Place, community and the mind.

What is place/community and the mind:

Oxford dictionary defines community as the following:

“all the people who live in a particular area, country, etc. when talked about as a group” [4]

This is the definition when talking about the word itself.

there is also a separate meaning to community within psychology.

the American psychology association defines community as

"a socially organized set of species members living in a physically defined locality. Human communities are often characterized by (a) commonality of interests, attitudes, and values; (b) a general sense of belonging to a unified, socially integrated group; (c) members’ self-identification as community members; and (d) some system of communication, governance, education, and commerce. In general parlance, “the community” often means society or the general public." [1]

Listed in the psychological definition is a key point that will be discussed when it comes to mind and place.

This key point is a general sense of belonging to a unified, socially integrated group. This is a big theme when it comes to the mind and place, the reason for this is that whenever someone chooses to live somewhere whether they want to or not the individual becomes a part of that community be it instantly or over time. With this in mind a locations community will accept that and individual as a part of them and with this acceptance from the community then the individual will have gained a sense of belonging

Types of groups that advertise a sense of belonging:

Military usually advertise about a sense of belonging plus soldiers have gone on record saying that the military provides this.

Universities also advertise this (not just universities but all types of educational institutes).

"The authors found associations between (a) students' sense of class belonging and their academic self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and task value; (b) students' sense of class-level belonging and their perceptions of instructors' warmth and openness, encouragement of student participation, and organization; and (c) students' sense of university-level belonging and their sense of social acceptance"[6]

This is prevalent in everyday life, for example psychologist have identified that when a university students sense of belonging in school is disrupted then there are noticeable effects such as the ones listed above. Now this all stems from the individual not feel a sense of belonging within their community, so since there is a noticeable affect on an individuals physical actions that stems from the lack of belonging then it ties into how communities and places are all a system built around people as individuals rather than as a collective.

"Ageing populations across Europe are increasing. Communities have an important role in not only engaging this segment of the population but also in helping them to make them feel “part of something” (local or global) in order to favour their psychological well-being"[3]

The quote above is from the abstract of a research paper that studies the effects of volunteering and staying connected within one’s community. The reason that this quote was chose was due to how well it sums up what being part of a community and assisting in improving said community does, not only that but it shows that it’s a type of give and take relationship in where if the community supports each other be it if they are young or old then those individuals will also support the community back.

Examples of place and the body:

“For me it’s crystal clear that there is an urgent need for us to make the most out of every bit of urban green space and there is so much more potential for us to all to collaborate to achieve positive impactful change to benefit communities and the planet, whether its planting more trees, wildflowers or greening the grey by establishing community gardens. I look forward to being an active part of this movement.” [2]

This is a quote from an award known as the TCV hero awards, and is from the 2019 winner who clearly shows the want/ need to help her community with problems that can elevate not only the standard of living within the community but also its public image. This links back to the previous statement about having a sense of belonging within a community as no one would want to help or care for something they didn’t feel a part of or did not like. This sense of a belonging not only works on the large scales like cities or schools but also on the smaller scale such as a village.

Summary:

Overall there is significant evidence to show that place and the mind are more intertwined that people realise, and how much one can effect the other. This is extremely prevalent when it comes to someone’s mental health and communities health since if one part of the cycle goes down then the other parts suffer as an effect.

References: 1. American psychology association. Definition of community within psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/community

2. The conservation volunteers, TCV. The TCV hero awards. https://www.tcv.org.uk/heroes/

3. Pozzi M, Marta, Marzan D, Gozzoli C, Ruggiere R A.(2014, November 28th) The effect of psychological sense of community on the psychological wellbeing in older volunteers. https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/773/html

4. Oxford learners dictionary. Definition of community. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/community#:~:text=communities),particular%20area%2C%20country%2C%20etc.

5.Urban design/mental health, UD/MH. How mental health affects the city. https://www.urbandesignmentalhealth.com/how-mental-health-affects-the-city.html

6.Freeman T.M, L. Anderman H, Jensen J.M, (2010. August. 07) Sense of belonging in college at the classroom and campus level. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/JEXE.75.3.203-220

The ways in which places can become represented through ideas of segregation.

