Open Journal Systems

Environmental-Community Psychology in the Disaster Research: The Importance of Social-Spatial Connections

Héctor Berroeta, Laís Pinto de Carvalho

Article ID: 1403
Vol 6, Issue 2, 2021, Article identifier:

VIEWS - 455 (Abstract) 435 (PDF)

Abstract

The psychosocial literature in the context of socio-natural disasters mainly focuses on the psychological consequences of the affected people, while ignoring the psychosocial environmental factors. Here, we emphasize the relevance of community environmental psychology to analyze the subjective aspects of the relationship with the place and the community relations of the localities affected by disasters. Therefore, we propose a conceptual framework of the categories of community psychology and environmental psychology, which are related to the study of the social spatial connection in what we call socio-natural disasters. This view is illustrated by the results of a study using a hybrid approach that describes how people living in communities affected by earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in four locations in Chile. In a non-probabilistic convenience sample (n = 628), the responses to the scale of location attachment, location identity, residence satisfaction, community awareness and citizen participation were analyzed, as well as the narration of 17 focus groups (n = 117) on the meaning of public space construction. The conclusion is that the combination of environmental and community psychology expands the understanding of the elements of power and territorial disputes, and highlights the psychosocial defects in post disaster reconstruction solutions.


Keywords

Socio-natural disasters; Community environmental psychology; Place attachment; Residential satisfaction; Community public space

Full Text:

PDF



References

1. Maskrey A. (Comp.) Los Desastres no son Naturales (Disasters Are not Natural). Ciudad de Panamá, Panamá: La Red (Red de Estudios Sociales en Prevención de Desastres en América Latina); 1993.

2. Wisner B, Blaikie P, Cannon T, et al. At Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s Vulnerability and Disasters. (2nd edn.). New York: Routledge; 2003.

3. Altman I, Rogoff B. World Views in Psychology: Trait, Interactional, Organismic and Transactional Perspectives. In: Stokols D, Altman I (editors). Handbook of Environmental Psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons; 1987. p. 7-40.

4. Bonanno GA, Galea S, Bucciarelli A, et al. Psychological Resilience after Disaster: New York City in the Aftermath of the September 11th Terrorist Attack. Psychological Science 2006; 17: 181-186. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01682.x.

5. García Martínez FE, Reyes Reyes A, Cova Solar F. Severidad del Trauma, Optimismo, Crecimiento Postraumático y Bienestar en Sobrevivientes de un Desastre Natural (Trauma Severity, Optimism, Post-Traumatic Growth and Well-being in Survivors of a Natural Disaster). Universitas Psychologica 2014; 13: 575-584. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.UPSY13-2.stop.

6. Norris FH, Friedman MJ, Watson PJ. 60,000 Disaster Victims Speak: Part II. Summary and Implications of the Disaster Mental Health Research. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes 2002; 65: 240-260. https://doi.org/10.1521/psyc.65.3.240.20169.

7. Páez D, Basabe N, Bosco S, et al. Afrontamiento y Violencia Colectiva (Coping and Collective Violence). In: Páez D, Martín Beristain C, González JL, et al. (editors). Superando la Violencia Colectiva y Construyendo Cultura de paz. Madrid, España: Fundamentos; 2011. p. 279-309.

8. Sanders S, Bowie SL, Bowie YD. Lessons Learned on Forced Relocation of Older Adults: The Impact of Hurricane Andrew on Health, Mental Health, and Social Support of Public Housing Residents. Journal of Gerontological Social Work 2004; 40(4): 23-35. https://doi.org/10.1300/J083v40n04_03.

9. Boğaç C. Place Attachment in a Foreign Settlement. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2009; 29: 267-278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.01.001.

10. Brown B, Perkins DD. Disruptions in Place Attachment. In: Altman I, Low S (editors). Place Attachment. New York: Plenum Press; 1992. p. 279-304. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8753-4_13.

11. Fried MA. Grieving for a Lost Home: Psychological Costs of Relocation. In: Duhl LJ (editor). Urban Renewal: The Record and the Controversy. New York: Basic Books; 1963. p. 359-379.

