Abstract
There is a long history of cultural assumptions regarding children’s special affinity or bond for certain places, much of it antedating modern psychology. Within psychology, the subject is more ambiguous. The term attachment evokes a long history of theory and research that has measured the degree to which young children seek to keep a primary caretaker in sight and hearing, showing distress at separation and joy at reunion not merely for the sake of the satisfaction of physical needs but for the value of her presence (Maccoby & Masters, 1970; Sears, 1972). Much of this work has been inspired by the psychoanalytic theory of object relations. A naive reader might suppose that this literature explores people’s relations with objects—with things—which must involve things in their places; but a reader schooled in psychological jargon knows that in this case “object” almost invariably means “mother.” Yet the confusion is not merely naive, as object relations theorists have usually assumed that a child’s feelings for places and things develop as an extension of its relations with its mother. As a result, it has not been clear whether place attachments should be considered merely secondary effects of social attachments, or whether they have an independent existence.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aiello, J. F., Gordon, B., & Farrell, T. J. (1974). Description of children’s outdoor activities in a suburban residential area. In R. Moore (Ed.), Man-environment interactions: Childhood city (pp. 187–195). Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross.
Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1973). The development of infant-mother attachment. In B. M. Caldwell & H. N. Ricciuti (Eds.), Review of child development research Vol. 3, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Auslander, N., Juhasz, J. B., & Carrasco, F. F. (1978). Chicano children in their residential setting. In S. Weidemann, J. R. Anderson, & R. L. Brauer (Eds.), Priorities for environmental design research (pp. 197–213). Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Assn.
Barker, R. G., & Schoggen, P. (1973). Qualities of community life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bassuk, E., Rubin, L., & Lauriat, A. (1986). Characteristics of sheltered homeless families. American Journal of Public Health, 76, 1097–1101.
Borden, R. (1986). Ecology and identity. Proceedings of the Ecosystems and New Energetics Conference, Hamburg, Germany.
Brower, S., & Williamson, P. (1974). Outdoor recreation as a function of the urban housing environment. Environment & Behavior, 6, 295–345.
Chawla, L. (1985). Knowing your place. In S. Klein, R. Mener, Sc S. Lehman (Eds.), Environmental change/social change (pp. 155–161). Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
Chawla, L. (1986). The ecology of environmental memory. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 3 (4), 34–42.
Chawla, L. (1989). Kentucky conservationists. Oral History Collection, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. Cassette recording and transcriptions.
Chawla, L. (1990). Ecstatic places. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 7 (4), 18–23.
Coates, G., & Bussard, E. (1974). Patterns of children’s spatial behavior in a moderate-density housing development. In R. Moore (Ed.), Man-environment interactions: Childhood city (pp. 131–141). Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross.
Cobb, E. (1959). The ecology of imagination in childhood. Daedalus, 88, 537–548.
Cooper Marcus, C. (1974). Children’s play behavior in a low-rise, inner-city housing development. In R. Moore (Ed.), Man-environment interactions: Childhood city (pp. 197–211). Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross.
Cooper Marcus, C. (1978). Remembrance ot landscapes past. Landscape, 22(3), 34–43.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rochberg-Halton, E. (1981). The meaning of things. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Dovey, K. (1990). Refuge and imagination. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 7 (4), 13–17.
Erikson, E. (1959). Identity and uprootedness in our time. Address at the 11th Annual Meeting of the World Federation for Mental Health, Vienna.
Erikson, E. (1963). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton.
Eubanks Owens, P. (1988). Natural landscapes, gathering places, and prospect refuges. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 5, (2), 17–24.
Francis, M. (1984/1985). Children’s use of open space in Village Homes. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 1(4), 36–38.
Francis, M. (1988). Negotiating between children and adult design values in open space projects. Design Studies, 9(2), 67–75.
Freud, S. (1953). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. In J. Strachey (Ed.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works (Volume 7, pp. 125–245). London: Hogarth Press. (German edition published 1905).
Freud, S. (1955). Analysis of a phobia in a five-year-old boy. In J. Strachey (Ed.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works (Volume 10, pp. 5–149). London: Hogarth Press. (German edition published 1909).
Freud, S. (1961). Civilization and its discontents (J. Strachey, Trans.). New York: W. W. Norton. (German edition published 1930).
Gray, L., & Brower, S. N. (1977). Activities of children in an urban neighborhood. Baltimore City Planning Commission, Dept. of Planning.
Greenberg, J. R., & Mitchell, S. A. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hart, R. (1978). Children’s exploration of tomorrow’s environments. Ekistics, 45, 387–390.
Hart, R. (1979). Children’s experience of place. New York: Irvington.
Hester, R., & McNally, M. (1988). “We’d like to tell you. ...” Small Town, 18(4), 19–24.
