Community Relocation Research Articles

Distinctive late-life challenges: implications for coping and well-being.

Two distinctive late-life challenges, community relocation and caring for an adult child with mental retardation, were studied to determine their influence on coping and well-being. These challenges differ in terms of their normativeness, duration, and whether they were expected. Data from 2 ongoing longitudinal studies (N = 449) were used to test the hypotheses that women experiencing residential relocation would report higher well-being and use problem-focused coping more frequently than women with long-term caregiving responsibilities. As predicted, more positive changes in well-being across time were reported by the relocation sample, which also showed more problem-focused coping. Women in the caregiving sample, however, showed stronger relationships between coping and well-being, underscoring possible gains in expertise that accompany challenges of lengthy duration.

Adaptation to community relocation: the interactive influence of psychological resources and contextual factors.

This longitudinal study examined the interactive influences of psychological resources and contextual factors on short-term adaptation to community relocation in a sample of older women (N = 102, mean age = 71.6). The effects of three psychological resources (environmental mastery, autonomy, and personal growth) and three contextual factors (pressure to move, difficulty of the move, and unexpected gains experienced) on emotional reactions to relocation were examined. The pattern of findings suggests that women with greater psychological resources were more resilient in the face of negative circumstances but that the emotional "boost" of unexpected gains was greatest for women with lower premove resources. These results underscore the importance of considering event-relevant psychological resources and contextual factors and including both negative and positive aspects of the adaptational process.

Adaptation to community relocation: The interactive influence of psychological resources and contextual factors.

Adaptation to community relocation: The interactive influence of psychological resources and contextual factors.

The interpretation of life experience and well-being: the sample case of relocation.

Social psychological theories of the self postulate mechanisms through which individuals interpret their life experiences to ensure positive self-evaluation. This framework was applied to a sample of aging women (N = 120, M age = 74.9 years) who had experienced community relocation. The authors measured their reasons for moving (push factors), reasons for selecting the new setting, (pull factors), and interpretive mechanisms, including how they compared with others in their new setting, how they were viewed by significant others following the move, how their behaviors changed following relocation, and whether the above evaluations occurred in life domains central to their sense of self. Regression analyses showed that push-pull factors and interpretive mechanisms accounted for substantial variance in multiple aspects of psychological well-being, particularly environmental mastery, purpose in life, and positive relations with others.

The interpretation of life experience and well-being: The sample case of relocation.

Social psychological theories of the self postulate mechanisms through which individuals interpret their life experiences to ensure positive self-evaluation. This framework was applied to a sample of aging women (N = 120, M age = 74.9 years) who had experienced community relocation. The authors measured their reasons for moving (push factors), reasons for selecting the new setting, (pull factors), and interpretive mechanisms, including how they compared with others in their new setting, how they were viewed by significant others following the move, how their behaviors changed following relocation, and whether the above evaluations occurred in life domains central to their sense of self. Regression analyses showed that push-pull factors and interpretive mechanisms accounted for substantial variance in multiple aspects of psychological well-being, particularly environmental mastery, purpose in life, and positive relations with others.

Stress and Environmental Change in the Analysis of Community Relocation

Stress and Environmental Change in the Analysis of Community Relocation

Value provided by interfamily economic exchange of goods and services in two cultures

The value of goods and services provided through interfamily economic exchange is examined from a household survey. The existence of an “exchange system” in society was documented. Over half of the respondents reported that economic transfers between families were important to the quality of their life. Estimated values varied with personal health conditions, importance attached to providing goods and services, years of residence in the community, primary recipient of services, ethnic culture, sex of respondent, and type of service provided. Estimated values can be used for calculating economic loss in community disruption and relocation, measuring family full income, and estimating the importance of nonmarket economic activity in society.

The impact of environmental change on relocated communities in South Africa

The last thirty‐five years have seen the relocation of several million people in South Africa, for reasons related mainly to the implementation of the South African government policy of ‘apartheid’ or ‘separate development’. As a result, most studies of relocation have focused on the political causes and aspects of relocation, often to the neglect of its social consequences. Community relocation, whatever its causes, involves the transformation of the physical and social environment in which people find themselves. This paper suggests that a focus on the nature and degree of environmental modification involved in particular cases of relocation will provide a useful start to understanding the social and economic consequences of relocation in South Africa. Various kinds of relocation (relating to Betterment Planning, Group Areas, relocation townships and closer settlements) are considered in these terms.

Disaster Management: Warning Response and Community Relocation.

