in Canada and the United States alongside a wide variety of acts and other possible motivations and strategies. Although multiple motivations and strategies were used by people pressuring others, a few consistently emerged. Specifically, the most common motivations for why people encouraged others to break the law included seeking an improved experience for themselves in the moment and wanting to help the other person. The most common strategy for enacting this pressure was providing reassurance (e.g., “You’ll be fine!”). This dissertation will discuss this research in depth as well future directions and implications.
Bridging the Soft-Skills Gap between Canadian Post-Secondary Education and Employment through Work-Integrated Learning: A Case Study on Arts Students
(University of Waterloo, 2023-06-20) Dreesha, Mrittika
Post-secondary institutions in Canada are currently under the microscope as the unemployment rate among new graduates continue to rise. Contemporary sociologists have suggested that work-integrated learning (WIL) can be a powerful tool to reverse the rising trends in unemployment rate by helping students develop soft-skills, gain relevant work experience, and apply classroom knowledge in real-world situations (Martin & Rouleau, 2020). Researchers have also highlighted that although WIL programs can be an effective pedagogical approach in all fields of study, there is a heightened importance for Arts students to participate in WIL (Li, 2016) as this specific group tends to encounter greater barriers in terms of finding employment (Yamamoto, 2014; Zeid et al., 2015). Despite the importance of WIL, there is a lack of Canadian qualitative research that documents the perspectives of Ontario Arts students regarding WIL programs. This is highly imperative as Arts degree-holders are often under-or-unemployed post-graduation (Zeid et al., 2015), particularly in Ontario which has one of the highest unemployment rates among graduates. To bridge this critical gap within the landscape of higher education literature on WIL, I have conducted a qualitative case study entailing 50 semi-structured interviews of Arts students from world’s largest co-op institution—the University of Waterloo, which serves as a strong exemplar of WIL as a successful education model on both national and global levels (University of Waterloo, 2023b). Using NVivo software data analysis techniques, I have answered four research questions which involved investigating the perceptions of WIL among Arts students, the key benefits and transferable soft-skills gained through WIL in Arts programs, the common challenges associated with WIL in Arts disciplines, and the WIL-related policies/practices that Arts students recommend to post-secondary institutions. Grounding this project on human capital theory, situated learning theory, and credentialism, the main findings reveal that when the value of WIL experience for Arts versus non-Arts programs are compared, students who are pursuing non-conventional Arts majors such as Accounting, Finance, and Economics consider the importance of WIL to be same or similar for all fields, whereas students from traditional Arts programs such as Sociology, Psychology, and History predict that WIL experience can be a higher economic investment and a larger evidence of competencies for Arts degree-holders as they are more likely to experience greater difficulties in the job market due to Arts professions being stigmatized. Furthermore, the non co-op students voiced their concerns regarding insufficient exposure and awareness of WIL in post-secondary institutions which resulted in their lack of participation, whereas the co-op students expressed that there are limited field-specific WIL placements and low departmental/faculty support which made their process of seeking and securing co-op positions challenging. Both groups of students perceive that there is a shortage of WIL opportunities within the Faculty of Arts, and thus, they emphasized on the increasing need to make WIL accessible for all Arts students which can contribute towards their human capital growth, graduate employability, and ultimately improve their school-to-work transition while bridging the soft-skills gap between post-secondary education and employment.