Homel, R., & Burns, A. (1985). Through a child’s eyes. In I. Burnley & J. Forrest (Eds.), Living in cities (pp. 103–115). London: Allen & Unwin.
Kagan, J. (1984). The nature of the child. New York: Basic Books.
Ladd, F. (1972). Black youths view their environments. Journal of American Institute of Planners, 38, 108–116.
Ladd, F. (1977). Residential history: You can go home again. Landscape, 21(2), 15–20.
Lukashok, A., & Lynch, K. (1956). Some childhood memories of the city. Journal of American Institute of Planners, 22, 142–152.
Lynch, K. (1977). Growing up in cities. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.
Lynch, K. (1981). A theory of good city form. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.
Maccoby, E., & Masters, J. (1970). Attachment and dependency. In P. H. Müssen (Ed.), Carmichael’s manual of child psychology (3rd edition). Vol. 2. (pp. 73–157). New York: Wiley.
Moore, R. (1979). Managing urban space in the interest of children. Paper presented at The Child in the City Program, Toronto.
Moore, R. (1986). Childhood’s domain. London: Croom Helm.
Moore, R., & Young, D. (1978). Childhood outdoors. In I. Airman & J. F. Wohlwill (Eds.), Children and the environment (pp. 83–130). New York: Plenum.
Nasaw, D. (1985). Children of the city. New York: Anchor.
Neperud, R. W. (1975). Favorite places. Journal of Environmental Education, 6, 27–31.
Olwig, K. (1982). Education and the sense of place. In D. E. Cosgrove (Ed.), Geography and the humanities. Occasional paper No. 5. Loughborough University of Technology.
Payne, R. J., & Jones, D. R. W. (1976). Children’s urban landscapes in Huntington Hills, Calgary. In P. Suedfeld, J. A. Russell, L. M. Ward, F. Szigeti, & G. Davis (Eds.), The behavioral basis of design, Book 2 (pp. 306–313). Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross.
Pearce, J. C. (1977). Magical child. New York: Dutton.
Peterson, N., & Hungerford, H. (1981). Developmental variables affecting environmental sensitivity in professional environmental educators. In A. B. Sacks, L. A. Iozzi, J. M. Schultz, & R. Wilke (Eds.), Current issues in environmental education and environmental studies. Vol. 7 (pp. 111–113). Columbus, OH: ERIC.
Piaget, J. (1929). The child’s construction of the world. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Riley, R. B. (1979). Reflections on the landscapes of memory. Landscape, 23, 11–18.
Rivlin, L. (1978). Environmental autobiography. Childhood City Newsletter, 14, 2.
Schachtel, E. (1959). Metamorphosis. New York: Basic Books.
Schiavo, R. S. (1987). Home and neighborhood places important to suburban youth. Paper presented at Annual Conference of the American Psychological Association, New York.
Schiavo, R. S. (1988). Age differences in assessment and use of a suburban neighborhood among children and adolescents. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 5(2), 4–9.
Searles, H. F. (1959). The nonhuman environment. New York: International Universities Press.
Sears, R. (1972). Attachment, dependency, and frustration. In J. Gewirtz (Ed.), Attachment and dependency (pp. 1–27). New York: Halsted.
Shack, J. (1987). Evaluation of a housing demonstration project. In J. Harvey & D. Henning (Eds.), Public environments (pp. 32–41). Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.
Shepard, P. (1967). Man in the landscape. New York: Knopf.
Sobel, D. (1989). Children’s special places. Unpublished monograph, Antioch New England Graduate School, Keene, NH.
Sobel, D. (1990). A place in the world. Children’s Environments Quarterly, 7(4), 5–12.
Tanner, T. (1980). Significant life experiences. Journal of Environmental Education, 11(4), 20–24.
Torell, G. (1979). Play spaces viewed through children’s maps. Childhood City Newsletter, 17, 7–11.
Tuan, Y. F. (1980). Rootedness versus sense of place. Landscape, 24, 3–8.
Van Staden, F. J. (1984). Urban early adolescents, crowding, and the neighborhood experience. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 4, 97–118.
Ward, C. (1975). Childhood and the perceived city. Bulletin of Environmental Education, 48, 5–8
Williams, R. (1973). The country and the city. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wohlwill, J. F., & Heft, H. (1987). The physical environment and the development of the child. In D. Stokols & I. Airman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 281–328). New York: Wiley.
Wordsworth, W. (1947). Ode on intimations of immortality. In E. de Selincourt & H. Darbishire (Eds.), Poetical works (pp. 279–282). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Chawla, L. (1992). Childhood Place Attachments. In: Altman, I., Low, S.M. (eds) Place Attachment. Human Behavior and Environment, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8753-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8753-4_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-8755-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-8753-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive