EMOTION, COGNITION,
AND ACTION
Understanding
Environmental
and Health
Issues in the
United States
ENTERING ANTHROPOLOGY FROM THE
APPLIED PERSPECTIVE
What problems do I
want to solve? What
do I care about?
 Health care access
 The experience of
vulnerable people
 Sustainability
How can I address
these issues?
PROJECT 1:
RANGELANDS AND RANCHING CULTURE
 The problem: What leads to
sustainable vs. unsustainable
rangeland management?
 The issues:
 Ranchers’ LEK and rangeland
management practice
 Decision-making and the influence
of policy and global markets
 Ranching culture and landscape
and its relationship to rangeland
politics
 The work:
 2002: General Interviews
 2003: Participant Observation
 2005: Participant Observation,
Depth Interviews, Decision
Modeling
 2012: 5-year follow -up Interviews
DECISION MAKING AND CULTURAL MODELS
http://img.mailchimp.com/2008/02/15/9qqoqe09t39d0ktta8cq06b1j0/ConflictCircleWiresCrossed(2).jpg
 Decision-making models link:





Policy
Market
LEK
Personal preferences
Cultural patterns
 Cultural models identify:
 Worldview differences
 Valuation of knowledge systems
 Cultural storylines and pictures
that make sense to people
 Emotional attachments
 Why care?
 Fosters cross-cultural
understanding
 Identifies counter-productive
forces in policy, market, etc.
Can we make sense out of this in a way
that assists in mediating conflict for
group decision-making?
Changing patterns of production…
Do you feel that participating in the
program compromises your
independence?
YES
YES
NO
NO
Do you value the feeling of independence
more than any benefits that you could
acquire?
Is participating in the program more
expensive than not participating in
it?
YES
NO
DON’T
YES
Given the monetary and labor costs, would
you make more money if you participated in
the program than if you sold independently?
Would you have to change your
management plan to participate in
the program?
NO
YES
NO
NO
Is the convenience and/or
lowered risk worth the lost
profits?
YES
Would participating in the program
increase your profits?
YES
NO
HARRIS
RANCH
YES
Is getting information back on your
calves worth the lost profits?
NO
Do you believe that such
partnerships are where the cattle
industry is headed, and that it is
good to proactively get involved?
YES
HARRIS
RANCH
YES
Do you believe Harris Ranch is the
best option to accomplish this?
NO
NO
DON’T
Participation in Harris Ranch
Program
LAND USE, LANDSCAPES, AND
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
 What questions were not
addressed?
 Settlement and land use
patterns over time
 Understanding LEK in place
 The complex relationship
between:
 Specific policies at certain
places
 Decisions about land use and
management
 Environmental health
 GIS and ethnographic work
 Mental maps
 Social and natural history of
landscape
 Cultural and individual
memory and knowledge
PROJECT 2:
THE PAGAN HEALTH SURVEY PROJECT
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 collegeeducated.
She is almost as
likely to selfidentify as nonheteronormative
as she is to selfidentify as
“woman” and
“straight/
heterosexual.”
 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 health
 Problems in access to and
successful integration with the
biomedical health care system
 The work:
 2005-2012: General Participant
Observation
 2010: Survey and Interview
Schedule
 1,598 participants in sur vey
 Depth inter views with nine clergy
and health care practitioners
HEALING
•Energy (107)
•Balance(48)
•Love (42)
This became an
introduction for
doctors, nurses,
and other
practitioners to
their patient…
•Natural (70)
•Spiritual (63)
•Holistic (44)
Spiritual
Associations:
400
Responses
Types of
Healing:
323
Responses
Healing
Practices:
302
Responses
What Healing
Means:
345
Responses
•Reiki (52)
•Meditation (40)
•Rest (37)
•Magic (32)
Number of responses in parentheses.
… and a point to
rally around for
Pagans, helping
them recognize
their solidarity.
•Restoration (43)
•Wholeness (35)
•Recovery (32)
Percent
THE ROLE OF SPIRITUAL LEADERS:
WHEN A PRIEST/ESS IS CALLED FOR HELP
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
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.
PAGAN HEALTH SURVEY PROJECT, 2 YEARS
LATER: MENTAL HEALTH
Pagan-friendly
mental health
professionals
can be found
and contacted
Mental health
community is
prepared
Clergy are
prepared
•
•
•
Recognize mental
illness
Talk to people about
finding help
Offer referrals to
Pagan-friendly
mental health
professionals
•
Better
Linkages
•
•
Can differentiate
between mental
illness and Pagan
beliefs/practices
Are culturally
competent
Can relate to Pagan
patients
PAGAN HEALTH SURVEY PROJECT, 2
YEARS LATER: HEALTH CARE ACCESS
46.9%
Incomes
less than
$25,000
Affordable
Group Plan
Insurance
33% Ethnic
minorities
29% Live in rural
areas
Elder Care
Women’s and
LGBTQ Health
28.3% LGBTQ (despite
higher education levels)
25.3% Average
Who lacks health insurance?
PROJECT 3:
PAGANISM AND SUSTAINABILIT Y
 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 nature
 How ritual relates to individual
commitment and behaviors in nonritual space and time
 The work (coming 201 2 -13):
 8 seasonal festivals: Druidic and
Wiccan
 4 major Druidic and fairy -centered
large-scale rituals
 Interviews
 Survey
CONTRACT PROJECTS:
HAVE METHODS, WILL TRAVEL
 Service to community,
especially to nonprofits:
Assessing
Current
Program
Finding
Challenges
and
Opportunities
Sustaining
Funding
Making
Data-Driven
Changes
Explaining Evaluations
 Organizational analysis
 Program design
 Evaluations
 Long-term vision:
 Serving community
 Serving students
 Serving the discipline
THE BIG QUESTIONS
What constructs the
human experience,
individually and
collectively?
How can we
get people to
think “good”
thoughts and
do “good”
things? How
do we define
“good”?
Worldview
and Religion
Natural
Environment
Cognitive
Patterns
Body
Personality
History
Built
Environment
How do people think of
new ideas and choose to
behave in new ways?
Why sometimes and not
others?
Economy