Peer Language Use and Criminal Decision-Making: An Experimental Study Testing Framing Effects of Peer Messages
(University of Waterloo, 2023-05-25) Dain, Natanela
Criminal decision-making tends to occur in social contexts. There is evidence that the decision to commit a crime is often preceded by verbal communication, however, relatively little is known about the mechanisms through which conversations affect offending decisions. In this study, we applied rational choice theory, prospect theory, and need to belong theory to investigate the role of peer language use on offending decisions. We tested the hypothesis that peer messages framed as social gains and social losses would increase the likelihood and perceived worth of engaging in criminal activity. Moreover, based on prospect theory’s loss aversion principle, we hypothesized that this increase would be greater for peer messages framed as social losses. We recruited 313 North American young adults (ages 18-24) to participate in an online randomized experiment. We found that peer verbal prompts framed as social gains and social losses increased the likelihood of stealing. Although this increase was not larger for social loss framed messages, our results showed that social loss aversion, or the fear of losing belonging, significantly predicted all offending outcomes. Moreover, the effects of social loss framing on likelihood and perceived worth of stealing were significantly mediated by fear of losing acceptance. This study substantiates that peer language use plays a significant role in offending decisions and provides support for the social loss aversion principle. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Life After Harm: Exploring the Impact of a Restorative Justice Peer Support Group for People Who Have Sexually Offended
(University of Waterloo, 2023-04-25) Leclaire, Mackenzie
In recent decades, restorative justice approaches such as victim-offender conferences and circle processes have emerged as a response to people who have caused sexual harm. The traditional legal responses to sexual offending are designed to deter, incapacitate, and rehabilitate. Restorative justice, conversely, is fundamentally concerned with fulfilling obligations, meeting needs, and repairing relationships. Relative to other offending populations, people who have sexually offended face numerous challenges including intense feelings of shame, stigma, and isolation. A restorative justice approach, which values respect and advocacy for all persons and prioritizes community, can help reduce negative emotional states, build accountability and prosocial skills, and insulate people who have caused sexual harm from risk factors that could otherwise contribute to the maintenance of offending behaviour. Although a wealth of literature on Circles of Support and Accountability exists, there is limited research on other community- based transitional restorative justice approaches; particularly non-encounter programs that do not directly involve victims of sexual harm. Additionally, there is little research that describes the impact of spaces involving peer support within non-custodial settings for this specific offending population. This case study seeks to address these gaps by capturing the lived experiences of formerly incarcerated group members involved in a community-based, restorative justice-focused peer support group for people who have sexually offended. This study relies on semi-structured interviews with five support group members and two service coordinators from a grassroots restorative justice organization in Ontario, Canada, as well as an observation of a support group session. Specifically, this thesis connects its findings to broader RJ ethos by exploring the effectiveness of the support group in helping group members fulfill their obligations, meeting their needs, and repairing their relationships. Three main findings are revealed. First, the support group provided a safe passage through which group members were able to create accountability. Restorative justice values and norms were mobilized to help group members understand and address the contributing and resulting harms of their sexual offences to prevent further harm. Second, peer interactions in a positive social space facilitated the development of social capital, which helped group members navigate various emotional and structural challenges associated with their reintegration, as well as cultivate a sense of community. Finally, the support group provided an avenue for healing after experiencing a carceral pipeline of marginalization. The criminalization faced by the participants was antithetical to the conditions required for them to prevent further offending. Group members found solace in RJ and through continued participation in the support group, they were able to realize a fulfilling life after harm was possible. Finding hope led them down a journey of personal transformation which positively impacted their relationships outside of the support group and strengthened their ties to their communities. This study concludes with several considerations for policy and practice as well as recommendations for future research.
Developing a Community: Qualitative Approaches to Understanding the Role of Community Engagement in Gameswork
(University of Waterloo, 2023-04-24) Perks, Matthew
Through multiple qualitative approaches, this dissertation contributes to understanding the increased role of addressing, engaging, and managing online communities in gameswork. It pays particular attention to how individual actors – such as game developers, content creators, community managers, and game journalists – collectively react to shifting industry trends that prioritize community engagement and building. It contributes to the literature on games by highlighting the experiences and perspectives of those working within the industry – such as community managers and game developers – as their industry undergoes significant shifts in priorities. In addition, it contributes to media and platform studies by examining the impacts on the production and consumption of media when audiences demand more intimate and direct access to creators. It pays specific attention to the workers who act as the filter between those who produce and those who consume. This dissertation draws together four individual projects with distinct methodologies, research partners, and questions to illustrate the impacts of this shift. Chapter 2 examines critical games journalism to show how a lack of investment in community engagement leads to a breakdown of the community. Chapter 3 uses qualitative interviews and observation of drag content creators to show how they grapple with building their online communities amidst changing platform dynamics. Chapter 4 uses qualitative interviews with game developers to highlight how they choose to or choose not to work with content creators as they adapt to new priorities in their industry. Chapter 5 uses qualitative interviews with community managers to examine how their work has changed, continues to change, and leaves lingering anxieties and questions about the future of their work. These individual projects are tied together through the complementary theme of servitization (Vandermerwe & Rada, 1988; Weststar & Dubois, 2022), which captures the trend of traditionally individually produced, packaged, and consumed products moving to a system of continuous access and consumption. As gameswork produces more products designed as a service for consumers, it changes the needs and expectations of gaming communities. I argue that this increased emphasis on community changes priorities for those working within creative and cultural industries that have implications for developers, community managers, and players. As these priorities change, new concerns arise regarding the working conditions, career, and educational pathways for those in community-focused roles.