12. Manzo LC. Exploring the Shadow Side: Place Attachment in the Context of Stigma, Displacement, and Social Housing. In: Manzo LC, Devine-Wright P (editors). Place Attachment: Advances in theory, Methods and Applications. New York: Routledge; 2014. p. 178-190.

13. Berroeta H, Pinto de Carvalho L, Di Masso A. Apego al Lugar: Una Aproximación Psicoambiental a la Vinculación Afectiva con el Entorno en Procesos de Reconstrucción del Hábitat Residencial (Attachment to Place: A Psycho-environmental Approach to Affective Bonding with the Environment in Residential Habitat Reconstruction Processes). Revista INVI 2017; 32(91): 113-139. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-83582017000300113.

14. Pinto de Carvalho L, Cornejo M. Por Una Aproximación Crítica al Apego al Lugar: Una Revisión en Contextos de Vulneración del Derecho a una Vivienda Adecuada (For a Critical Approach to Place Attachment: A Review in Contexts of Violation of the Right to Adequate Housing). Athenea Digital 2018; 18(3): 1-39. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.2004.

15. Scannell L, Cox RS, Fletcher S. Place-based Loss and Resilience Among Disaster-Affected Youth. Journal of Community Psychology 2017; 45: 859-876. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21897.

16. Scannell L, Cox RS, Fletcher S, et al. “That Was the Last Time I Saw My House”: The Importance of Place Attachment among Children and Youth in Disaster Contexts. American Journal of Community Psychology 2016; 58: 158-173. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12069.

17. Berroeta H, Carvalho L, Di Masso A. Significados del Espacio Público en Contextos de Transformación por Desastres Socionaturales (Meanings of Public Space in Contexts of Transformation due to Socio-natural Disasters). Revista INVI 2016; 31(87): 143-170. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-83582016000200005.

18. Berroeta H, Ramoneda A, Opazo L. Sentido de Comunidad, Participación y Apego al Lugar en Comunidades Desplazadas y no Desplazadas Post Desastres: Chaitén y Constitución (Sense of Community, Participation and Attachment to Place in Post-disaster Displaced and Non-displaced Communities: Chaitén and Constitución). Universitas Psychologica 2015; 14(4): 15-27. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.up14-4.scpa.

19. Montero M. Introducción a la Psicología Comunitaria: Desarrollo, Conceptos y Procesos (Introduction to Community Psychology: Development, Concepts and Processes). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Paidós; 2004.

20. Berroeta H. Espacio Público: Notas para la Articulación de una PsicologÍa Ambiental Comunitaria. In: Alfaro J, Berroeta H (editors). Trayectoria de la Psicología Comunitaria en Chile. Prácticas y Conceptos. Valparaíso: Universidad de Valparaíso Editorial; 2007. p. 259-286.

21. Guba EG, Lincoln YS. Competing Paradigms in Qualitative Research. In: Denzin N, Lincoln Y (editors). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; 1994. p. 105-117.

22. Wiesenfeld E. La Problemática Ambiental Desde la Perspectiva Psicosocial Comunitaria: Hacia una Psicología Ambiental del Cambio (The Environmental Problem from the Community Psychosocial Perspective: Towards an Environmental Psychology of Change). Medio Ambiente y Comportamiento Humano 2001; 2(1): 1-19. Available from: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2110643.

23. Manzo LC, Perkins DD. Finding Common Ground: The Importance of Place Attachment to Community Participation and Planning. Journal of Planning Literature 2006; 20(4): 335-350. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412205286160.

24. McMillan DW, Chavis DM. Sense of Community: A Definition and Theory. Journal of Community Psychology 1986; 14(1): 6-23. https://doi.org/10.1002/1520-6629(198601)14:1<6:AID-JCOP2290140103>3.0.CO;2-I.

25. Proshansky HM, Fabian AK, Kaminoff R. Place-Identity: Physical World Socialization of the Self. Journal of Environmental Psychology 1983; 3: 57-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(83)80021-8.

26. Scannell L, Gifford R. Defining Place Attachment: A Tripartite Organizing Framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2010; 30(1): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.09.006.

