Transactional Qualities of Neighborhood Social Networks

Oxley, Diana; Haggard, Lois M.; Werner, Carol M.; Altman, Irwin

doi:10.1177/0013916586185004

Cited by 28 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…But people also maintain their homes and yards in accord with community standards. The more people endorse this community standard, the more likely they are to decorate in community-oriented ways (Altman, 1975;Brown & Werner, 1985;Oxley, Haggard, Werner, & Altman, 1986). Many of the toxic products destined for HHW facilities have been purchased to make it easier for people to achieve a community-sanctioned ideal yard.…”

Section: Social Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Homeowners’ Behaviors Involving Toxic Household Chemicals: A Psychological, Multilevel Approach

Werner

Adams

2001

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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We describe an education and behavior change program with a multi-level approach. The program goal is to change how people think about, use, store, and dispose of toxic household chemicals. We assume that changing long-standing behaviors is difficult, requires interventions at multiple points in the individual/ group/society/physical environmental system, and requires interventions that address both short-and long-term behavior change. The heart of our program is small group discussions, with a trained leader who uses psychological theories to increase educational impact. Questionnaires indicated that participants were very pleased with the program, especially recipes for homemade nontoxic alternatives. ].We estimate that the presentation yielded almost three times as much cooperation as the previous 5 years of publicity and promotion (33% vs. 12%).For several years, our research team has been developing an education and behavior change program based on a multilevel or holistic approach. We assume that getting people to change a long-standing behavior is very difficult, requires interventions at multiple points in the individual/group/society/physical environmental system and requires interventions that address both short-and long-term behavior change. The program is based on Werner's (1999) five-factor model of behavior change and a transactional worldview (Werner, 2000; Werner, Brown, & Altman, in press). In our particular program, we have been working with the county health department to teach people about a new facility for disposing of household hazardous waste (HHW). This article briefly describes our current program and plans for improving it. It also describes some of the mistakes we made early on and how we changed the program in response to negative reactions from our target audiences. We begin with a very brief description of the program, provide some evidence of its impact, explain the underlying psychological principles on which the program has been based while illustrating the principles with details from our program, discuss our early failures, and speculate about where to take the program next. Our experiences illuminate the difficulty of working in the community to effect behavior change but also illustrate how we wove together multiple behavior change strategies into a total program. Background on Household Hazardous WasteHHW is any kind of home use chemical leftover that is harmful to the environment and animals (including humans) even in small amounts. HHW includes products that harm or injure on contact or that are harmful because they pollute groundwater, surface waters, air, or soil. Common leftovers include paints, pesticides, petroleum products, moth crystals, and lye-based oven and drain cleaners. It is important to keep these products out of landfills because of their potential to leach out and contaminate soil, water, and air. Most large communities now have periodic HHW collection days or a permanent HHW facility where citizens can take their leftover toxic products instead of puttin...

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Section: Social Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing Homeowners’ Behaviors Involving Toxic Household Chemicals: A Psychological, Multilevel Approach

Werner

Adams

2001

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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“…First, microlevel studies of neighborhood and community living are beginning to receive re-newed attention (Ahlbrandt 1984;Banerjee and Baer 1984;Oxley et al 1986; Altman and Wandersman 1987). First, microlevel studies of neighborhood and community living are beginning to receive re-newed attention (Ahlbrandt 1984;Banerjee and Baer 1984;Oxley et al 1986; Altman and Wandersman 1987).…”

Section: Understanding the Humanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two recent trends in social and behavioral research provide a basis for the current study. First, microlevel studies of neighborhood and community living are beginning to receive re-newed attention (Ahlbrandt 1984;Banerjee and Baer 1984;Oxley et al 1986; Altman and Wandersman 1987). Much of this interest is due to methodological and theoretical advances sustained in behavioral research over the last two decades (van 5).…”

Section: Change Trends In Social and Behavioral Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Evaluations of Neighborhood Change

Aitken

1990

Annals of the Association of American Geographers

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Questions arise concerning the nature and organization of residents' perceptual responses t o neighborhood change. Transactionalism, with its focus on context and change, provides a theoretical basis for an empirical study that attempts t o identify and evaluate the human dimensions of change within the context of an inner-city neighborhood of San Diego, California. Using quasi-nonmetric weighted multi-dimensional scaling (WMDS), I analyzed similarity matrices, which are derived from asking a sample of residents t o respond to different neighborhood contexts. The WMDS suggests that residents place great importance on neighborhood stability. A modified form of repertory grid analysis provides insight into how individuals respond to specific neighborhood changes. Residential and commercial establishments that had disappeared from the area are, on the whole, preferred. Residents dislike large new developments, finding them cold, mass-produced and impersonal. A non-metric classic multi-dimensional scaling (CMDS) of selected data from the repertory grids produces an indifference surface that describes perceived effects of specific changes. Large proximate changes stimulate greater response than those in more remote locations. A transactional model i s suggested as a basis for studying local evaluations of neighborhood change and for contributing t o knowledge and application in microlevel research in general.

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“…In a recent study, Oxley ef al. [31] use this strategy to trace changing neighborhood social networks through different times in a year. In this case, measurement is in terms of basic changes in the qualities of people's relationships with their surroundings.…”

Section: Operationalizing the Transactional Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transactional and Transformational Theories in Behavioral Geography

Aitken

Bjorklund

1988

The Professional Geographer

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Inadequate theoretical conceptualization of person/environment relations has characterized behavioral geography as an eclectic and incoherent subfield. Past work has failed to appreciate the person/environment unity as an entity of change. A transactional/transformational perspective is adopted in this paper as a basis for understanding the relationships between the dynamics of human behavior and the dynamics of the environment. Two conceptual models are developed which provide bases for understanding (i) different modes of person/environment transformation, and (ii) human behavior as it mediates change. The potential relevance of a transactional perspective for empirical research in behavioral geography is noted.

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Transactional Qualities of Neighborhood Social Networks

Cited by 28 publications

References 18 publications

Changing Homeowners’ Behaviors Involving Toxic Household Chemicals: A Psychological, Multilevel Approach

Changing Homeowners’ Behaviors Involving Toxic Household Chemicals: A Psychological, Multilevel Approach

Local Evaluations of Neighborhood Change

Transactional and Transformational Theories in Behavioral Geography

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