Abstract
Local environmental hazards place millions of citizens at risk of physical, emotional, and financial harm. While the discovery of such hazards can be fundamentally disempowering for individuals and communities, few scholars have examined the dynamics of empowerment in this context. We explore the relationships among forms of empowerment, citizen participation, and local environmental hazards, and offer a model of the processes of empowerment and disempowerment appropriate to a broad range of citizen issues. On the basis of this analysis we recommend a partnership approach to community decision making that is designed both to reduce the likelihood that local environmental hazards will develop and to minimize the disempowering impact of any threats that do occur.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baum, A., Fleming, R., & Davidson, L. M. (1983). Natural disaster and technological catastrophe.Environment and Behavior, 15, 333–354.
Brion, D. J. (1991).Essential industry and the NIMBY phenomenon. New York: Quorum.
Brown, P., & Mikkelsen, E. J. (1990).No safe place: Toxics, leukemia and community action. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Brown, B. B., & Perkins, D. D. (1992). Disruptions in place attachment. In I. Altman & S. M. Low (Eds.),Place attachment, New York: Plenum Press.
Bryant, B., & Mohai, P. (1992).Race and the incidence of environmental hazards. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Bullard, R. D., & Wright, B. (1992).Confronting environmental racism. Easthaven, CT: South End.
Cable, S., & Degutis, B. (1991). The transformation of community consciousness: The effects of citizens' organizations on host communities.International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 9, 383–399.
Church, T. W., & Nakamura, R. T. (1993).Cleaning up the mess: Implementation strategies in superfund. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Citizen's Clearinghouse for Hazardous Waste. (1993).Ten Years of triumph. Falls Church, VA.
Cohen, G., & O'Connor, J. (Eds.) (1990).Fighting toxics. Washington, DC: Island.
Dunst, C. J., Trivette, C. M., & Lapointe, N. (1992). Toward clarification of the meaning and key elements of empowerment.Family Science Review, 5(1 & 2), 111–130.
Edelstein, M. R. (1986). Toxic exposure and inversion of the home.Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 3, 237–251.
Edelstein, M. R. (1988).Contaminated communities: The social and psychological impacts of residential toxic exposure. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Edelstein, M. R. (1992). NIMBY as a healthy response to environmental stigma associated with hazardous facility siting. In G. Leitch (Ed.),Hazardous materials/hazardous wastes (pp. 413–431). Winnipeg, Manitoba: Institute for Social Impact Assessment.
Edelstein, M. R., & Wandersman, A. W. (1987). Community dynamics in coping with toxic exposure. In I. Altman & A. Wandersman (Eds.),Neighborhood and community environments. New York: Plenum Press.
EPA. (1993).1991 Toxics release inventory. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Florin, P., & Wandersman, A. (1984). Cognitive social learning and participation in community development.American Journal of Community Psychology, 12, 689–708.
Freudenberg, N., & Steinsapir, C. (1992). Not in our backyards: The grassroots environmental movement. In R. E. Dunlap & A. G. Mertig (Eds.),American environmentalism (pp. 27–37). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
Goldman, B. A. (1991).The truth about where you live. New York: Random House.
Goldman, B. A. (1992). Community right-to-know: Environmental information for citizen participation.Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 12(3), 315–325.
Hadden, S. G. (1989).A citizen's right to know: Risk communication and public policy. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Hallman, W. K. & Wandersman, A. (1992). Attribution of responsibility and individual and collective coping with environmental threasts.Journal of Social Issues, 48(4), 101–118.
Heller, K., Price, R., Reinharz, S., Riger, S., & Wandersman, A. (1984).Psychology and community change: Challenges for the future. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Kieffer, C. (1984). Citizen empowerment: A developmental perspective. In J. Rappaport, C. Swift, & R. Hess (Eds.),Studies in empowerment: Steps toward understanding and action. New York: Haworth.
Krimsky, S., & Plough, A. (1988).Environmental hazards: Communicating risks as a social process. Dover, MA: Auburn House.
Lagadec, P. (1992).States of emergency—technological failures and social destabilization, London: Butterworth-Heinenmann.
Lappè, M. (1991).Chemical deception: The toxic threat to health and the environment. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Lewis, S. (1993).The good neighbor handbook. Acton, MA: CSPP.
