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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Taigy Thomas, MA, Community Health Sciences, UCLA-School of Public Health, PO Box 951772, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, (310) 287-1618, ttthomas@ucla.edu and Elaine Vaughan, PhD, Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, School of Social Ecology, Psychology and Social Behavior, Irvine, CA 92697-7085.
How societies manage physical, mental and psychological threats derived from technological advances has, until recently been a product of political, scientific and expert assessments. However, experts have been limited in heir ability to predict public judgments and responses to environmental hazards. The differences between the way in which risk experts and affected populations conceptualize, assess and make preferences for and management strategies are exacerbated when demographic characteristics such as race and socioeconomic status are considered. Non-whites and persons in poorer socio-economic conditions are more likely to live in close proximity to environmental hazards (e.g. hazardous waste facilities) and encounter increased levels of toxic exposure on the job. However, few have attempted to understand and integrate non-white perspectives and judgments into risk policy. Using face-to face interviews employing standardized protocols and open-ended questions this study investigated the difference in environmental risk perceptions between a racially and economically varied sample of California Residents (n=159). Analyses suggest that race and socioeconomic status predicts environment risk percep
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Community, Community Response
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.