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Health Equity Through Spatial Justice: a Critical Phenomenology of Urban Trail Makers Arvin Simon

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Health Equity Through Spatial Justice: a Critical Phenomenology of Urban Trail Makers Arvin Simon Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 12-2018 Health Equity Through Spatial Justice: A Critical Phenomenology of Urban Trail Makers Arvin Simon Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Health Psychology Commons, and the Theory and Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Simon, A. (2018). Health Equity Through Spatial Justice: A Critical Phenomenology of Urban Trail Makers (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1460 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH SPATIAL JUSTICE: A CRITICAL PHENOMENOLOGY OF URBAN TRAIL MAKERS A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Arvin Simon December 2018 Copyright by Arvin Simon 2018 SIG NATURE PAGE HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH SPATIAL JUSTICE: A CRITICAL PHENOMENOLOGY OF URBAN TRAIL MAKERS By Arvin Simon Approved May 10, 2018 _________________________________ __________________________________ Eva-Maria Simms, Ph.D. Derek Hook, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Associate Professor of Psychology (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) _________________________________ Ilyssa Manspeizer, Ph.D. (anthropology) Director of Landforce (Committee Member) _________________________________ __________________________________ James Swindal, Ph.D. Leswin Laubscher, Ph.D. Dean, McAnulty Graduate School of Liberal Arts Chair, Psychology Professor of Philosophy Professor of Psychology iii ABSTRACT HEALTH EQUITY THROUGH SPATIAL JUSTICE: A CRITICAL PHENOMENOLOGY OF URBAN TRAIL MAKERS By Arvin Simon December 2018 Dissertation supervised by Eva-Maria Simms, Ph.D. Research has increasingly demonstrated that race, class and place are powerful predictors of health and social justice. This study was conducted to identify the lived experiences of individuals who were hired and trained as part of a green job program that created trails within a city park in Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington Community. This program has historically hired individuals who were formerly incarcerated, many of whom identify as African American. We explored the personal and social experiences of working in nature to better appreciate the intersections of race, class and environment in an urban community. This current study is based on a four-month ethnography exploring the relationships between nature, work and identity in a field setting. In addition to ethnographic observations, data was acquired through individual interviews with program participants (n=5) and staff (n=4). This study uses a phenomenological perspective to understand crew members’ lived experiences of nature, work and identity. The iv research is contextualized within an extensive literature review in which we adopt a broader, systemic perspective to consider the complex relationships between place, race, class, community and self-identity. Recognizing the need for health care professionals to attend to social/economic/environmental justice, this study will be presented as parts of a clinical picture: Part I, Gathering a History; Part II, Sorting the Data and Part III, Summary and Recommendations. This study combines the methodologies of phenomenology and critical thematic analysis. It integrates insights and research from philosophy, history, critical race theory, epidemiology, anthropology, and urban studies to explore the matrix of personal, social and cultural interactions between people and places. This work is therefore concerned with how places are stratified or layered according to practices that ascribe privilege to some persons while marginalizing others. In other words, we critically examine the social fabric of American society to understand how health and justice are impacted by place and race. In so doing, we advance the novel concept of a ‘spatial epidermal schema’ to understand how places become racialized and shape our encounters with others. The data is presented in three separate chapters on the respective themes of nature, work and identity. Our analysis concentrates on a phenomenological exploration of how program participants experienced nature, work and their sense of self and others. A critical thematic analysis of both program participants and staff was also conducted to identify interpretive repertoires that structure relationships between staff, workers and the community. The results demonstrate that individuals are highly attuned to their physical and social environments as well as power structures that shape their roles and identities in relation to each other. This study can be used by community action researchers, program developers and community planners to v understand the therapeutic benefits of nature as well as the developmental trajectory that participants navigate when learning job skills and forming meaningful social connections with others. Furthermore, this study highlights the complexities of identity (particularly being African American) in an urban environment divided by race and social status. As a commitment to community action research, the findings of this study will also be translated into a textual resource or presentation that can be provided to Mount Washington and other communities for future training and program development towards working within urban green spaces. This research is intended to be read by a lay audience with broad interest in the themes of nature, work and social justice. It may also be used by those who are interested in community development and social solutions to unemployment. Furthermore, this research may be useful to psychological researchers who are interested in critically foregrounding thematic elements (i.e. interpretive repertoires) that structure social relations. It is my hope that this research will also inspire clinicians to consider how social and environmental issues impact health and wellbeing. vi DEDICATION For Sandra and Felix Simon vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Stand still/ The trees ahead and the bushes beside you are not lost./The forest knows where you are./ You must let it find you. – “Lost” by David Whyte As Emmanuel Levinas, that incomparable philosopher of ethics, had said of desire, we too can say of gratitude. It can never express itself to satiation. This is because an expression of gratitude [PIE root: gwerә-, meaning both “to favor” and also “heavy”] is more than a sentiment or memorial; it is simultaneously a recognition of what is bestowed upon one (i.e. grace) as well as a reckoning with the substantiality (i.e. gravity) of that which one is bestowed. Thus the expression of gratitude is also an impression—and the more grateful I am, the deeper in grace I find myself; thus my path is made firmer and I am all the more compelled to venture further. What I mean to say is that a thanks is a necessary way to begin this journey but it can never be enough, there is always more to come. More of a process than a product—a journey or trail. Without arrival or ending, I find myself here, at another beginning. I would surely be lost were it not for those loved ones, kindred spirits and guardians that have made my path hospitable. It has been my honor and privilege to work with the Mount Washington Community Development Corporation and the employees that develop and run programs such as the Emerald Trail Corps. A special thanks to Kathryn Hunninen, Thomas Guentner, Shawn Taylor, Laura Bohachyk, and Judith Koch for showing me the ropes and welcoming me into the team with curiosity, generosity and hospitality. viii Without doubt, my greatest privilege was in being able to work alongside the 2015 crewmembers of the Emerald Trail Corps. For the better part of that spring and summer, these men were my participants, guides, trail makers, teachers and peers. I came to them as a somewhat shy and quiet outsider and they all made me feel like I had always belonged. From them, I was inspired to develop this research into a much more detailed investigation on the intersectionality of health, race and place. I hope they are all proud of the immense contributions they had accomplished during that year. I have endeavored to present some of their stories here and I hope that those of them who read this will do so with pride. So thank you Shawn (again), Riddles, Mike, Jim, Markus and the others who wished to remain anonymous. As a scholar, I had the fortune of working with a very gifted committee of people who had immeasurably enhanced this project through their gifts of patience, encouragement, experience and wisdom. I can think of no better readers than Dr. Ilyssa Manspeizer, who brought to this project her attention to details and nuanced experience working with vulnerable communities, and Dr. Derek Hook, who contributed with theoretical knowledge and stressed methodological rigor. But this project would not be possible without Dr. Eva Simms. Her leadership, academic work, nurturing guidance and pioneering community work have enabled scholars such as myself and many, many others to pursue psychological research that interpellates philosophy, environment, and justice. More than this, Eva has given me the gift of self-belief.
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