Surveilling Queerness and Queering Surveillance: The Techno-Social Making of Queer Identity in the US and Canada, 1939-Present.
(University of Waterloo, 2023-03-22) Schram, Brian
This dissertation positions itself at the intersection of two disparate areas of study: Queer theory and surveillance studies. It aims to tease out the ways that technologies of surveillance and Queer lifeways evolved alongside one another, and how the acts of watching and being watched sculpted the range of ontological possibilities that Queerness has, both historically and currently, indicated. As a text, the dissertation itself is divided into three main articles, each exploring a different facet of the mutually constitutive relationship between Queerness and surveillance. This dissertation begins with a broad historical examination of the ways that surveillance—in the forms of various technologies of apprehension, delineation, and abjection—encircled a set of labile and nascent notions of sexual identity. Additionally, I argue that surveillance and sexuality converge most productively (and disastrously) at moments of great historical transformation and geopolitical upheaval: the Second World War, the Cold War, and its proxies. Next, I investigate the ways in which residual institutionalization—represented by the liminal space of national borders and boundaries—operates on sexual and gender identity vis-à-vis the deployment of surveillant technologies that aim to transform sex and gender into objects of scientific measurement and scrutiny. Here, the border becomes a space of gendered performance wherein one’s perceived gender identity is compelled to align with documentary and “scientific” evidence. The implications of the systematic, technological probing of sex and gender at the border span far beyond the border itself. Indeed, as Toby Beauchamp (2018) has shown, gender identity and gender performance exist under a moving mesh of surveillance that is continuous with questions of national security and geopolitics. Additionally, I demonstrate how the surveillant dynamics in place at the border can be leveraged in protest of the cis/hetero/homonormative standards they enforce. Finally, I explore the effects of deinstitutionalized, corporate surveillance on the ontological status of Queerness as a radical injunction against the status quo. Taking Eve Sedgwick’s notion of the Queer as that which exists “in the open mesh of possibility, gaps, overlaps, dissonances, and resonances” (Sedgwick 1993: 8), I show how highly granular data extraction and analysis techniques foreclose upon a definition of the Queer that locates itself in the negative—in relation to what it is not or what it is in excess of—rendering the Queer unable to survive the transformation into capital implicit within a surveillant regime aimed at producing novel revenue streams. Taken together, these articles demonstrate how Queerness, by way of its articulation with various surveillant technologies, shares valences with broad, geopolitical and biopolitical phenomena, including national security, biosecurity, warfare, and statecraft. It also demonstrates the ways in which sex, sexuality, and gender have remained a focal point for the global operation of power, elaborating on Sedgwick’s (2008) assertation that any sufficiently advanced society must have a theory of homosexuality. This dissertation makes clear the ways that the surveillance of sex, sexuality, and gender has intensified, far beyond the scope of Foucault’s analysis, through the rapid periods of technologies and social transformation brought on by the Second World War, the Cold War, and the so-called Internet Revolution. At these points of transformation and cultural upheaval, I trace the ways that surveillance and sexuality have both evolved through time as a consistent dyad (although sharing valences with many other forces). Both sexuality and surveillance exert a force on one another, each necessitating and initiating the shape one another can take.
Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region: Adapting Feminist Organization Theory to Daily Practice
(University of Waterloo, 1998) Aubry, Christine G.
