Authors
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Bita Minaravesh
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Darren Ruddell
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Jennifer B. Unger
Keywords:
environmental dispositions, environmental attitudes, childhood perspectives, environmental disadvantage, eco-awareness
Abstract
Early environmental exposures profoundly affect children’s development of proenvironmental attitudes, yet the perspectives of children from historically environmentally disadvantaged neighborhoods are rarely heard. This study sought to understand children’s environmental dispositions in the South Bay Region of Los Angeles County, California. We held focus groups with 109 third- and fourth-grade students across four public elementary schools. The young students in the South Bay conveyed largely positive eco-perspectives and suggested a lifelong interest in environmental sustainability. Placing their responses within the school’s environmental context suggests that unfavorable local conditions do not hinder the development of eco-affinity or eco-awareness.
Author Biographies
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Bita Minaravesh
Bita Minaravesh is a Post-Doctoral Research Scholar at the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute and Lecturer at the Spatial Sciences Institute. Her research explores the relationship between children’s environmental justice and inter-generational equity for disadvantaged communities through a lens of intersectionality.
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Darren Ruddell
Darren Ruddell is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Southern California’s Spatial Sciences Institute. Ruddell earned his Ph.D. from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University, and his teaching and research efforts utilize geospatial technologies to investigate and advance issues of urban sustainability, geospatial intelligence, and human-environment interactions.
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Jennifer B. Unger
Jennifer B. Unger is a Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Her research focuses on psychological, social, and cultural predictors of health-related behaviors, with the goal of increasing health equity in diverse populations.
