Where are you from? The importance of place for identity

Jenna CondieLecturer in Psychology

@jennacondie

Psychology Seminar SeriesUniversity of Salford

May 2013#salfordpsych

Overview

My PhD My PhD

journeyjourney

EnvironmentalPsychology

Environmental Conditions

 Flickr: Gene Hunt

AnnoyanceAnnoyance

StressStress

Manage, mitigate, Manage, mitigate, & control… & control…

‘Objective’ measurement

Establishing exposure-response relationships

Link: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=15949

Defra Project (NANR209)

Published: March 2011

Measuring human response

as ‘annoyance’

Thinking about the last 12 months or so, when indoors at home, how bothered, annoyed or disturbed have you been by feeling vibration or shaking or hearing or seeing things rattle, vibrate or shake caused by ________________. Would you say not at all, slightly, moderately, very or extremely?

Thinking about the last 12 months or so, when indoors at home, how bothered, annoyed or disturbed have you been by feeling vibration or shaking or hearing or seeing things rattle, vibrate or shake caused by ________________. Would you say not at all, slightly, moderately, very or extremely?

PhD Research

““A common story of the professional development A common story of the professional development of most qualitative researchers…goes something of most qualitative researchers…goes something

like this: dissatisfaction with quantitative or like this: dissatisfaction with quantitative or experimental methods has led many of us to adopt experimental methods has led many of us to adopt alternative, qualitative methods and, perhaps, to alternative, qualitative methods and, perhaps, to

wonder how our own perspective and experiences wonder how our own perspective and experiences enter into, transform or change the issue or area enter into, transform or change the issue or area

being investigated (as well as ourselves)”being investigated (as well as ourselves)”

(Sullivan, 2002, p. 3). (Sullivan, 2002, p. 3).

Moving from……a position of knowing to a position of understanding...

…takes time!

PhD wordle from 2009

PhD wordle from 2013

Environmental conditions as Environmental conditions as ‘place’‘place’

 Flickr: fsse8info

 Flickr: khym54  Flickr: Bob the courier

Link: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=147068748787866&set=vb.101670060006938&type=2&theater

The broader context where environmental conditions “are only part of the story” (Moser, 2009, p. 1).

Language as agency and structure: Language as agency and structure:

That’s so annoying That’s so annoying

Music to my earsMusic to my ears

Agency Structure

Places are

“doubly constructed”

(Gieryn, 2002, p. 465)

Motive for place

constructions –

identity work!

The importance of language

““One of the ways One of the ways people use place people use place

in interaction is in interaction is as a resource for as a resource for

constructing constructing identity, one’s identity, one’s

meaning in meaning in the world”the world”

(Myers, 2006, p. 39) (Myers, 2006, p. 39)

Where you are is who you are

Do we still need to Do we still need to belong somewhere? belong somewhere?

Place Identity (Dixon & Durrheim, 2000)

Dialogical Self(Bakhtin, 1986; Hermans, 2004)

Hi, I’m from Manchester Hi, I’m from Manchester I’m from

Manchester tooI’m from

Manchester too

I’m from Salford I’m from Salford

From the monologue of the From the monologue of the individual to the dialogue of individual to the dialogue of

multiple voicesmultiple voices

‘‘Double voiced’ (Frank, 2005)Double voiced’ (Frank, 2005)

‘…always an orientation to other’ ‘…always an orientation to other’ (Madill & Sullivan, 2010, p. 2196)(Madill & Sullivan, 2010, p. 2196)

Flickr: m

arsm

et5

41

The (In)Significance of Railways

Donna: well the house that we previously lived in was only a two bedroomed house and we had two small children at the time, a boy and a girl so it was a bit cramped we actually, well my parents knew the people who lived in this house prior to us and we were searching for somewhere to move to and they just happened to say you know, come and have a look at the house and we fell in love with it straight away and that’s when we put an offer in and the rest is history

Jenna: so can I ask sort of what were the reasons to move, for more space or?

Donna: it was it was space, there’s a lot more land, there’s a lot more space in the house as well, and even though with the train line it is actually a peaceful area

Lived ideologies Lived ideologies (Billig et al., 1988)(Billig et al., 1988)

Kindly drawn by Kindly drawn by @coen_sharon this @coen_sharon this morning…unprompted! morning…unprompted!

‘‘The Rural Idyll’The Rural Idyll’

Flickr: Katy Wrathall

‘A peaceful and quiet place’

Jenna: What’s the area like?Roxanne: The areas good, the areas good, it’s quiet, apart from the trains, but like I say over the years you just get used to them

‘‘Trouble’ (Wetherell, 1998)Trouble’ (Wetherell, 1998)

Chris:Chris: …the only one, the only concern was the …the only one, the only concern was the what do you call it, like freight and they’re really what do you call it, like freight and they’re really early hours and they do make a hell of a row, early hours and they do make a hell of a row, the screeching and the clanging, what is it, they the screeching and the clanging, what is it, they go through very slowly and then they’ll stop and go through very slowly and then they’ll stop and then they’ll pick up again but been here eight then they’ll pick up again but been here eight years and I couldn’t tell you when they come on years and I couldn’t tell you when they come on a regular basis now, you just get used to it yeaha regular basis now, you just get used to it yeah

Three interpretative repertoires:

•Strategies of ‘normification’ (Bush et al., 2001)•Construct moral selves (e.g. tolerant)•Manage and negotiated identities of place

The Role of Adaptation

You get used to it

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNDIiXrjV-8

• Spoiled identity (Goffman, 1963)

• Ideological Dilemma – finding somewhere to live versus living alongside railways

• Making sense of ‘disruption’

Railways as ‘commonplace’

I suppose everyone lives near something that makes noise and I think its just a by-product of 21st century now

I suppose everyone lives near something that makes noise and I think its just a by-product of 21st century now

Allen

Miles Apart?

Relativism

Positivism Constructionism

Realism

Quantitative Qualitative

Back together…

Response (e.g. annoyance)

Exp

osur

e (e

.g.

nois

e le

vel)

Place Change

Adaptation

New Sources

Sustainability

‘Identity’ mattersto policy making

•Behaviour•Health & Well-being•Social Change

•Driver paper on

place-based and

environmental change

Where are you from? The importance of place for identity

Jenna CondieLecturer in Psychology

@jennacondie

Psychology Seminar SeriesUniversity of Salford

May 2013#salfordpsych