As a volunteer with Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region (PPWR), I observed an organization that was providing services in a feminist context. PPWR is a feminist organization: a goal of the agency is to reduce gender power differences. Further, PPWR's participants work within an atmosphere of consensus and support. Because PPWR adheres to central feminist values and principles, some feminist organization theorists would argue that PPWR could, and should, follow the model of feminist consensual organizing. However, PPWR is also a service organization (like many bureaucratic organizations). The goals of the organization make structure and hierarchy necessary for goal achievement. In this thesis, I examine how PPWR reconciles the need for structure and hierarchy with feminist values and principles. The goal of this research is to examine what is unique about PPWR's organizational structure. This was an exploratory case study. My position as an insider with the organization allowed for qualitative data collection through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Using organizational models found in traditional and feminist organization theory, I examine the organizational characteristics of PPWR. I explore the reasons why PPWR is hierarchically structured despite adherence to feminist principles. I also look at some of the dilemmas of consensual organizing practice which are particularly relevant to service organizations. Although PPWR is becoming increasingly structured, I argue that the organization is not likely to experience goal displacement. I examine internal and external characteristics of the organization which reinforce participants' commitment to organizational goals. The controversial nature of PPWR's services and the organization's social movement orientation counter-balance the problems which some feminists have attributed to the traditional bureaucracy.
Canadian Religion in Global Perspective
(2022-01-04) Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah
The goal of this report is to provide a concise high-quality descriptive portrait of key religiosity indicators in 81 countries from 2017-2020 European Values Survey (EVS) and World Values Survey (WVS) data, with a special focus on Canada. Between 2017-2020, the EVS and the WVS ran their 2017 and 7th waves respectively in 81 countries. Adults 18 years or older living in private residences in each country were selected using simple and multistage random sampling techniques (slight variation in sampling procedures between each country). These respondents were administered the master survey questionnaire face-to-face, over the phone or online. The survey questionnaire was administered in the language of choice of the respondent, for languages found among 5% or more of European national populations, and among 15% or more of other national populations. Table A.1 in Appendix A of this report contains the year of data collection, survey and sample size for each of the 81 countries included in the EVS 2017 and WVS7. For the EVS 2017 and WVS7, a series of questions were asked on religious beliefs, behaviours and belonging, notably on the following key indicators included in this report: salience of religion in life, frequency of religious service attendance and prayer, belief in God and life after death, and religious affiliation. Canada took part in the 2020 WVS: a rare occasion for data collection on key religiosity indicators in the country, and to compare the Canadian situation with many other countries in a large cross-national dataset. A special thank you to the Canadian WVS principal investigator Guy Lachapelle from Concordia University and Léger for the Canadian WVS 2020 data collection.
Deviant peer preferences: A simplified approach to account for peer selection effects
(Taylor & Francis, 2020) Gallupe, Owen; Boman, John H. IV; Nash, Rebecca; Castro, Erin D.
The goal of this study is to present and validate a simple method for accounting for peer selection on offending based on a respondent’s self-reported preferences for friends who engage in criminal behavior. Using primary panel data (n=611), having a preference for peers who offend (the measure of peer selection) relates positively and significantly to offending behavior. The selection measure, which carries the advantage of being closely aligned to criminological theory, renders the peer offending / personal offending relationship nonsignificant. Our selection variables also outperform a more traditional means of capturing peer selection effects.
“Are you the real police?” “No. We’re the campus police.” An examination of the way Ontario Special Constables govern risk on post-secondary campuses
(University of Waterloo, 2021-06-17) Cook, Katie
This dissertation examines the role of special constables on Ontario post-secondary campuses and where they are positioned in relation to the broad range of state and non-state law enforcement entities in Canada. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with department heads, alongside a detailed survey and focus groups with Ontario campus special constables, my research examines the everyday work and perspectives of a highly understudied group. Under neoliberal governance, there has been a growing reliance on non-state law enforcement entities to adopt roles that have traditionally been filled by police. Alongside this, we have witnessed an increasing demand for risk management due to growing private property ownership. As a result, studies that investigate the work of these groups offer important insight into their experiences and what is needed to ensure they can effectively manage risk in place of the police. Despite this, research examining the perspectives of non-state law enforcement is limited. Furthermore, there are even fewer studies on campus law enforcement and essentially no scholarly attention has been paid to those who work in this role on Canadian post-secondary campuses. This study addresses this gap by offering insight into the background, daily work, and experiences of Ontario campus special constables through a mixed methods design which allows for the production of information on a number of relevant topics from a broad range of participants. Based on my findings, I argue that much like other private policing entities, neoliberal processes have contributed to the role of special constables increasingly overlapping with that of the public police and, as a result, they play an important