Understanding Environmental and Health Issues in the United - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Understanding Environmental and Health Issues in the United States

Emotion, Cognition, and ActionSlide2

What problems do I want to solve? What do I care about?

Health care access

The experience of vulnerable peopleSustainabilityHow can I address these issues?

Entering Anthropology from the Applied PerspectiveSlide3

The problem: What leads to sustainable vs. unsustainable rangeland management?

The issues:

Ranchers’ LEK and rangeland management practiceDecision-making and the influence of policy and global markets

Ranching culture and landscape and its relationship to rangeland politicsThe work:2002: General Interviews2003: Participant Observation

2005:

Participant Observation, Depth Interviews, Decision Modeling2012: 5-year follow-up Interviews

Project 1:Rangelands and Ranching CultureSlide4

Decision-making models link:

Policy

MarketLEKPersonal preferencesCultural patterns

Cultural models identify:Worldview differencesValuation of knowledge systemsCultural storylines and pictures that make sense to peopleEmotional attachments

Why care?

Fosters cross-cultural understandingIdentifies counter-productive forces in policy, market, etc.

Decision Making and Cultural Models

Can we make sense out of this in a way that assists in mediating conflict for group decision-making?

http://img.mailchimp.com/2008/02/15/9qqoqe09t39d0ktta8cq06b1j0/ConflictCircleWiresCrossed(2).jpgSlide5

Do you feel that participating in the program compromises your independence?

Given the monetary and labor costs, would you make more money if you participated in the program than if you sold independently?

Is participating in the program more expensive than not participating in it?

Would you have to change your management plan to participate in the program?

Would participating in the program increase your profits?

Do you believe that such partnerships are where the cattle industry is headed, and that it is good to proactively get involved?

Do you believe Harris Ranch is the best option to accomplish this?

Do you value the feeling of independence more than any benefits that you could acquire?

Is the convenience and/or lowered risk worth the lost profits?

Is getting information back on your calves worth the lost profits?

DON’T

HARRIS

RANCH

DON’T

HARRIS

RANCH

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

YES

Participation in Harris Ranch

Program

Changing patterns of production…Slide6

What questions were not addressed?

Settlement and land use patterns over time

Understanding LEK in placeThe complex relationship between:

Specific policies at certain placesDecisions about land use and managementEnvironmental healthGIS and ethnographic workMental mapsSocial and natural history of landscape

Cultural and individual memory and knowledge

Land Use, Landscapes, and

Environmental HealthSlide7

The problem: How do Pagan people interact with the biomedical health care system and other forms of treatment?

The issues:

Pagan worldviews about health, healing, and wellness

Pagan choices and practices related to healthProblems in access to and successful integration with the biomedical health care systemThe work:2005-2012: General Participant Observation

2010: Survey and Interview Schedule

1,598 participants in surveyDepth interviews with nine clergy and health care practitioners

Project 2:The Pagan Health S

urvey

P

roject

The average Pagan:

Female and White. She may be from anywhere in the country.

She is between the ages of 36 and 50, and has been a Pagan for 17 years

.

She is middle class and college-educated.

She is almost as likely to self-identify as non-

heteronormative

as she is to self-identify as “woman” and “straight/

heterosexual.”Slide8

Healing

Number of responses in parentheses.

This became an introduction for doctors, nurses, and other practitioners to their patient…

… and a point to rally around for Pagans, helping them recognize their solidarity.Slide9

The Role of Spiritual Leaders:

When a priest/

ess is called for help

Percent

This became a point of discussion with health care practitioners, giving voice to Pagans’ experiences of prejudice and discrimination. It became a rallying point for Pagan mental health professionals to organize.Slide10

Pagan health survey project, 2 years later: mental health

Recognize mental illness

Talk to people about finding help

Offer referrals to Pagan-friendly mental health professionals

Can differentiate between mental illness and Pagan beliefs/practices

Are culturally competent

Can relate to Pagan patientsSlide11

Pagan health survey project, 2 years later: Health care access

Who lacks health insurance?Slide12

The problem:

How does ritual emplacement and enactment of nature spirit belief relate to sustainable behavior in daily life?

The issues:How Pagans use ritual to emotionally link people to place and teach them about nature

How ritual shapes and reflects Pagan beliefs about natureHow ritual relates to individual commitment and behaviors in non-ritual space and timeThe work (coming 2012-13):8 seasonal festivals: Druidic and Wiccan

4 major Druidic and fairy-centered large-scale rituals

InterviewsSurvey

Project 3:Paganism and SustainabilitySlide13

Service to community, especially to non-profits:

Organizational analysis

Program designEvaluationsLong-term vision:

Serving communityServing studentsServing the discipline

Contract Projects:

Have Methods, Will Travel

Explaining EvaluationsSlide14

The big questions

What constructs the human experience, individually and collectively?

How do people think of new ideas and choose to behave in new ways? Why sometimes and not others?

How can we get people to think “good” thoughts and do “good” things? How do we define “good”?