27. Silver A, Grek-Martin J. “Now we Understand What Community Really Means”: Reconceptualizing the Role of Sense of Place in the Disaster Recovery Process. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2015; 42: 32-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2015.01.004.

28. Vick JW, Perkins DD. Building Community: Residential Satisfaction in Conventional and Neotraditional Suburban Neighborhoods. In: Besel K, Andreescu V (editors). Back to the Future: New Urbanism and the Return of Traditionalism within Urban and Suburban Environments. Lanham, MD: University Press of America; 2013. p. 89-104.

29. Vidal Moranta T, Pol Urrútia E. La Apropiación del Espacio: Una Propuesta Teórica para Comprender la Vinculación Entre las Personas y Los Lugares. Anuario de Psicología 2005; 36: 281-297. Available from: https://www.raco.cat/index.php/AnuarioPsicologia/article/view/61819.

30. Valera S. Análisis de Los Aspectos Simbólicos del Espacio Urbano. Perspectivas Desde la Psicología Ambiental (Analysis of the Symbolic Aspects of Urban Space. Perspectives from Environmental Psychology). Revista de Psicología Universitas Tarraconensis 1996; 18(1): 63-86. Available from: http://bibliotecadigital.academia.cl/handle/123456789/593.

31. Berroeta H, Rodriguez M. La Intervención Socio-urbana del Barrio las Canteras: Una Experiencia Desde la Psicología Ambiental Comunitaria (The Socio-urban Intervention of the Las Canteras Neighborhood: An Experience from Community Environmental Psychology). Revista de Ciencias Sociales 2012; 25: 78-95. Available from: https://revistas.upr.edu/index.php/rcs/article/view/5743.

32. Berroeta H, Rodríguez M. La Transformación Particip Adictos a la Pornografía Ruíz I Ativa del Espacio Público Comunitario: AnÁLisis Socioespacial de una Investigación-acción (The Participatory Transformation of Community Public Space: Socio-Spatial Analysis of an Action-Research). Revista Electrónica de Psicología Política 2010; 5(1): 22-34. https://doi.org/10.17163/alt.v5n1.2010.02.

33. Vidal T, Berroeta H, Di Masso A, et al. Apego al Lugar, Identidad de Lugar, Sentido de Comunidad y Participación en un Contexto de Renovación Urbana (Place Attachment, Place Identity, Sense of Community and Participation in a Context of Urban Renewal). Estudios de Psicología 2013; 34(3): 275-286. https://doi.org/10.1174/021093913808295172.

34. Heller T. The Effects of Involuntary Residential Relocation: A Review. American Journal of Community Psychology 1982; 10(4): 471-492. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00893984.

35. Di Masso A, Dixon J, Hernández B. Place Attachment, Sense of Belonging and the Micro-politics of Place Satisfaction. In: Fleury-Bahi G, Pol E, Navarro O (editors). Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. Basel, Suiza: Springer; 2016. p. 85-106.

36. Aragonés JI, Amérigo M, Pérez-López R. Residential Satisfaction and Quality of Life. In: Fleury-Bahi G, Pol E, Navarro O (editors). Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. Basel, Suiza: Springer; 2017. p. 311-328.

37. Long DA, Perkins DD. Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Sense of Community Index and Development of a Brief SCI. Journal of Community Psychology 2003; 31(3): 279-296. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.10046.

38. Altman I, Low SM. Place attachment. New York: Plenum Press; 1992. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8753-4.

39. Berroeta H, Vidal T. La Noción de Espacio Público y la Configuración de la Ciudad: Fundamentos para los Relatos de Pérdida, Civilidad y Disputa (The Notion of Public Space and the Configuration of the City: Foundations for the Stories of Loss, Civility and Dispute). Polis 2012; 11(31): 57-80. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-65682012000100004.

40. Mannarini T, Tartaglia S, Fedi A, et al. Image of Neighborhood, Self-image and Sense of Community. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2006; 26(3): 202-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2006.07.008.

41. Nowel B, Boyd N. Viewing Community as Responsibility as well as Resource: Deconstructing the Theoretical Roots of Psychological Sense of Community. Journal of Community Psychology 2010; 38(7): 828-841. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20398.

