tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/social-ties-46717/articlesSocial ties – The Conversation2023-12-14T13:37:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2181742023-12-14T13:37:55Z2023-12-14T13:37:55ZNigeria’s flamboyant aso ebi dressing style is popular - but it’s become a financial burden<p>Aso ebi – “family uniform” – is the Yoruba custom of people dressing alike for social events. The custom is rooted in kinship (ebi), an important aspect of Yoruba social life since precolonial times in what’s now south-west Nigeria. </p>
<p>Words like <em>molebi</em> (kinsmen) and <em>olori ebi</em> (head of the family) point to the importance of kinship in this culture. The saying <em>eni to so ebi e nu, apo iya lo so ko</em> literally translates as “whoever deserts his kinsmen straps on his/her shoulder a satchel of misfortune”. Aso ebi expresses these values visibly: uniform dressing is intended to reinforce unity and fraternity. </p>
<p>Historically, Yoruba kinsmen wore the aso ebi – usually specially chosen fabrics – during celebrations for group identification.</p>
<p>At first, inclusion and participation in uniform clothing for social events was restricted to blood relationship and mutual ancestry. As time went on, belonging to a group through uniform dressing extended beyond family circles.</p>
<p>From the early 20th century, aso ebi became more about the need to communicate <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Aso-Ebi-%3A-The-Dynamics-of-Fashion-and-Cultural-in-Ajani/29cda686a2d9600811366015789dea8f0a24c282?utm_source=direct_link">social worth</a>. My interviews with some elderly people in Ibadan revealed that, during this period, it was referred to as <em>ankoo</em> (uniformity) or <em>egbejoda</em> (group uniform). Blood ties became a less important consideration for participation.</p>
<p>Nowadays, aso ebi is a regular <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234690994.pdf#page=1">feature</a> at social events like weddings, funerals, birthdays, conferments and political rallies across Nigeria. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ybH50nYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">scholar</a> of costume in theatre, I’ve always been fascinated by the aso ebi custom. In theatre, costume helps tell a story, among other functions, and aso ebi is also a costume in the performance of a social event. </p>
<p>I wanted to know more about the modern aso ebi trends. Anecdotal evidence suggested that the practice was becoming something of a burden for some people. My <a href="https://journaljesbs.com/index.php/JESBS/article/view/1041">research</a> bore this out: I found that the financial burden of purchasing aso ebi was prominent among its perceived drawbacks and strengths alike. </p>
<h2>Aso ebi as costume</h2>
<p>In theatre and film, costume transforms actors into characters and depicts setting, culture, age and occupation. It tells the audience something about the character’s social class, economic worth and status in a hierarchy. Costume can project personal characteristics, deliberately or unwittingly. It can help depict relationships in a group.</p>
<p>In daily life, too, clothes give us nonverbal clues about their wearers. They reveal age, mood, sex, culture, social status, religion, occupation, political affiliation and so on. </p>
<p>At social events, participants can be regarded as performers as well as audience members. Wearing aso ebi, participants are able to play premeditated or spontaneous roles.</p>
<h2>Modern trends</h2>
<p>In the last few decades, aso ebi has been <a href="https://www.google.com.ng/books/edition/Aso_Ebi/E84qEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Aso+Ebi:+Dress,+Fashion,+Visual+Culture,+and+Urban+Cosmopolitanism+in+West+Africa&printsec=frontcover">embraced</a> by other ethnic groups in Nigeria and the diaspora. The trend has extended beyond the geographical and social landscape of the Yoruba people. </p>
<p>Part of the reason may be its propensity to add glamour and spectacle to events. But even more importantly, it may be due to its inclusion tendency, since it gives wearers a sense of involvement, seemingly excluding some non-wearers, thereby drawing social Lines at social events. </p>
<p>It is common for guests to wear identical fabrics like wax prints (Ankara), lace, brocade and other materials to events. </p>
<p>Planning and coordinating this wearing of uniforms at events has become quite a business. Usually, a celebrant chooses the fabric, determines the price and monopolises the sale to guests. Often the intention is to make a profit. Guests can’t haggle over the price and are expected to turn out in the fabric for the event, thereby creating the impression of solidarity and support for the celebrant. </p>
<p>Affordability and social integration have become more significant considerations, pushing kinship to the back seat.</p>
<h2>Beyond the glamour, the distress</h2>
<p>Despite the popularity of aso ebi, my <a href="https://journaljesbs.com/index.php/JESBS/article/view/1041">study</a> found that it is causing some distress. </p>
<p>I administered questionnaires to 270 Yoruba adults (135 men and 135 women) in Osun and Oyo states in south-western Nigeria, asking them about the challenges and merits of wearing aso ebi. Participants indicated whether they experienced any of a list of challenges such as cost, competition and issues of personal taste. The list of potential merits included boosting camaraderie and collective sense of purpose, and benefits to the producers of the uniforms.</p>
<p>The results showed that the main problem with aso ebi was the financial burden of having to buy the fabrics continuously. This stems from being obliged to attend social events and the tendency for reciprocity: “I bought your aso ebi, buy mine.” People end up with a large stock of fabrics and are limited in their ability to buy, store and wear their own clothes.</p>
<p>Another challenge is that buyers of aso ebi fabrics don’t have a choice or the option of bargaining, since it is non-negotiable. And the fabrics and uniforms are not always to the individual’s taste.</p>
<p>Participants also felt that aso ebi encouraged unhealthy flamboyant competition.</p>
<p>When they responded to the list of potential merits, they gave equal weight to aso ebi as a booster of social incorporation and cohesion, and as a source of economic value for individuals who make the fabrics.</p>
<p>The practice has been <em>commodified</em> to the extent that cohesion, equality and social egalitarianism may be taking a back seat. Aso ebi is fast becoming a point of dissension, segregating wearers. It has a propensity to create social gulfs, distancing wearers and placing them on different tiers of the same ladder.</p>
<p>However, according to my study findings, the benefits of aso ebi – like comradeship – still outweigh the challenges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Olubukola Badeji is affiliated with a non-profit organisation.
Women Forward Innovative Development Initiative WFID. We are based in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Our aim is Women empowerment in order to alleviate poverty.</span></em></p>Aso ebi - colourful fabrics worn at social events in NIgeria - makes parties glamorous but the cost can also be burdensome.Susan Olubukola Badeji, Lecturer, Redeemer's UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1956372022-12-16T13:14:48Z2022-12-16T13:14:48ZOver the holidays, try talking to your relatives like an anthropologist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500772/original/file-20221213-20478-ts9sxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C11%2C7326%2C4891&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many people go their entire lives knowing little about their relatives' childhoods and formative experiences.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/hands-of-senior-woman-holding-cup-of-coffee-royalty-free-image/556674747?adppopup=true">Westend61/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How is it possible to spend so much time with your parents and grandparents and not really know them?</p>
<p>This question has puzzled me <a href="https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/anthropology/faculty/elk612">as an anthropologist</a>. It’s especially relevant for the holiday season, when millions of people travel to spend time with their families. </p>
<p>When my parents were alive, I traveled long distances to be with them. We had the usual conversations: what the kids were doing, how the job was going, aches and pains. It wasn’t until after my parents died, though, that I wondered whether I really knew them in a deep, rich and nuanced way. And I realized that I’d never asked them about the formative periods of their lives, their childhoods and teenage years. </p>
<p>What had I missed? How had this happened? </p>
<p>In fact, I had interviewed my mother a few years before her death. But I only asked her about other relatives – people I was curious about because my father’s job had taken us to places away from the rest of the family. I based my questions for my mother on the bit of information I already had, to build a family tree. You might say I didn’t know what I didn’t know. </p>
<p>I decided to research the kinds of questions that would have elicited from my mother things about her life that I had no clue about and that now remain hidden and lost forever. I interviewed older people to <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690817/the-essential-questions-by-elizabeth-keating-phd/">develop questions</a> that would paint a vivid picture of a person’s life as a child and teenager. I wanted details that would help me see the world that had influenced the person they became. </p>
<p>So I used my training as an anthropologist to ask the type of questions an anthropologist would ask when trying to understand a way of life or culture they know little about. Anthropologists want to see the world from another person’s point of view, through a new lens. The answers I got from older people opened whole new worlds for me.</p>
<h2>Probing the mundane</h2>
<p>One secret to having a deep conversation with your elders when you’re together over the holidays is to set aside your customary role. Forget, for the space of the interview, about your role as their grandchild or child, niece or nephew, and think like an anthropologist.</p>
<p>Most <a href="https://lib.guides.umd.edu/c.php?g=326980&p=2198795">genealogical inquiries</a> concentrate on the big life events like births, deaths and marriages, or building a family tree. </p>
<p>But anthropologists want to know about ordinary life: interactions with neighbors, how the passage of time was experienced, objects that were important to them, what children were afraid of, what courtship practices were like, parenting styles and more. </p>
<p>When you ask about social life, you’ll get descriptions that paint a picture of what it was like to be a child figuring things out back then – when, for instance, as one relative explained, “Unless you were told to go and say hello to Grandma, you never just, as a child, spoke to adults.” </p>
<p>On the other hand, when you ask about important objects, you’ll hear about those tangible things that pass from generation to generation in your family that are vessels of value. These ordinary things can convey stories about family life, just as this person who grew up in the U.K. describes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Mum used to say to me that the best part of the day was me coming home from school, coming in the back door and sitting on the stool in the kitchen and just talking, a mother-daughter thing. I’ve still got that stool from the kitchen. My father built it in evening classes. My children remember sitting on the stool in the kitchen, too, while Grandma was baking, passing time, drinking cups of tea and eating shortbread.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My interview subject, now a grandparent herself, had a hard time understanding the fascination young people have with the social worlds contained in their phones. </p>
<p>But on the topic of phones, I found there can also be unexpected points of connection across generations. When I asked one grandparent about the home she grew up in, as she was visualizing her home in rural South Dakota, she suddenly remembered the telephone they had, a “<a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62876/10-aspects-old-telephones-might-confuse-younger-readers">party line</a>” phone, which was common in the U.S. back then. </p>
<p>All the families in the area shared one phone line, and you were supposed to only pick up the phone when you heard your family’s special ring – a certain number of rings. But as she told it, her mother’s connection to the community was greatly expanded even then by telephone technology:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We had a phone, and it was on a party line. And you know, we would have our ring, and of course, you’d hear the other rings too. And then sometimes, my mom would sneak it and lift up the receiver to see what was going on.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The hands of two people clasping over a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500777/original/file-20221213-18128-ku00pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500777/original/file-20221213-18128-ku00pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500777/original/file-20221213-18128-ku00pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500777/original/file-20221213-18128-ku00pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500777/original/file-20221213-18128-ku00pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500777/original/file-20221213-18128-ku00pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500777/original/file-20221213-18128-ku00pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In addition to being exposed to a different way of life, there can also be unexpected points of connection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/you-have-my-full-support-royalty-free-image/1135286661?phrase=holding%20hands%20at%20table%20black&adppopup=true">PeopleImages/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘All you have to do is ask’</h2>
<p>I enjoyed the interviews with older people so much that I gave my students at the University of Texas at Austin the assignment to interview their grandparents. They ended up having exhilarating, interesting and generation-bridging conversations. </p>
<p>Their experiences, along with mine, led me <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690817/the-essential-questions-by-elizabeth-keating-phd/">to write a guide</a> for people wanting to learn more about their parents’ and grandparents’ early lives, to protect a part of family history that is precious and easily lost.</p>
<p>Grandparents are <a href="https://www.jenonline.org/article/S0099-1767(20)30425-6/fulltext">often lonely</a> and feel <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1388922/The-ignored-elderly-Weve-invisible-society-say-half-65s.html">no one listens</a> or takes what they have to say seriously. I found out that this can be because many of us don’t know how to start a conversation that gives them a chance to talk about the vast knowledge and experience they have. </p>
<p>By taking the position of an anthropologist, my students were able to step out of their familiar frame of reference and see the world as older generations did. One student even told the class that after interviewing her grandmother, she wished she could have been a young person in her grandmother’s time.</p>
<p>Often, the tales of “ordinary” life relayed to my students by their older relatives seemed anything but ordinary. They included going to schools segregated by race, women needing a man to accompany them in order to be allowed into a pub or restaurant, and leaving school in the sixth grade to work on the family farm.</p>
<p>Time and again, grandparents said some version of “no one’s asked me these questions before.” </p>
<p>When I was first developing the right questions to ask older family members, I asked one of my research participants to interview her elderly mother about daily life when she was a child. Toward the end of that interview, she said to her mother, “I never knew this stuff before.” </p>
<p>In response, her 92-year-old mother said, “All you have to do is just ask.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195637/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Keating does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you skirt the small talk and dig a little deeper, you’ll be surprised at what you might learn.Elizabeth Keating, Professor of Anthropology, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1523712021-02-01T13:12:29Z2021-02-01T13:12:29ZWhy rituals are important survival tools during the COVID-19 pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380916/original/file-20210127-19-u9nku9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C2991%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rituals like hand-washing help spread hygiene practices that are essential to health and survival.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/indonesian-children-washes-his-hands-together-during-the-news-photo/1281434166?adppopup=true">Aditya Saputra/INA Photo Agency/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 has disrupted many aspects of daily life, including rituals both sacred and mundane. At the same time, the pandemic has opened a unique opportunity globally to adapt rituals to meet new needs and respond to new challenges.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0419">Rituals are social conventions</a> that range from religious ceremonies like <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a1.htm">baptisms</a> and <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1918218/jewish/Bat-Mitzvah-What-It-Is-and-How-to-Celebrate.htm">bat mitzvahs</a> to simple greetings like handshakes. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cristinelegare.com">I study what rituals reveal</a> about our minds, nature and culture. They are not arbitrary, capricious or random. Instead, they serve critical social functions such as welcoming newborns into families, celebrating graduations and marriages and mourning loved ones who’ve died. Rituals also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415618486">promote solidarity</a> by allowing communities to express their shared goals and values. </p>
<p>The pandemic has forced us to <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/rituals-religion-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic">change many of our most common rituals</a>, including how we celebrate rites of passage. Baby showers, birthday parties and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/podcasts/daily-newsletter-funerals-virus.html">funerals are now held virtually</a>. Large celebratory <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/south-florida-company-adapts-to-pandemic-by-creating-grad-yard-signs/2222966/">signs on front lawns</a> announce graduations. Couples <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/fashion/weddings/how-to-livestream-your-wedding.html">livestream their virtual weddings</a> on social media, and families host <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays/winter.html">holiday celebrations outdoors</a> to ensure social distancing.</p>
<p>Rituals around greetings and social support have also changed. Handshakes, kisses on the cheeks or lips and physical embraces have been replaced by elbow bumps, air kisses and virtual hugs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin elbow bump." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381137/original/file-20210128-19-buciuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin elbow bumps with Vice President Kamala Harris during his swearing-in ceremony at the White House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-austin-elbow-bumps-with-u-s-vice-news-photo/1230786764?adppopup=true">Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Managing uncertainty</h2>
<p>During times of uncertainty and danger, people often use rituals to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0431">reduce their stress and exert control</a> over their environment. That’s why rituals are common during periods of high risk, such as during pregnancy and after giving birth. </p>
<p>Consider <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0433">Chhathi, a popular ritual</a> in northeast India that takes place on the sixth day after a child’s birth. During the ritual ceremony, the mother and child are bathed and fed. Black thread is tied around the baby’s waist or wrist and black eyeliner is applied around the baby’s eyes. This is meant to provide protection from supernatural threats such as the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0433">evil eye</a>. Chhathi initiates a new baby into the family, garners supernatural protection and reinforces social cohesion within the community.</p>
<p>A global pandemic is also a time of significant transition and uncertainty when people have <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/05-10-2020-covid-19-disrupting-mental-health-services-in-most-countries-who-survey">greater need for physical and social support</a>. Over the past year, people have used electronic media to rapidly transform routine social rituals. Like the in-person rituals they replaced, these new interactions – such as virtual happy hours, Zoom business meetings and distance-learning classrooms – <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0963721415618486">strengthen social ties</a>.</p>
<p>Societies also use rituals for practical reasons, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0433">improving health and avoiding illness</a>. Records of rituals used in medicine date back to ancient Egypt and the <a href="https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-writings/ebers-papyrus-0012333">Papyrus Ebers</a>, one of the oldest known medical texts. <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.03.004">It includes this ritual</a> to treat blindness: Crush, powder and blend the two eyes of a pig, mineral eye salve, red oxide and wild honey in a clay bowl. Inject mixture into patient’s ear and say, “I have brought this thing and put it in its place. The crocodile god Sobek is weak and powerless.” </p>
<p>Contemporary rituals are also used in this way to attempt to treat and prevent illness. <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2012.03.004">Rituals called simpatias</a> are used to treat pulmonary ailments in Brazil, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1080/03640210802066766">rituals based on traditional medicine</a> are used to treat HIV in South Africa, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0433">rituals performed during pregnancy</a> are used to prevent birth defects in India and rituals using <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keq234">homoeopathic remedies</a> are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis in the U.K.</p>
<h2>Promoting hygiene</h2>
<p>Many religious rituals concern cleansing and purification. For example, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-islamic-hygienic-practices-can-teach-when-coronavirus-is-spreading-133221">obligatory for Muslims</a> to wash their face, arms, head and feet before praying, a purification ritual called Wudu.</p>
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<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has also prompted people to adopt new rituals around personal and communal hygiene such as wearing face masks in public, rigorously cleaning shared surfaces and taking turns being inside businesses and workplaces.</p>
<p>Anthropologists believe such rituals may be part of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0439">hazard-precaution system</a>, a psychological system geared toward responding to threats in the environment such as pathogens or contamination. Since reducing contamination and promoting hygiene is essential to health and survival, having <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2019.0425">rituals to spread these practices</a> within a population is useful. </p>
<p>There are good reasons people spend time, money and energy engaging in rituals in the face of COVID-19 restrictions. They are essential to meeting our physical, social and psychological needs in the face of adversity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cristine H Legare receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), the National Science Foundation (US), and the Templeton Religion Trust. </span></em></p>People often turn to rituals to promote health and reduce anxiety during periods of high risk.Cristine H Legare, Professor of Psychology, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1505392020-12-07T04:18:01Z2020-12-07T04:18:01ZLassie Come Home (again): remake of a classic is a reminder of our bond with pets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372966/original/file-20201204-23-hgrv18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C10%2C6609%2C4426&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Warner Bros</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Review: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10384944/">Lassie Come Home</a>, directed by Hanno Olderdissen</em></p>
<p>This week, Lassie returned to the screens, with a remake of the 1943 film coming 80 years since Eric Mowbray Knight’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/895886.Lassie_Come_Home?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=0YZCHnwIM2&rank=1">classic novel</a> was first published. </p>
<p>In this retelling of the story, Lassie and a young boy named Florian are inseparable. But Lassie is temporarily rehomed, after Florian’s father loses his job and the family is forced to move to an apartment where pets are not allowed. Lassie has other ideas. She escapes to begin an epic journey back to the boy she loves. At the same time, Florian sets out to find her.</p>
<p>At the end of a tough year, the modern remake of Lassie Come Home, reminds us of our simple, healing, and mutually beneficial bond with dogs.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z2uj5dVLXVU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Lassie!’ ‘Woof woof!’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A long lead</h2>
<p>What is it about the bond between a boy and his dog Lassie that has stood the test of time? <a href="https://animalmedicinesaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ANIM001-Pet-Survey-Report19_v1.7_WEB_high-res.pdf">Recent statistics</a> show that 40% of Australian households own at least one dog. <a href="https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2405078/cms-pdfs/fileadmin/user_upload/country_one_pager/nl/documents/global-gfk-survey_pet-ownership_2016.pdf">Global dog ownership</a> rates are as high as 66% in Argentina. American households and those in the UK are less keen with rates of 50% and 27% respectively.</p>
<p>We and our canine companions share a long history. Dogs were the first domesticated species. While, we don’t know for sure how far back our relationship goes, current evidence suggests it dates back to at least <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F13836_2018_27">12,000 years</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Girl with dog in black and white movies" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372971/original/file-20201204-19-zwznhh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=374&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young Elizabeth Taylor appeared in the original Lassie Come Home (1943) as did dog ‘Pal’ and Roddy McDowall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036098/mediaviewer/rm778940929/?context=default">IMDB</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The story of Lassie doesn’t go back quite that far. After the initial hit Lassie movie there were six more films before the Collie dog became a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/looking-back-on-lassie/">star of the small screen</a>. The <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046617/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt">TV series</a> was produced from 1954–1974 and featured numerous dogs (all males playing the female Lassie). </p>
<p>This is a modern German retelling of the original movie but don’t expect it to be the same as the series. The story focuses more on the challenges both Florian and Lassie face before finally reuniting rather than the interactions between them. It is an equally enjoyable watch for adults and kids.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/your-dogs-nose-knows-no-bounds-and-neither-does-its-love-for-you-148484">Your dog's nose knows no bounds – and neither does its love for you</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Pandemic pups</h2>
<p>Florian and his dog Lassie are willing to travel great distances to be reunited. The love we humans have for our dogs is real. Thousands of years of co-evolution, has meant that even a dog’s gaze can increase our <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6232/333.full">oxytocin</a> levels, a hormone associated with bonding. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dad, son and dog in a field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372968/original/file-20201204-13-174fbbo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dogs really are the best people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Warner Bros</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S109002330200237X">Interacting with a dog</a> can decrease blood pressure, and increase both oxytocin and other feel good hormones like dopamine. Further, <a href="http://elly17.narod.ru/psyc/animther/children_representation_of_pets_in_their_social_network.htm">during times of emotional distress,</a> children turn to dogs, sometimes over humans, as a source of support and comfort. </p>
<p>The original Lassie Come Home was <a href="https://helenair.com/news/local/film-review-lassie-come-home/article_c7b7974e-6f6a-5f1b-924b-3c76ad30e578.html">set in tough times</a> when the Depression forces a family to sell their beloved pet. </p>
<p>During this year’s COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen a significant increase in dog ownership. Perhaps, getting a dog during the pandemic provides us with <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-coronavirus-pet-adoption-boom-is-reducing-stress-138074">comfort during these uncertain times</a>. Dog ownership may also help promote <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-020-00987-8">physical activity</a>, and the human animal bond may protect against <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239397">psychological distress</a> and reduce feelings of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0020764020944195">isolation</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mans-stressed-friend-how-your-mental-health-can-affect-your-dog-118271">Man's stressed friend: how your mental health can affect your dog</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>It goes both ways</h2>
<p>Just as Florian longs for his dog. Lassie longs for him too. She is by no means a lone wolf. </p>
<p>This long history of co-evolution means that our dogs may actually love us back. Remember how our oxytocin level increases when we gaze at our dogs? Our dog’s levels also <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6232/333.full">increase</a>. Spoiler alert: Lassie’s oxytocin levels would most definitely have increased upon her reunion with Florian and, as a viewer, yours might very well too.</p>
<p>There seems to be something special about dogs, in particular. Even hand-raised wolves rarely gaze at their owners and do not show a preference for human companionship in the way that dogs do. Dog’s may attach to humans in a similar way <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347205003155%22%22">children attach to their caregivers</a>.</p>
<p>Dogs will often search for their owner when they leave and will greet them more enthusiastically upon their return compared to a stranger. Wolves, in contrast, may only demonstrate some of these behaviours <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/adult-wolves-miss-their-humans-when-they-re-gone-just-like-dogs">if they are intensely socialised</a>.</p>
<p>In the Lassie series, this difference was highlighted by the recurring role of “Blaze: the untrappable wolf dog”, with one episode called <a href="https://youtu.be/D90EVXv-odY">Lassie and the Savage</a>. </p>
<p>Not only do dogs love us, but they also can understand us. Dogs demonstrate the ability to follow <a href="https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/when-do-domestic-dogs-canis-familiaris-start-to-understand-human-">human pointing</a> and can even pick up on our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159114002354">emotional cues</a>. The dogs who played the original Lassie reportedly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/looking-back-on-lassie/">knew hundreds of commands</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D90EVXv-odY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Gee mum, I want to be a naturalist … you get to live outdoors and make friends with all the animals.’</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although our dogs demonstrate this ability to read us humans, we have a little more to learn when it comes to reading our canine companions. Dog bites result in hundreds of hospital admission and emergency department presentations, with <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jcop.10038">children particularly at risk</a>. </p>
<p>The bond between humans, especially children and their dogs, is truly beautiful and the new Lassie film captures this well. But, be mindful to supervise children and learn the cues that tell us when our very own Lassies aren’t enjoying interactions as much as we are. </p>
<p>If you want to be reminded of the special bond between humans and dogs, watch Lassie Come Home, then give your own dog (or someone else’s) a pat. With permission, of course.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cant-dogs-eat-chocolate-89374">Why can't dogs eat chocolate?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><em>Lassie Come Home is now in cinemas.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa Rohlf does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s 80 years since we were first introduced to Lassie. But the human bond with dogs goes back way further.Vanessa Rohlf, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1485762020-11-02T13:27:13Z2020-11-02T13:27:13ZFeeling disoriented by the election, pandemic and everything else? It’s called ‘zozobra,’ and Mexican philosophers have some advice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366797/original/file-20201030-13-ybuza7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C3190%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it a lovely autumn day, or is America burning to the ground?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/counter-protester-drops-to-his-knees-after-setting-an-news-photo/1229169216?adppopup=true">Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ever had the feeling that you can’t make sense of what’s happening? One moment everything seems normal, then suddenly the frame shifts to reveal a <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-is-central-to-californias-wildfires/">world on fire</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/30/world/covid-19-coronavirus-updates">struggling with pandemic</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/upshot/pandemic-economy-recession.html">recession</a>, <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2258169-arctic-sea-ice-loss-could-trigger-huge-levels-of-extra-global-warming/">climate change</a> and <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Bay-Area-cities-restaurants-boarding-up-15689465.php">political upheaval</a>. </p>
<p>That’s “zozobra,” the peculiar form of anxiety that comes from being unable to settle into a single point of view, leaving you with questions like: Is it a lovely autumn day, or an alarming moment of converging historical catastrophes? </p>
<p>On the eve of a general election in which the outcome – and aftermath – is unknown, it is a condition that many Americans may be experiencing.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.sjsu.edu/people/carlos.sanchez/">scholars of</a> <a href="https://philpeople.org/profiles/francisco-gallegos">this phenomenon</a>, we have noted how <a href="https://www.sunypress.edu/p-6928-the-disintegration-of-community.aspx">zozobra has spread in U.S. society</a> in recent years, and we believe the insight of Mexican philosophers can be helpful to Americans during these tumultuous times. </p>
<p>Ever since the conquest and <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/hernan-cortes">colonization of the valley of Mexico by Hernán Cortés</a>, Mexicans have had to cope with wave after wave of profound social and spiritual disruption – wars, rebellions, revolution, corruption, dictatorship and now the <a href="https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/6h440v48j">threat of becoming a narco-state</a>. Mexican philosophers have had more than 500 years of uncertainty to reflect on, and they have important lessons to share. </p>
<h2>Zozobra and the wobbling of the world</h2>
<p>The word “zozobra” is an ordinary Spanish term for “anxiety” but with connotations that call to mind the wobbling of a ship about to capsize. The term emerged as a key concept among Mexican intellectuals in the early 20th century to describe the sense of having no stable ground and feeling out of place in the world. </p>
<p>This feeling of zozobra is commonly experienced by people who visit or immigrate to a foreign country: the rhythms of life, the way people interact, everything just seems “off” – unfamiliar, disorienting and vaguely alienating. </p>
<p>According to the philosopher <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-american-philosophical-association/article/philosophy-of-accidentality/ACEB9ACFC66AE1A940D0943E5715CEFC/core-reader">Emilio Uranga</a> (1921-1988), the telltale sign of zozobra is wobbling and toggling between perspectives, being unable to relax into a single framework to make sense of things. As Uranga describes it in his 1952 book <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/emilio-urangas-analysis-of-mexican-being-9781350145269/">“Analysis of Mexican Being</a>”: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Zozobra refers to a mode of being that incessantly oscillates between two possibilities, between two affects, without knowing which one of those to depend on … indiscriminately dismissing one extreme in favor of the other. In this to and fro the soul suffers, it feels torn and wounded.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>What makes zozobra so difficult to address is that its source is intangible. It is a soul-sickness not caused by any personal failing, nor by any of the particular events that we can point to. </p>
<p>Instead, it comes from cracks in the frameworks of meaning that we rely on to make sense of our world – the shared understanding of what is real and who is trustworthy, what risks we face and how to meet them, what basic decency requires of us and what ideals our nation aspires to. </p>
<p>In the past, many people in the U.S. took these frameworks for granted – but no longer. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-a-turbulent-world-stop-stressing-and-adapt-92632">gnawing sense of distress</a> and disorientation many Americans are feeling is a sign that at some level, they now recognize just how <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674244627">necessary and fragile these structures are</a>.</p>
<h2>The need for community</h2>
<p>Another Mexican philosopher, <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philosophy-mexico/">Jorge Portilla</a> (1918-1963), reminds us that these frameworks of meaning that hold our world together cannot be maintained by individuals alone. While each of us may find our own meaning in life, we do so against the backdrop of what Portilla described as a <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=pF0vDwAAQBAJ&q=horizon#v=snippet&q=horizon&f=false">“horizon of understanding</a>” that is maintained by our community. In everything we do, from making small talk to making big life choices, we depend on others to share a basic set of assumptions about the world. It’s a fact that becomes painfully obvious when we suddenly find ourselves among people with very different assumptions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sunypress.edu/p-6928-the-disintegration-of-community.aspx">In our book</a> on the contemporary relevance of Portilla’s philosophy, we point out that in the U.S., people increasingly have the sense that their neighbors and countrymen <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/strangers-their-own-land">inhabit a different world</a>. As social circles become smaller and more restricted, zozobra deepens. </p>
<p>In his 1949 essay, “<a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190601294.001.0001/oso-9780190601294-chapter-14">Community, Greatness, and Misery in Mexican Life</a>,” Portilla identifies four signs that indicate when the feedback loop between zozobra and social disintegration has reached critical levels. </p>