part in keeping campuses safe. At the same time, my study shows that this development has occurred to an even greater extent with special constables as a result of the general shift toward the professionalization of campus law enforcement, as well as the growing need to manage various risks on campus, particularly in light of increased media portrayal of serious crimes at universities and colleges. Moreover, despite the police-like work special constables are expected to perform on campus, my research indicates that, in line with the experiences of other non-state law enforcement, legitimacy challenges remain an issue. Although these issues appear to occur less often with special constables, students, staff, faculty, and other members of law enforcement are often unaware of the authority granted to special constables and in some cases, this situation has resulted in negative and escalated interactions between parties. Thus, this study contributes to this field of research by offering an explanation and potential solutions to address legitimacy challenges among private law enforcement. Consequently, I argue that institutions should increase awareness surrounding the role and authorities of special constables and that policymakers should take steps to enhance their standardization and training to improve the perception of this group as legitimate members of law enforcement. Additionally, given their ability to fully engage in the community policing model and offer institution-specific support at a lower cost (compared with municipal police), the work of special constables could be used by all post-secondary institutions across Canada to protect the campus community and ensure that all students, regardless of location, background, or school, are afforded the same level of security. This dissertation highlights the way special constables have the ability to manage both actual and perceived risk through the use of community-based policing on campus and therefore are valuable assets to the institutions that employ them. These findings have implications beyond post-secondary campuses in Ontario. They reinforce the importance of effective private law enforcement entities in a time of reduced state involvement under neoliberal governance and high demand for risk management among members of the public as well as the need for further research to ensure optimal performance and public acceptance of them.
The Weight of Fitting the Description: Using Critical Race Theory to Explore Black and Indigenous Youth Perceptions of the Police
(University of Waterloo, 2021-05-26) Wortley, Kanika
Effective law enforcement is contingent on public support. A growing volume of research examining public perceptions of the police suggest that trust and confidence in the police is very low among youth and specific racialized populations. However, there is a gap in Canadian research that examines the complexities of the relations between racialized youth and the police. The following dissertation employs a mixed-methods approach to explore youth perceptions of the police in Canada. With a focus on a racially diverse sample of Black, Indigenous and White youth, the study aims to examine whether there are racial differences with respect to confidence in law enforcement. Using Statistics Canada’s 2014 General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization (cycle 28), the first study specifically examines Black, Indigenous and White youth’s attitude toward the police. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses suggest that race plays a significant role in identifying Canadian youth's perception of the police. Thus, in Canada, Black and Indigenous youth have lower confidence in the police compared to their White counterparts. Furthermore, a multivariate analysis suggests that gender, geographic location and previous victimization also have an impact on confidence in police. The results of these findings go against Canada’s international reputation as a tolerant multicultural society. However, due to formal and informal bans on the collection of race-based data, little is known about racialized youth perceptions of police within Canada. Thus, to have a better understanding as to why Black and Indigenous youth report negative perceptions of the police, the second study employs the critical race methodology of composite counter storytelling. This approach will highlight the perspectives of Black and Indigenous youth in Toronto, Canada’s largest metropolitan city, and explore their experiences with law enforcement. This aims to counter Canada’s international status as a multicultural utopia and demonstrate how legal criminal justice actors, such as the police, perpetuate the marginalized status of Black and Indigenous youth through the process of criminalization. Continuing a critical race perspective, the final study explores the impact of both negative experiences and perceptions of the police among Black and Indigenous youth in Canada. The findings suggest that as a result of perceived racial bias within policing, Black and Indigenous youth are less likely to report personal violent victimization to law enforcement officials. As a result, I argue that in Canada, due to systemic racial bias within policing, both Black and Indigenous youth are at an increased risk of violent victimization, and thus furthering their vulnerability and marginalization within society. The concluding chapter explores the implications of these findings and policy recommendations for Canadian police agencies.
Review: Julian Go, ‘Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory’
(Theory, Culture & Society, 2021-04-22) Gill, Jessica
In Julian Go’s pathbreaking text, Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory, he seeks to bridge the seemingly unreconcilable gap between social theory and postcolonial thought. Go begins by arguing that that social theory emerged at the center of power within the heart of the imperial episteme, influenced by Eurocentric thinking; whereas, postcolonial theory developed from the margins of empire through the voices and perspectives of colonized populations espousing anti-imperial sentiments. How can these two divergent theoretical approaches work together to understand the social world? Drawing on powerful illustrative examples with strong theoretical grounding, Go elegantly brings these fields together—proposing a new wave of postcolonial thought.

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