Dérives proposes to immerse students in the psyche—possibly the most intimate of things—and to follow, almost day by day, people who are both fragile and resistant as they walk a tightrope. People for whom everything could change at any moment.
These accounts of investigations, all on the subject of drifting, are rooted in fact. Stories of setbacks and recoveries have been meticulously documented to form the psychiatric journeys of six people—four women and two men—from French-speaking Ontario. 
Dérives is the brainchild of two minds—one travelling kilometre after kilometre to meet witnesses, the other buried in medical records scrutinizing individual files. Their approach is based on historical methods: searches, encounters and history. 
This book will be of interest to researchers and students in sociology, social and cultural anthropology, psychology, social work, and history, but also to any inquisitive minds. 
Published in French.

Marie LeBel, historienne spécialiste en histoire intellectuelle est professeure au programme interdisciplinaire de l’Université de Hearst. Ses recherches sur les intellectuels et les créateurs franco-ontariens tout comme ses travaux en histoire des services de santé mentale en région nord-ontarienne appréhendent les itinéraires individuels et collectifs comme témoins de mouvances sociales plus larges. 

Marie LeBel is a historian specialized in intellectual history and a professor in the interdisciplinary program at Université de Hearst. LeBel’s research on Franco-Ontarian intellectuals and creatives, as well as her work on the history of mental health services in Northern Ontario, draws on individual and collective stories as evidence of broader social movements. 

Marie LeBel's profile page

Marie-Claude Thifault, historienne spécialiste des institutions psychiatriques québécoises et canadiennes et des soins de santé mentale, est professeure titulaire de la Faculté des sciences de la santé de l’Université d’Ottawa et titulaire de la Chaire de recherche sur la francophonie canadienne en santé.

Marie-Claude Thifault is a historian specialized in psychiatric institutions and mental health care in Quebec and Canada. Thifault is a full professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa and holds the Canadian Francophonie Research Chair in health. 

Marie-Claude Thifault's profile page