This book addresses two common problems encountered by emergency services personnel: the design and implementation of evacuation warning systems to ensure citizen compliance with the directives of authorities and the permanent relocation of families threatened by hazards. The authors pay particular attention to the problems of constructing warning messages; to the citizen's interpretation of message content; the techniques of delivering warning messages; and the management of citizen movements out of threatened areas. Administrative issues related to variations in compliance among ethnic groups are also noted. In the second section, the authors explore the social psychological impact and the logistical, administrative, public policy, and political aspects of relocation. They elaborate a series of principles of positive relocation general enough to apply to a variety of relocation situations.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Redundant Spaces in Cities and Regions? Studies in Industrial Decline and Social Change. J. Anderson, S. Duncan and R. Hudson. eds. The Social Consequences and Challenges of New Agricultural Technologies. Gigi M. Berardi and Charles C. Geisler, eds. Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries, Vol. I, Supply and Demand for Children. Rodolfo A. Bultao and Ronald D. Lee, eds. Computer Mapping: Progress in the‘80s. James R. Carter. Washington: Colonial Africa. A. J. Christopher. Geography of the Soviet Union. J. P. Cole. Chicago Mapmakers, Essays on the Rise of the City's Map Trade. Michael P. Conzen, ed. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England. William Cronon. Mizner's Florida: American Resort Architecture. Donald W. Curl. Geographical Studies on the Soviet Union: Essays in Honor of Chauncy D. Harris. George Demko and Roland J. Fuchs, eds. Fluvial Hydrology. S. Lawrence Dingman. Pueblo Indian Water Rights: Struggle For a Precious Resource. Charles T. DuMars, Marilyn O'Leary and Albert E. Utton. Women in the Cities of Asia: Migration and Urban Adaptation. James T. Fawcett, Siew-Ean Khoo, and Peter C. Smith, eds. America's National Parks and Their Keepers. Ronald A. Foresta. Neighborhood Revitalization and the Postindustrial City. Dennis E. Gale. China in Canada: A Dialogue on Resources and Development. R. Louis Gentilcore, ed. China: The 80s Era. Norton Ginsburg and Bernard A. Lalor, eds. Boulder, CO: Global Resources: Challenges of Interdependence. Martin I. Glassner, ed. River Networks Texas: A Geography. Terry G. Jordan with John L. Bean, Jr. and William M. Holmes. The American Frontier: An Archaeological Study of Settlement Pattern and Process. Kenneth E. Lewis. Water Resources, Geography and Law. Olen Paul Matthews. A Field Guide to American Houses. Virginia and Lee McAlester. Population: Patterns, Dynamics, and Prospects. James L. Newman and Gordon E. Matzke. Wood, Brick, and Stone, The North American Settlement Landscape, Vol. 1: Houses. Allen G. Noble. Historical Analysis in Geography. William Norton. The Displaced Worker and Community Response: Case Study of Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio. H. Milton Patton and Janet W. Patton. Disaster Management: Warning Response and Community Relocation. Ronald W. Perry and Alvin H. Muskatel. The Anthropology of Space: Explorations into the Natural Philosophy and Semantics of the Navajo. Rik Pinxten, Ingrid van Dooren, and Frank Harvey. What STYLE Is It? A Guide To American Architecture. John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Jr., and Nancy B. Schwartz. Appalachia: A Regional Geography—Land, People and Development. Karl Raitz and Richard Ulack. An Introduction to Urban Geography. John R. Short. Ford, A Village in the West Highlands of Scotland: A Case Study of Repopulation and Social Change in a Small Community. John B. Stephenson. Income and Jobs: USA Diagnosing the Reality. George Sternlieb and James W. Hughes. Weather and Climate of the Antarctic. W. Schwerdtfeger. History and Ecology: Studies of the Grassland, James C. Malin. Robert P. Swierenga, ed. Optimal Control of Spatial Systems. K. C. Tan and R. J. Bennett. Social Science and Revolutions. Stan Taylor. The Global Textile Industry. Brian Toyne, Jeffrey S. Arpan, David A. Ricks, Terence A. Shimp and Andy Barnett. Integrated Water Development: Water Use and Conservation Practice in Western Colorado. James L. Wescoat, Jr. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Maps and Graphics for the Visually Handicapped. Joseph W. Wiedel, ed.

Diaster Management: Warning Response and Community Relocation

Diaster Management: Warning Response and Community Relocation

Public Participation in Planning for Community Relocation: A Case Study of Keephills, Alberta

Public Participation in Planning for Community Relocation: A Case Study of Keephills, Alberta

Identity and Community Relocation

A prevention model designed to assist individuals and families during the process of relocating into a new community is presented. The model utilizes a combined educational-therapeutic approach that emphasizes primary prevention through the development of coping skills, community networks, and individual autonomy.

The affective reactions of housewives to community relocation

The affective reactions of housewives to community relocation

Protecting the Standing of Renewal Site Families to Seek Review of Community Relocation Planning

Protecting the Standing of Renewal Site Families to Seek Review of Community Relocation Planning