Aggression and Violence in the Inner City

Abstract

S. Kaplan suggested that one outcome of mental fatigue may be an increased propensity for outbursts of anger and even violence. If so, contact with nature, which appears to mitigate mental fatigue, may reduce aggression and violence. This study investigated that possibility in a setting and population with relatively high rates of aggression: inner-city urban public housing residents. Levels of aggression were compared for 145 urban public housing residents randomly assigned to buildings with varying levels of nearby nature (trees and grass). Attentional functioning was assessed as an index of mental fatigue. Residents living in relatively barren buildings reported more aggression and violence than did their counterparts in greener buildings. Moreover, levels of mental fatigue were higher in barren buildings, and aggression accompanied mental fatigue. Tests for the proposed mechanism and for alternative mechanisms indicated that the relationship between nearby nature and aggression was fully mediated through attentional functioning.

An Individual’s Connection to Nature Can Affect Perceived Restorativeness of Natural Environments. Some Observations about Biophilia

“…Differences in perceived restorativeness mainly result from differences in the landscapes evaluated and from the environmental preferences of individuals (see [17]); research has found a positive correlation between environmental preference and perceived restorativeness and a lack of any correlation between familiarity and perceived restorativeness (see, e.g., [12,45]). Furthermore, research using the Perceived Restorativeness Scale found that the higher restorative values of natural versus urban or artificial settings did not differ with gender or age [46,47,48].…”

“…Recently, people’s connection to Nature was identified as an antecedent of positive perceptual experiences of natural settings that predict the perceived level of restorativeness of a landscape and the sense of safety, coherence and complexity it conveyed; in brief, individuals with a stronger connection to Nature were significantly more likely to assess a forest setting as having a stronger restorative potential than individuals with a weaker connection to Nature [49]; this result was independent of the individuals’ familiarity of the natural settings assessed. Although the literature reports no significant correlation between perceived restorativeness and familiarity of an environment (see [12,45,46]), we believe that familiarity is likely to play a role in the perceptual evaluation of natural landscapes because a person with a deeper connection to Nature may also be more familiar with natural environments; indeed, connection to Nature and/or Nature appreciation has been shown to result from knowledge of and frequent contact with natural environments [36,50]; additionally, familiarity can be predictive of environmental preference [51]. For this reason, the present study takes familiarity into account, as well as perceived restorativeness and connection to Nature.…”

Bed of roses? The role of garden space in older people's well-being

“…His focus has been the setting of healthcare facilities, but others have extended this to the home environment (Kaplan, 2001;Velarde et al, 2007). Kuo and Sullivan (2001), for example, took advantage of a naturally occurring experiment to investigate the impact of residential greenery for urban public housing residents. Residents living in greener housing blocks reported less aggression and violence than their counterparts in more barren blocks.…”

Happiness: An interactionist perspective

“…In one study of people living in public housing, those assigned to "gray" apartments with no view of vegetation fared worse on a wide array of outcomes than those living in "green" apartments. For instance, gray apartment dwellers experienced more domestic violence, felt less connectedness with neighbors and had worse coping skills and self-discipline (e.g., Kuo & Sullivan, 2001). The quality of our physical environment not only affects our happiness; it also affects the way we respond to things, including our ability to gain happiness from other things in our lives.…”