<p>First, people in a disintegrating society become prone to self-doubt and reluctance to take action, despite how urgently action may be needed. Second, they become prone to cynicism and even corruption – not because they are immoral but because they genuinely do not experience a common good for which to sacrifice their personal interests. Third, they become prone to nostalgia, fantasizing about returning to a time when things made sense. In the case of America, this applies not only to those given to wearing MAGA caps; everyone can fall into this sense of longing for a previous age. </p>
<p>And finally, people become prone to a sense of profound vulnerability that gives rise to apocalyptic thinking. Portilla puts it this way: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We live always simultaneously entrenched in a human world and in a natural world, and if the human world denies us its accommodations to any extent, the natural world emerges with a force equal to the level of insecurity that textures our human connections.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, when a society is disintegrating, fires, floods and tornadoes seem like harbingers of apocalypse.</p>
<h2>Coping with the crisis</h2>
<p>Naming the present crisis is a first step toward dealing with it. But then what is to be done? </p>
<p>Portilla suggests that national leaders can exacerbate or alleviate zozobra. When there is a coherent <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780203960899">horizon of understanding at the national level</a> – that is to say, when there is a shared sense of what is real and what matters – individuals have a stronger feeling of connection to the people around them and a sense that their society is in a better position to deal with the most pressing issues. With this solace, it is easier to return attention to one’s own small circle of influence. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Uranga, for his part, suggests that zozobra actually unifies people in a common human condition. Many prefer to hide their suffering <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/25/trump-covid-campaign-final-days-432354">behind a happy facade</a> or channel it into <a href="https://theconversation.com/angry-americans-how-political-rage-helps-campaigns-but-hurts-democracy-145819">anger and blame</a>. But Uranga insists that honest conversation about shared suffering is an opportunity to come together. Talking about zozobra provides something to commune over, something on which to base a love for one another, or at least sympathy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148576/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mexican philosophers have a word for the peculiar anxiety you may be feeling: ‘zozobra,’ a dizziness that arises from social disintegration.Francisco Gallegos, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest UniversityCarlos Alberto Sánchez, Professor of Philosophy, San José State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1388262020-05-31T19:51:03Z2020-05-31T19:51:03ZA time to embrace the edge spaces that make our neighbourhoods tick<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/338098/original/file-20200528-20215-1qp4sim.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=424%2C319%2C1944%2C1220&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/senior-couple-on-porch-waving-19263961">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns, it is timely to reflect on how the design of our neighbourhoods and the ways we interact with them affect our lived experience.</p>
<p>A clear lesson from the many conversations across fencelines, waves from porches, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/31/bear-hunt-helps-banish-coronavirus-boredom-for-new-zealand-children">teddy bears in windows</a> and chalk art on footpaths is the need for our cities to better embrace <a href="https://urbanresearchtable.com/exploring-for-a-new-method-for-mapping-street-edges/">edge spaces</a> between private property and the public realm.</p>
<p>These edge spaces, such as porches, balconies, front boundaries and footpaths, have been key to <a href="https://www.foreground.com.au/planning-policy/threshold-spaces-keep-us-connected-despite-covid-19/">maintaining social connectedness</a> amid physical distancing around the world; so much so that this week has been declared an <a href="https://www.porchplacemaking.com/">international week</a> dedicated to better activating them.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reconnecting-after-coronavirus-4-key-ways-cities-can-counter-anxiety-and-loneliness-136606">Reconnecting after coronavirus – 4 key ways cities can counter anxiety and loneliness</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australian cities and neighbourhoods have rarely embraced edge spaces well. This neglect is to all our detriment: many housing developments lack porches, front yards often seem like an afterthought, and most <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-land-abounds-in-nature-strips-surely-we-can-do-more-than-mow-a-third-of-urban-green-space-124781">nature strips</a> fail to live up to their name. As a result, talking to our neighbours can be a rarity.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1259709295744016386"}"></div></p>
<h2>Re-engaging with ‘living on the edge’</h2>
<p>Action to embrace these spaces starts at the community level, through the practice of placemaking. It draws on the work of planners and designers and their understanding of the importance of “living on the edge”.</p>
<p>Typically, we regard our neighbourhoods as being divided between public and private spaces. But as many a front-yard conversation or colourful display on a wall has shown us during the recent lockdown, it’s the spaces of transition that bring us together, even when we are apart.</p>
<p>Compared to other types of urban space, edge spaces can provide more opportunity for people to build a sense of identity and community through creative expression. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336678/original/file-20200521-102657-zkci1d.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pedestrians and residents have re-envisaged the footpath as a canvas for chalk and a way to communicate with the street.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Novacevski. Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/playing-with-the-new-normal-of-life-under-coronavirus-137481">Playing with the 'new normal' of life under coronavirus</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Edge spaces are critical to the success of both public and private spaces, as urban designers and theorists like <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/calexander">Christopher Alexander</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02815738608730092?journalCode=shou19">Jan Gehl</a> point out. </p>
<p>Edges that work can be described as “<a href="https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2011/06/14/jan-gehl-on-making-cities-safe-for-people/">soft edges</a>” or “active edges”. We can see through them and interact across them – they are comparatively porous. There is also life along them: plants, artwork or variations in colours or building materials.</p>
<p>Edges that are cold and unwelcoming, or comparatively “hard”, such as spaces dominated by tall fencing or blank walls, generate feelings of discord, coldness and even <a href="https://theconversation.com/contested-spaces-living-off-the-edge-in-a-city-mall-where-design-fuels-conflict-72351">perceptions of danger</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, whole cities and neighbourhoods can succeed and fail at their edges, particularly at street level. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/contested-spaces-living-off-the-edge-in-a-city-mall-where-design-fuels-conflict-72351">Contested spaces: living off the edge in a city mall where design fuels conflict</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336962/original/file-20200522-22150-f19x0u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even seemingly small interventions can turn a bland edge into a space that gives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rachel Iampolski</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reclaiming the edge through placemaking</h2>
<p>So, what can we do about it? Well, quite a bit. Over recent weeks, many of us will have enjoyed the whimsy and wonder of chalk art on paths, teddy bears in windows and other warming trends that have lifted our neighbourhoods. </p>
