Furgal, C.2006-07-282006-07-2819991999http://hdl.handle.net/10012/439The purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of decision making processes and decision making capacity at the community level. It studies the decision making processes and components of decision making capacity within Inuit communities and organization and links in the surrounding decision making system by investigating the issue of contaminants in country founds in the community of Nain, Labrador. It identifies the components related to community decision making capacity in order to do be able to identify existing capacities and areas of needed attention. It is argued that a community's decision making ability is characterized by a set of components, and that communities exhibiting strength in a number of these components are flexible, and able to adapt and make decisions more effectively in complex, rapidly evolving environments. To investigate the selected case, a conceptual and analytical framework was developed from theory and practice in the fields of information and knowledge systems, community organization and planning, and benefit and risk management. From the conceptual framework, sub-components were developed in an analytical structure through which the research examined the decision making cases and components of community capacity. Document review, key-informant interviews, open-ended survey interviews, and participant observations were utilized to collect qualitative information on the decision making context, and three case decisions related to contaminants in country foods. The six components of community decision making capacity (institutional, organizational/coordinative, decision processes, participatory, information/communication, and resources) synthesized from these areas of literature were not mutually exclusive. The results show that links and areas of overlap between them and their impacts on the community's ability to make decisions and act in the decision making environment. This thesis shows how a level of competency in a number of these "capacity areas" supports the community's efforts towards a greater degree of self-determination. The framework developed and utilized in this thesis is assessed, and recommendations to strengthen the community's decision making capacity, and for future research in this field are made.application/pdf13254827 bytesapplication/pdfenCopyright: 1999, Furgal, C.. All rights reserved.Harvested from Collections CanadaDoctoral Thesis