42. Norris FH, Stevens SP, Pfefferbaum B, et al. Community Resilience as a Metaphor, Theory, Set of Capacities, and Strategy for Disaster Readiness. American Journal of Community Psychology 2008; 41(1): 127-150. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-007-9156-6.

43. Greenfield EA, Marks NF. Sense of Community as a Protective Factor against Long-term Psychological Effects of Childhood Violence. Social Service Review 2010; 84(1): 129-147. https://doi.org/10.1086/652786.

44. Sararit T. Self-extensional Space in Relocated Housing after 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: Case Study of Namkem Community, Phangnga, Thailand. Journal of Disaster Research 2018; 13(1): 168-176. https://doi.org/10.20965/jdr.2018.p0168.

45. Cuba L, Hummon DM. A Place to Call Home: Identification with Dwelling, Community, and Region. The Sociological Quarterly 1993; 34(1): 111-131. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1993.tb00133.x.

46. Francis J, Giles-Corti B, Wood L, et al. (2012). Creating Sense of Community: The Role of Public Space. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2012; 32(4): 401-409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.07.002.

47. Bernardo F, Palma-Oliveira JM. Urban Neighborhoods and Intergroup Relations: The Importance of Place Identity. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2016; 45: 239-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.01.010.

48. Manzo LC. Beyond House and Haven: Toward a Revisioning of Emotional Relationships with Places. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2003; 23(1): 47-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(02)00074-9.

49. Casakin H, Hernández B, Ruiz C. Place Attachment and Place Identity in Israeli Cities: The Influence of City Size. Cities 2015; 42(B): 224-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.07.007.

50. Lewicka M. Place Attachment: How Far Have We Come in the Last 40 years? Journal of Environmental Psychology 2011; 31(3): 207-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.10.001.

51. Trąbka A. From Functional Bonds to Place Identity: Place Attachment of Polish Migrants Living in London and Oslo. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2019; 62: 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.02.010.

52. Hidalgo MC, Hernández B. Place Attachment: Conceptual and Empirical Questions. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2001; 21: 273-281. https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.2001.0221.

53. Vidal T, Valera S, Peró M. Place Attachment, Place Identity and Residential Mobility in Undergraduate Students. Psyecology 2010; 1: 353-369. https://doi.org/10.1174/217119710792774799.

54. Di Masso A, Dixon J, Durrheim K. Place Attachment as Discursive Practice. In: Manzo LC, Devine-Wright P (editors). Place Attachment: Advances in Theory, Methods and Applications. New York: Routledge; 2014. p. 75-86.

55. Di Masso A, Dixon J, Hernández B. Place Attachment, Sense of Belonging and the Micro-politics of Place Satisfaction. In: Fleury-Bahi G, Pol E, Navarro O (editors). Handbook of Environmental Psychology and Quality of Life Research. Basel, Suiza: Springer; 2016. p. 85-106.

56. Berroeta H, Pinto de Carvalho L, Di Masso A. Apego al Lugar: Una Aproximación Psicoambiental a la Vinculación Afectiva con el Entorno en Procesos de Reconstrucción del Hábitat Residencial (Attachment to Place: A Psycho-Environmental Approach to Affective Bonding with the Environment in Residential Habitat Reconstruction Processes). Revista INVI 2017; 32(91): 113-139. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-83582017000300113.

57. Di Masso A, Dixon J. More than Words: Place Attachment and Struggle over Public Space in Barcelona. Qualitative Research in Psychology 2015; 12(1): 45-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2014.958387.

58. Borja J, Muxí Z. El Espacio Público: Ciudad y Ciudadanía (Public Space: City and Citizenship). (1ª. edn.). Barcelona, España: Editorial Electa; 2001.

59. Salcedo Hansen R. El Espacio Público en el Debate Actual: Una Reflexión Crítica Sobre el Urbanismo Post-moderno (Public Space in the Current Debate: A Critical Reflection on Post-modern Urbanism). EURE: Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Urbano Regionales 2002; 28(84): 5-19. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0250-71612002008400001.