<p>These visible expressions of <a href="https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/18428489.buckley-crescents-scarecrow-competition-keeps-spirits-high-lockdown/?mc_cid=3d4a68dbd4&mc_eid=844f55e1ac">joy</a> create community in hard times. The edges between public and private space are reclaimed and made welcoming in ways that create conviviality and a sense of shared identity. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336674/original/file-20200521-102667-zqu2ee.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Residents in Carnegie have used art, plants and a street library to soften hard edges and make them more inviting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rachel Iampolski</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These practices are an example of what is often described as <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/how-to-be-a-citizen-placemaker-think-lighter-quicker-cheaper">citizen placemaking</a>, where citizens create a sense of community through gestures of creativity and support. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-has-changed-our-sense-of-place-so-together-we-must-re-imagine-our-cities-137789">Coronavirus has changed our sense of place, so together we must re-imagine our cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Planning for welcoming, active edges</h2>
<p>So why don’t we more often design our edges in ways that invite this kind of activity? For too long, policy, legislation and regulation have variously neglected the importance of edge spaces, or sought to actively limit activity within them.</p>
<p>In Victoria, for example, <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0030/97158/PPN27-Understanding-the-Residential-Development-Standards-ResCode_June-2015.pdf">ResCode</a> policies for housing design seek to regulate viewlines from balconies. These policies and others in Victorian planning schemes do little to encourage the return of the porch or balcony in housing or apartment design.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=166%2C212%2C1776%2C1245&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=166%2C212%2C1776%2C1245&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336952/original/file-20200522-57661-djqz4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chairs at the front of the house allow for contact with passersby – and the gnome is a friendly presence even when the chairs are empty.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Novacevski</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the public realm, instances of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-31/urban-food-street-trees-culled-sunshine-coast/8576700">over-zealous enforcement</a> of regulation have closed down activities that bring life to footpaths and bring residents together. This risks promoting bland, homogenised streets that lead to social isolation.</p>
<p>We wonder how our neighbourhoods might change if planning policy, design and regulation were put to work, opening up possibilities to encourage softer and more active edges? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-let-coronavirus-kill-our-cities-heres-how-we-can-save-urban-life-137063">We can't let coronavirus kill our cities. Here's how we can save urban life</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These opportunities bleed out from the front fence into the footpath and streets. As <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2020/04/13/new-zealand-first-country-to-fund-pop-up-bike-lanes-widened-sidewalks-during-lockdown/#a07f3d1546e1">cities overseas have started</a> to use <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-let-coronavirus-kill-our-cities-heres-how-we-can-save-urban-life-137063">tactical urbanism</a> to promote safer social interaction, the task for government is two-fold: to <a href="https://walksydney.org/2020/05/14/a-state-wide-program-to-promote-streets-as-shared-spaces/">enable tactical approaches</a> that allow communities to shape spaces to meet their own needs, and to focus governance on <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/toward-place-governance-civic-infrastructure-placemaking">making better places</a>. </p>
<p>Whatever happens next, as citizens, we would all do well to use our <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/arts/design/drive-by-art-long-island.html?mc_cid=3d4a68dbd4&mc_eid=844f55e1ac">imagination</a> and remember the power and potential of the edge spaces where we live.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1gHMuIRO_9o72W1nETP6aPmvSRq47FkCM" width="100%" height="480"></iframe>
<p>A map of projects being run around the world as part of Porch <a href="https://www.porchplacemaking.com/">Placemaking Week</a>, May 30-June 5.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138826/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Iampolski receives funding from Australian Governments Research Training Program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Novacevski receives funding from the Australian Government's Research Training Program. He is affiliated with the Planning Institute of Australia. </span></em></p>A friendly wave from a neighbour is one of life’s incidental but invaluable interactions. Porches, balconies, front yards and footpaths have proven their importance as cogs of neighbourhood life.Rachel Iampolski, PhD Candidate, Centre for Urban Research RMIT, RMIT UniversityMatt Novacevski, PhD Candidate and Sessional Tutor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1317442020-05-28T12:16:39Z2020-05-28T12:16:39ZWhy do people die by suicide? Mental illness isn’t the only cause – social factors like loneliness, financial ruin and shame can be triggers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323069/original/file-20200325-168922-gv61is.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C1920%2C1267&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Suicide is on the rise for multiple reasons.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/death-funeral-coffin-mourning-2421820/">carolynabooth/Pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. suicide rate has been increasing for decades. In 1999, the rate was about <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/03/trends-suicide">10 suicides per 100,000</a> people. In 2017, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available, it was just over <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/03/trends-suicide">14 per 100,000</a> – a rise of 40% in only 18 years. </p>
<p>And the problem is not evenly distributed across the country. The increase has been especially severe in rural areas, some of which have seen their suicide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.10936">rates jump by over 30%</a> in just the past decade. </p>
<p>That rates can change from one decade to another, and vary so much across regions, suggests that suicide is shaped by social conditions. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most obvious of these is access to mental health services – psychiatrists, therapists and prescription antidepressants. Indeed, the most conventional way of talking about suicide in the modern world is in terms of mental health. </p>
<p>This view is not incorrect: Clinical depression increases the risk of suicide, and so therapies that treat depression can help prevent it. But as a <a href="https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/5253">sociologist who studies suicide</a>, I think the medical model of suicide is incomplete. My <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=bTcdNKAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">research</a> shows there are additional causes.</p>
<h2>Suicide in response to an event</h2>
<p>Not all who kill themselves do so after a long struggle with depression – from Cato to Hitler, many famous figures of history have taken their own lives after sudden reversals, such as military defeats. </p>
<p>Those who already suffer depression can be pushed over the edge by “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” It is likely no coincidence that poet Sylvia Plath, with her long history of depression, killed herself shortly after being abandoned by her husband. The human mind does not exist in a vacuum. </p>
<p>Thanks to the current pandemic, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is reporting a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/05/04/mental-health-coronavirus/">nine-fold increase in calls</a> compared to this time last year.</p>
<h2>Financial causes</h2>
<p>Loss of material wealth – reduced income, mounting debts and other financial disasters – can certainly provoke suicide. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910.28.2.95">Numerous</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291799002925">studies</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.301.6749.407">document</a> that the unemployed have higher suicide rates than the employed. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2010.300010">Others show</a> that rates rise during economic downturns. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0904491106">Suicide rates spiked</a> during the Great Depression of the 1930s and were more prevalent in areas where <a href="http://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2010.121376">banks folded</a>, taking their customers’ savings with them. </p>