Lindell, M. K., & Perry, R. W. (1992).Behavioral foundations of community emergency planning. Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
Musselman, V. C. (1989).Emergency planning and community right-to-know: An implementer's guide to SARA Title III. New York: Van Nostrand-Reinhold.
National Research Council. (1989).Improving risk communication. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Otway, H. (1992). Public Wisdom, expert fallibility: Toward a contextual theory of risk (pp. 215–228). In S. Krimsky & D. Golding (Eds.),Social theories of risk. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Rappaport, J. (1987). Terms of empowerment/exemplars of prevention: Toward a theory for community psychology.American Journal of Community Psychology, 15, 121–143.
Reich, M. R. (1991).Toxic politics: responding to chemical disasters. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
Renn, O., Burns, W. J., Kasperson, J. Kasperson, R. E., & Slovic, P. (1992). The social amplification of risk: Theoretical foundations and empirical applications.Journal of Social Issues, 48(4), 137–160.
Rich, R. C., Conn, W. D., & Owens, W. L. (1992). Strategies for effective risk communication under SARA Title III: Perspectives from research and practice.Environmental Professional, 14, 220–227.
Rich, R. C., Conn, W. D., & Owens, W. L. (1992). “Indirect regulation” of environmental hazards through the provision of information to the public.Policy Studies Journal, 21(1), 16–34.
Rich, R. C., & Rosenbaum, W. A. (1981). Citizen participation in the policy process.Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 17.
Rosenbaum, W. A. (1995).Environmental politics and policy (3rd ed). Washington, DC: CQ.
Sandman, P. M. (1989). Hazard vs. outrage in the public perception of risk. In V. T. Covello, D. B. McCallum, & M. T. Pavlova (Eds.),Effective risk communication (pp. 45–49). New York: Plenum Press.
Schweitzer, G. E. (1991).Borrowed earth, borrowed time: Healing America's chemical wounds. New York: Plenum Press.
Setterberg, F., & Shavelson, L. (1989).Toxic nation: The fight to save our communities from chemical contamination. New York: Wiley.
Stone, R. A., & Levine, A. G. (1985). Reactions to collective stress: Correlates of active citizen participation at Love Canal. In A. Wandersman & R. Hess (Eds.),Beyond the individual: Environmental approaches to prevention (pp. 153–177). New York: Hanworth.
Tickner, J. A. & Gray, H. (1994).Accidents do happen: Toxic chemical accident patterns in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Unger, D. G., Wandersman, A., & Hallman, W. (1992). Living near a hazardous waste facility: Coping with individual and family distress.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 62, 55–70.
Wandersman, A., & Florin, P. (Eds.) (1990). Citizen participation, voluntary organizations, and community development: Insights for empowerment through research [special section].American Journal of Community Psychology,18(1).
Wandersman, A. H., & Hallman, W. K. (1993). Are people acting irrationally? Understanding public concerns about environmental threats.American Psychologist, 48, 681–686.
Wandersman, A. H., & Hallman, W. K. (1994). Environmental threats: Perception of risk, stress and coping. In B. H. Ruiz, J. M. Torvisco, & E. Suarez (Eds.),Psicologia ambiental Y responsabilidad ecologica.
Wise, M., & Kenworthy, L. (1993).Preventing industrial toxic hazards: A guide for communities. New York: INFORM.
Zimmerman, M. A. (1995). Psychological empowerment: Issues and illustrations.American Journal of Community Psychology, 23, 581–599.
Zimmerman, M. A. (in press). Enpowerment theory: Psychological, organizational, and community levels of analysis. In J. Rappaport & E. Seidman (Eds.),The handbook of community psychology. New York: Plenum Press.
Zimmerman, M. A., Israel, B. A., Schulz, A., & Checkoway, B. (1992). Further explorations in empowerment theory: an empirical analysis of psychological empowerment.American Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 707–727.
Zimmerman, M. A., & Rappaport, J. (1988). Citizen participation, perceived control, and psychological empowerment.American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 725–750.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rich, R.C., Edelstein, M., Hallman, W.K. et al. Citizen participation and emprowerment: The case of local environmental hazards. Am J Commun Psychol 23, 657–676 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02506986
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02506986