Ethical and Rural Segregation in Places

Place can be described as the “evolving front line in which ethnicity is felt, expressed and negotiated” [1] this emphasises that ideas around ethnicity, race and culture are central to the ways in which places change and are represented through the feelings that one gets of experiencing a specific ‘place’. The increased movement, mobility and connections being made with people and places as a result of Globalisation has led to an increased interconnectedness between different places where many communities may reside [1]. This as a result implies that places are continually adapting and are changing according to the different identities that represent them, e.g., “London’s identity evolves as flows of new real estate buyers, long-term and expatriate residents, immigrant workers, students and other sojourners, all jostling with their own and others’ ethnic identities, make an imprint on the city’s identity” [1]. Despite the fact that ethnicity and culture have become increasingly integrated within different ‘places’, it still remains clear that different groups are treated differently and that the privilege that the different groups and ethnicities possess may be less or more depending upon what they represent and the powers that they may hold over others, e.g., access to certain resources may be dependent upon factors such as class, race, religion etc [1]. The reasons for group prejudices among societies could draw on ideas of ‘threat theory’ whereby hostility prevails due to perceived threats that groups may feel towards other groups if they feel that they are threatening their position or power and challenging what they believe in [1].

< [2] The statistics shown show the rate of which certain groups appear to claim priority over others within the UK as a result of their race and how those that maybe considered as ‘outsiders’ can become discriminated against due to their ethnicity. This also creates perceptions of certain cultures and races, meaning that people create assumptions about identities and roles within society, by not looking past own subconscious biases and privileges that are attached to certain groups.

Segregation through forms of data The Idea of social segregation emerges with the concepts of space and place particularly prior to the globalised era [3]. As a society we often become segregated in the form of categorisation according to our unique geographical statuses in terms of our nationality, wealth, and perceived importance [3]. This kind of segregation is particularly noticeable through forms of mapping and data collection where things are often put into categorised formats, which can contribute to ideas of a social hierarchy and can also be manipulated to show particular beliefs [3]. Furthermore, the use of maps and data can give an inaccurate representation of what could really be going on as it ignores the principal factors by assuming that space is fixed and that the best way of understanding specific places is through the use of factual sets of information as a way of organising social constructs [3]. This is significant because these factors become the normal ways of structuring place and forming spaces which stem from these ideas. Which as a result can influence the ways in which certain places and spaces are perceived of or thought of in terms of societal complexes.

< [4] This map of UK employee earnings can be seen to emphasise employment disparities within different UK regions. This can reinforce ideas around poverty, social class, and regional geography when there is more that needs to be considered when looking at places and their structure as well as the different roles that they play within the economy, culture, and political systems. Individuals could attach meanings or biases to certain places based on this kind of data, for example, seeing some places as superior to others.

Concluding thoughts on place and segregation

As the increasingly diverse and inclusive society that we are slowly becoming, it remains notably clear that we could do significantly more to broaden our horizons in terms of what we think and perceive as being. This stems from being able to look at our everyday day privileges and aim to look past our own biases, that we may have been brought up with or developed due to media perceptions and forms of propaganda within everyday situations. As actively participating people within the world, we develop our own beliefs and ways of understanding ourselves and others through our own eyes and mind, as we are freely able to do so. However, we can still adapt and shape our thinking and beliefs to consider other approaches and make an active effort to understand and engage with them, especially when thinking of the kinds of environments in which we live and the places we grow up and interact with and see what these represent as being more than simply one thing but the many characteristics and beliefs that make a place what it is.

References

[1] Demangeot, C. Broeckerhoff, A. Kipnis, E. Pulling, C. Visconti, M, L. (2014). ‘Consumer mobility and well-being among changing places and shifting ethnicities’, Marketing Theory, 15(2), 271-278. doi.org/10.1177/1470593114553327.

[2] Armstrong, M. (2016). Race inequality in the UK. [image] Available at: https://www.statista.com/chart/5550/race-inequality-in-the-uk/ [Accessed 23 February 2021]

[3] Cloke, P. Crang, P. and Goodwin, M. (2013). Introducing human geographies. 3. :Routledge.

[4] Against Devolution – Lawyers, Guns & Money. (2014). Against Devolution. [image] Available at: Heat-map-wages-002.jpg (1000×1471) (guim.co.uk) [Accessed 23 February 2021]

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