At the Intersection of the Social and Physical Environments: Building a Model of the Influence of Caregivers and Peers on Direct Engagement with Nature

Sarah Little,Art Rice

doi:10.3390/geographies1010005

Sarah Little, Art Rice

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies1010005

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Abstract

The movement to reconnect children to nature touts the many benefits associated with exposure to nature and encourages designers and planners of the physical environment to incorporate more nature into the daily lives of children. However, connecting children with nature may not be as simple as designing more nature into the physical environment. Variables beyond convenient availability of natural environments affect children’s engagement with nature. Of particular interest is the influence of the social environment. The research seeks to build a model to understand the influence of caregivers and peers on a child’s direct engagement with nature. An initial model of social influences was constructed from existing literature and refined from findings from an original research study, a qualitative investigation exploring the highly imaginative and social experience of a group of boys who played in a neighborhood creek (n = 3, boys, n = 2, parents). The most meaningful social influence on the boys’ direct engagement with nature was the level of autonomy granted by caregivers; however, the physical environment supported the autonomy as well. The autonomy afforded an opportunity to navigate risks, forge long-term friendships, and support higher-order cognitive play behavior.

Highlights

In his 2005 novel, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv sparked a nationwide movement to reconnect children to the natural environment to combat what Louv describes as nature-deficit disorder which is not a medically diagnosed condition but more of a statement about the effect of children being isolated from the natural environment
Caregiver influence occurred in five main ways: opportunity, control, value, modeling, and autonomy
Caregivers created an opportunity and controlled the amount of time and resources invested toward engaging with nature

Summary

Introduction

In his 2005 novel, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv sparked a nationwide movement to reconnect children to the natural environment to combat what Louv describes as nature-deficit disorder which is not a medically diagnosed condition but more of a statement about the effect of children being isolated from the natural environment. Research suggests that children experience myriad benefits from engagement with nature. Exposure to nature may be a protective factor against myopia [1,2,3,4] and allergies [5,6,7]. E.g., a park as compared to an urban downtown or neighborhood, have been correlated with improving scores on concentration tests in children clinically diagnosed with ADD/ADHD [8]. Living near natural elements in an inner city environment may improve self-regulation ability in girls [9]. Unstructured free play in nature during childhood may develop an affinity for nature that is associated with caring for the environment in adulthood [10,11]

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