Abstract
This qualitative study examines the participation of post-Katrina residents in neighborhoods of New Orleans’ Upper 9th Ward. Using a social psychological lens, respondent self-concepts and attachment to the community are examined to gain understanding of how individuals participate in voluntary helping behavior in their locality and how this is related to individual and community level social problems. Interview data, brief economic and cultural examination of the area, and the author’s observations as a resident of the Upper 9th Ward inform analysis. Using participation as a measure of attachment to place and including theories of identity, this study reveals that fragmented social ties result in attachment to place related to abstract values and lifestyles that are increasingly divided from place based relationships or specific amenities. Qualitative methodology employing social psychological theory is unique to the study of place attachment. Findings suggest that there is a tension between an individual’s need to seek self-verification and their understanding of themselves and others within their own neighborhood. Respondents’ understanding of the impact of their own actions and those of their neighbors reinstates theories of displaced attachment to local context in regards to local community involvement. For women, people of color, and members of the LGBT community, identities related to membership in these groups are particularly activated as community issues alleviate or perpetuate social problems they experience.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
These cultural boundaries, generally, identify the St. Claude neighborhood as extending from North Claiborne Avenue in the North, Montegut to the West, the Industrial Canal to the East, and St. Claude Avenue to the South. The Bywater neighborhood is understood as the area from St. Claude Avenue to the North, The Mississippi River to the South, Montegut Street to the West and the Industrial Canal to the East. The Marigny neighborhood is understood as the area from St. Claude to the North, The Mississippi River to the South. Montegut Street to the East and Elysian Fields Avenue to the West, this does not include the area considered the Faubourg Marigny which extends West of Elysian Fields Avenue (City of New Orleans). (SEE APPENDIX C)
References
Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Beck, U., Wolfgang, B., & Christoph, L. (2003). The theory of reflexive modernization: Problematic, hypotheses and research programme. Theory Culture Society, 20(2), 1–33.
Burawoy, M. (2000). Introduction: Reaching for the global. In M. Burawoy (Eds.) Global ethnography (pp. 1–5). Berkeley: University of California Press.
City-data.com. (2011a). Bywater neighborhood in New Orleans Louisiana (LA), 70117 detailed profile. www.city-data.com/neighborhood. Accessed 12 March 2011.
City-data.com. (2011b). Marigny neighborhood in New Orleans Louisiana (LA), 70117 detailed profile. www.city-data.com/neighborhood. Accessed 12 March 2011.
City-data.com. (2011c). St. Claude neighborhood in New Orleans Louisiana (LA), 70117 detailed profile. www.city-data.com/neighborhood. Accessed 12 March 2011.
Collins, R. (2004). Interaction ritual processes. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Cuba, L., & Hummon, D. M. (1993). A place to call home: Identification with dwelling, community, and region. The Sociology Quarterly, 34(1), 111–131.
Gecas, V. (1982). The self-concept. Annual Review of Sociology 8, 1–33.
Gottdiener, M. (1997). Looking at themed environments. In J. Lin & C. Melethe (Eds.) Urban sociology reader 2005 (pp. 302–307). New York: Routledge.
Hill Collins, P. (1998). Some group matters: Intersectionality, situated standpoints, and black feminist thought in fighting words: Black women and the search for justice (pp. 221–228). Minneapolis: University Of Minnesota Press.
Kyle, Gerard, Alan Graefe, Robet Manning, and James Bacon. (2004) “Effects of Place Attachment on Users’ Perceptions of Social and Environmental Conditions in a Natural Setting” pp 213-225 in Journal of Environmental Psychology 2004:24.
Lawler, E. J. (2001). The affect theory of social exchange. In P. J. Burke (Eds.) Contemporary social psychological theories (pp. 244–267). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lawler, E. J., & Thye, S. R. (1999). Bringing emotions into social exchange theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 217–244.
Lawler, E. J., Markovsky, B., & Ridgeway, C. (1993). Structural social psychology and the micro-macro problem. Sociological Theory, 11(3), 268–290.
Lawler, E. J., Thye, S. R., & Yoon, J. (2009). Social commitments in a depersonalized world. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Lin, Nan, Yang-chih Fu, Ray-May Hsung. (2008) “The Position Generator: Measurement Techniques for Investigations of Social Capital” Pp. 57-81 in Social Capital: Theory and Research, edited by Nan Lin, Karen Cook, Ronald S. Burt. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Matarrita-Cascante, D. (2010). Beyond growth: Reaching tourism-led development. Annals of Tourism Research, 37(4), 1141–1163.
McCall, G. J., & Simmons, J. L. (1966). Identities and interactions: An examination of human associations in everyday life. New York: The Free Press of Glencoe.Inc.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Reed, A. Jr. (2008). Class inequality, liberal bad faith, and neoliberalism In N. Gunewardena & M. Schuller (Eds.) Capitalizing on catastrophe: Neoliberal strategies in disaster reconstruction. Lanham: AltaMira Press.
Smith, A. (2007). Introduction: The revolution will not be funded. The revolution will not be funded. Cambridge: South End Press.
Stets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. (2000). Identity theory and social identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63(3), 224–237.
Stets, J. E., & Burke, P. J. (2003). A sociological approach to self and identity. In M. Leary & J. Tangney (Eds.) Handbook of self and identity (pp. 128–152). New York: Guilford Press.
Stryker, S., Owens, T. J., & White, R. W. (Eds.) (2000). Self, identity, and social movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Uphoff, N. (1999). Understanding social capital: Learning from the analysis and experience of participation. In P. Dasgupta & I. Serageldin (Eds.) Social capital: A multifaceted perspective (pp. 215–249). Washington, D.C: The World Bank.
Watson, K. (2004). Fieldwork in lesbian and gay communities. In S. N. Hesse-Biber & M. L. Yaiser. (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on social research (pp. 198–205). New York: Oxford University Press.
Williams, D. R., & Vaske, J. J. (2003). The measurement of place attachment: The validity and eneralizability of a Psychometric Approach. Forest Science, 49(6), 830–840.
Wilson, W. J. (2009). More than just race: Being black and poor in the inner city. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Savely, J. (2014). Gendered Helping Behaviors and Place Attachment in New Orleans’ Upper 9th Ward. In: Farris, D., Davis, M., Compton, D. (eds) Illuminating How Identities, Stereotypes and Inequalities Matter through Gender Studies. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8718-5_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8718-5_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8717-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8718-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)