RESUMO
Public police now use online and social media spaces as forums for communication. Drawing from discourse and semiotic analysis, and contributing to literature on police image management, we analyze police Instagram communications from five Canadian cities. Focusing on public police services' Instagram posts, which are more indebted to visual communication than Twitter and Facebook, we examine the ways police communications frame community and diversity. Arguing that these communications resemble the fantastical authenticity found in other Instagram communications, we show how police mobilize images of community and diversity on Instagram to create positive affective relations with community. We argue that these communications amplify policing myths and operate to enhance police legitimacy. In the discussion, we assess what our findings mean for literatures on public police social media communications and policing myths.
RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed large segments of the global population to the experience of restricted freedoms. In Canada, COVID-19-related measures led to a decrease of mobility within the country, prohibiting access to public and private spaces for prolonged periods of time. This study addresses the effects of the pandemic and related restrictions on views of imprisonment, drawing on a sample of individuals who took part in a tour of the HI Ottawa Jail Hostel (N = 102) in pre- and peri-COVID-19 contexts. The results provide some support for the hypothesis that the uncertainty and existential threat brought about by the pandemic may have contributed to more stringent support for imprisonment and increased punitiveness. However, the results are limited by the small sample size and sample composition. Future directions for research on the impact of the pandemic on public views of imprisonment are discussed.
La pandémie de COVID-19 a eu pour effet d'exposer une grande partie de la population mondiale à vivre avec des restrictions de libertés individuelles. Au Canada, les mesures liées à la COVID-19 ont entraîné une diminution de la mobilité à l'intérieur du pays, limitant donc l'accès aux espaces publics et privés durant des périodes prolongées. Cette étude porte sur les effets de la pandémie et des restrictions connexes sur les perceptions de l'emprisonnement. L'étude s'appuie sur un échantillon de personnes qui ont participé à une visite guidée du HI Ottawa Jail Hostel (N = 102) dans des contextes pré-COVID-19 et durant la pandémie de COVID-19. Les résultats soutiennent, dans une certaine mesure, l'hypothèse que l'incertitude et la menace existentielle provoquées par la pandémie pourraient avoir contribué à une perspective plus sévère face à l'emprisonnement et à une punitivité accrue. Cependant, ces résultats sont limités par la petite taille et la composition de l'échantillon de l'étude. De futurs chantiers de recherche sur l'impact de la pandémie sur l'opinion publique face à l'emprisonnement sont discutés.
Assuntos
COVID-19 , Prisioneiros , Canadá/epidemiologia , Humanos , Pandemias , PrisõesRESUMO
This article examines the process of rebuilding institutional trust in the Canadian blood system in the aftermath of the tainted blood scandal. Our focus is the policy of lifetime deferral from donating blood for men who have sex with men. Drawing on findings from interviews with representatives of Health Canada's Expert Advisory Committee on Blood Regulation, the National Liaison Committee, Canadian Blood Services, and blood consumer groups, we demonstrate how claims making about rights, discrimination, science, and risk contribute to policy continuity. We also examine the link between policy continuity and the management of reputational risk.