60. Di Masso A, Berroeta H, Vidal T. El Espacio Público en Conflicto: Coordenadas Conceptuales y Tensiones Ideológicas (The Public Space in Conflict: Conceptual Coordinates and Ideological Tensions). Athenea Digital 2017; 17(3): 53-92. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.1725.

61. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Análisis de Riesgos de Desastres en Chile: VII Plan de Acción Dipecho en Sudamérica 2011-2012 (Analysis of Disaster Risks in Chile: VII Dipecho Action Plan in South America 2011-2012). Santiago, Chile; 2012.

62. Tapia R. Acción del Estado y Acción Comunitaria en la Gestión de la Vivienda Post Erupción del Volcán Chaitén, Chile: Dos Estrategias Divergentes (State Action and Community Action in the Management of Housing after the Eruption of the Chaitén Volcano, Chile: Two Divergent Strategies). Magallania 2015; 43(3): 141-157. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-22442015000300011.

63. Salgado M. Reconstrucción de la Vida Cotidiana. La Cara Invisibilizada Tras el Terremoto y Tsunami del 2010 (Reconstruction of Everyday Life. The Invisible Face after the 2010 Earthquake and Tsunami). TS Cuadernos de Trabajo Social 2014; 11: 34-42. Available from: http://ojs.uss.cl/index.php/TS/article/view/11.

64. Ministerio del Interior y Seguridad Pública. Delegación Presidencia para la Reconstrucción: Plan de Reconstrucción de Chaitén. Santiago, Chile: Autor. Available from: http://www.interior.gob.cl/media/2015/02/reconstruccion_chaiten.pdf.

65. Gobierno Regional Bío Bío. Plan de Reconstrucción del Borde Costero—PRBC18: Plan Maestro Dichato. Concepción, Chile. Available from: http://rebuilding-cities.com/Rebuilding_Cities/Course_Materials_files/Dichato%20Master%20Plan%20-%20Spanish.pdf.

66. Strauss A, Corbin J. Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; 1990.

67. Morrow SL, Smith ML. Constructions of Survival and Coping by Women Who Have Survived Childhood Sexual Abuse. Journal of Counseling Psychology 1995; 42(1): 24-33. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.42.1.24.

68. Long DA, Perkins DD. Community Social and Place Predictors of Sense of Community: A Multilevel and Longitudinal Analysis. Journal of Community Psychology 2007; 35(5): 563-581. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20165.

69. Amérigo M. Satisfacción Residencial: Un Análisis Psicológico de la Vivienda y su Entorno (Residential Satisfaction: A Psychological Analysis of Housing and its Environment). Madrid, España: Alianza; 1995.

70. Perkins DD, Florin P, Rich RC, et al. Participation and the Social and Physical Environment of Residential Blocks: Crime and Community Context. American Journal of Community Psychology 1990; 18(1): 83-115. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00922690.

71. Cornejo M, Mendoza F, Rojas RC. La Investigación con Relatos de Vida: Pistas y Opciones del Diseño Metodológico (Research with Life Stories: Clues and Options for Methodological Design). Psykhe 2008; 17(1): 29-39. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-222820080001000189.

72. Wiesenfeld E. La Psicología Environmental Psychology and Sustainable Development. Which Environmental Psychology? What Sustainable Development? Estudos de Psicologia 2003; 8(2): 235-261. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-294X2003000200007.

73. Wiesenfeld E, Zara H. La Psicología Ambiental Latinoamericana en la Primera Década del Milenio. Un Análisis Crítico (Latin American Environmental Psychology in the First Decade of the Millennium. A Critical Analysis). Athenea Digital 2012; 12(1): 129-155. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenead/v12n1.985.

74. Olivares-Espinoza B, Winkler M, Reyes-Espejo M, et al. And if We Think about the Community with Rights? Community Psychology, Rights and Public Policies. A Complex Relationship. Universitas Psychologica 2018; 17(2): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy17-2.pcdp.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.18063/esp.v6.i2.1403
(455 Abstract Views, 435 PDF Downloads)

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Héctor Berroeta, Laís Pinto de Carvalho

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.