A phenomenological study into how two residents of Kent (UK) experience their sense of self in relationship.

Identity and Place Background / literature review Introduction: Place and sense of the self (or identity) has been researched by a number of psychological perspectives. Notably research has been produced by from both environmental and social psychologists that has attempted to unravel the processes that may be at play. The phenomenological perspective has been chosen for its methodological merits in providing detailed accounts of individual's unique experiences of phenomena. Chapter 5 on the concept of the self' from Holloway et al (2007) book 1 showed how different social psychological perspectives have approached this subject all with diverse methodologies. The chapter describes the concept of the self' to be central to social psychology but also that it is an elusive concept to define. Place identity is not often thought of as being a significant form of self categorization comparable to gender, age, or sexual identity. However, place or location is typically one of the first pieces of self-descriptive information given when meeting someone for the first time. Place identity and place attachments can be highly emotive either positively or negatively. Place can refer however to one's house, or to a street, town, city or country. Place identity can also concern purely physical aspects or the social significance that a place may hold for an individual. The absence of place identity as a major form of self-categorisation perhaps reflects difficulties in deciphering its meaning and not of its theoretical importance. Closer examination of the forces at play would include assessing many of the theories explored within Chapter 5. Image of neighbourhood, self-image and sense of community' by Mannarini et al 2006. This is a research paper that looked at the relationship between images of community residences and the sense of community. The researchers sought to see if there was a link between the self and neighbourhood images. They took 1,031 interviews from 3 Italian cities using the method of free association to complete the phrases, my neighbourhood is . . .' and I am . . .' and cluster-analysis and correspondence-analysis were performed between these two answers and their sense of community. Their subsequent analysis found a link between the subject's sense of community and their image of the neighbourhood; but not a clear relationship between their neighbourhood images and sense of self. Place and identity processes' by Twigger-Ross and Uzzell (1996). Their research looked at four principles of identity as described by Breakwell's identity-process-model' in the context of place identity of residents of Rotherhithe, London. The 4 principles of identity researched were continuity', self-esteem', self-efficacy', and distinctiveness'. The researchers conducted 20 indepth semi-structured interviews on a sample of residents from Rotherhithe. The interviews were then transcribed and content analysis was conducted. They found that residents could be grouped into either attached or non-attached to their local environments. The researchers noted that whilst some residents were non-attached this included residents with neutral and negative evaluations of their local environment.

A phenomenological study into how two residents of Kent (UK) experience their sense of self in relationship. A community in transition: the relationship between spatial change and identity processes' by Speller et al (2002). The research looks at how attachment to a place can take form and how these processes are connected to identity. Speller used a longitudinal design that had both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The research took place over 6 year period of the enforced relocation of residents of a mining village from Derbyshire. The research is based on the transactional paradigm in which people are seen to be in a dynamic relationship with their environment. The findings showed that many of the residents who were relocated felt that their social networks had become redundant in the move. They found that the socio-spatial relationship with the environment could not be easily moved or recreated. The researchers have explored types of attachment and place-identity types. Mannarini et al (2006) found a positive correlation between residents' image of their local environment and their sense of community. The researchers could not though distinguish a clear link with individual identity. Twigger-Ross and Uzzell (1996) research found that those residents who were non-attached did not necessarily hold a negative view of their environment. Ah now I understand! Whilst, Speller's (2002) research into relocation of residents of a mining village from Derbyshire showed that social networks had become firmly embedded to a physical location. This latter raises so many questions about the process of this location effect. Was it the disturbance' that broke the bonds or was it that in the new location the old structure (neighbours, local facilities etc) was replaced? Topic: the concept of the self'. Specific focus of interest: self-identification with places. Theoretical perspective: phenomenological. Research question: How do individuals experience places in relationship to the concept of the self'? Method: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is proposed as an approach to look at the phenomenological concept of lifeworld'. The key constituents of lifeworld'; temporality, spatiality, embodiment and intersubjectivity all playing a significant role in the topic of interest.