<p>Suicide rates – in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61910-2">U.S.</a> and many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f5239">other</a> countries – also rose during the Great Recession of 2008. Some argue, in many parts of the U.S., the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/12/the-neverending-foreclosure/547181/">recession</a> never ended, which may help explain the rise in rural suicide. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323023/original/file-20200325-168918-tpwr6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Amber Dykshorn holds a photo of her late husband, Chris, who died by suicide in 2019 – leaving her with three kids and over $300,000 worth of debt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/chris-dykshorn?family=editorial&phrase=Chris%20Dykshorn&sort=mostpopular#license">Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/09/im-gonna-lose-everything/">South Dakota farmer Chris Dykshorn</a> texted, “I seriously don’t know how we r gonna make it. I am failing and feel like I’m gonna lose everything I’ve worked for,” before killing himself in 2019. His case is <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200305/farmer-suicide-deaths-alarm-rural-communities">hardly unique</a>. </p>
<p>Along with high rates of suicide go high rates of drug overdose. It’s sometimes hard to distinguish an intentional overdose from an accidental one, and some researchers lump them together as “<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/casetextsp17bpea.pdf">deaths of despair</a>.”</p>
<h2>Shame</h2>
<p>Reputation and good name are extremely important to most people, so all manner of shame and humiliation can cause suicide. For instance, in South Korea, a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/23/roh.dead/">former president killed himself</a> after a corruption investigation in 2009. In 2017, a Kentucky <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/14/kentucky-lawmaker-dan-johnson-autopsy/951377001/">state legislator killed himself</a> after allegations of sexual misconduct. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-102801-5.50016-9">Gossip and scandal</a> are powerful sanctions in small towns and villages. The growth of social media has made people vulnerable to public shaming on a mass scale. Not surprisingly, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/internet-shaming-when-mob-justice-goes-virtual/">social media shaming</a> also provokes suicide.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323032/original/file-20200325-168907-1yxvpmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cyberbullying can cause severe emotional distress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-desperate-sad-tears-cry-1006100/">Ulrike Mai /Pixabay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Broken relationships</h2>
<p>In addition to the loss of stature, people also might kill themselves over the loss of social ties. Sociologists have known for over a century that people with more and stronger social connections have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-081309-150058">lower rates of suicide</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.11.033">Marriage</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291704002600">parenthood</a> and other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/228544">sources</a> of <a href="https://doi.org/10.7326/M13-1291">social integration</a> provide a protective effect. </p>
<p>Suicide victims are <a href="https://doi.org/10.7326/M13-1291">more likely than others to live alone</a>, tend to have fewer friends and are less involved in organizations. America’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62965-7_12">long-term decline in civic and religious organizations</a> – or even voluntary groups such as bowling leagues – likely exacerbates other issues that might encourage suicide.</p>
<p>If lacking social ties is bad, the sudden shock of losing them is worse. Breakups and divorces are a common reason for suicide: One study of over 400,000 Americans found that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.54.4.254">being divorced more than doubled the risk</a> of suicide. The same is true in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.03.009">other countries</a>, and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X13494824">risk is greatest</a> immediately <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2008.11.007">after the loss</a>.</p>
<h2>Strife</h2>
<p>People also kill themselves in reaction to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/moral-time-9780199737147?q=Moral%20time&lang=en&cc=us">social conflict</a>. Depending on the nature of the conflict, suicide might be a kind of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2011.01308.x">protest, punishment or escape</a>. </p>
<p>Hundreds of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_protests_by_Tibetans_in_China">Tibetans</a>, for instance, have burned themselves in protest of Chinese rule. </p>
<p>In places such as rural <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801208330434">Iran</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07399330490503159">Afghanistan</a>, large numbers of women burn themselves to protest and escape from domestic abuse. </p>
<p>In modern America, people sometimes kill themselves to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2015.05.002">inflict guilt</a> on someone who has hurt them. In other cases, suicide can be a response to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2010.494133">bullying and abuse</a> by one or more people. </p>
<h2>Rethinking suicide prevention</h2>
<p>These realities suggest that suicide prevention involves much more than increasing the availability of therapists and prescriptions. It requires providing economic development and <a href="https://www.newsday.com/business/for-suicidal-japanese-help-is-finally-at-hand-1.1660342">financial assistance</a> to those in distress. People can help by strengthening communities and building social ties. Additionally, they can provide moral support, alternative means of conflict resolution and escape routes from abusive relationships. </p>
<p>To combat suicide, it’s important to account for all its causes.</p>
<p>[<em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Manning does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The U.S. suicide rate has been increasing for decades. According to a sociologist who studies suicide, depression is just one factor among many implicated social conditions.Jason Manning, Associate Professor of Sociology, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1379832020-05-19T19:38:14Z2020-05-19T19:38:14ZImmigrants are worrying about social ties and finances during coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335158/original/file-20200514-77235-fk36iu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1333%2C0%2C5157%2C4203&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Maryam Sadat Montajabi, centre left, and her daughter Romina Khaksar, 15, who both moved to Canada from Iran in 2015, wait to have their photo taken with dignitaries after becoming Canadian citizens during a special Canada Day citizenship ceremony, in West Vancouver on July 1, 2019. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00012-eng.pdf">Statistics Canada study</a> reveals that immigrants and refugees are more likely than Canadian-born individuals to be worried about the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Forty-four per cent of immigrants reported having high levels of concern about the maintenance of social ties and their ability to support one another during or after the pandemic; 30 per cent of Canadian-born individuals reported the same. <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00012-eng.pdf">The study</a> confirms that differences between immigrants and Canadian-born individuals are similar for both men and women.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335149/original/file-20200514-77239-1y5nnt1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Statistics Canada)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Immigrants — often racialized women and men from the <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/fogs-spg/Facts-can-eng.cfm?Lang=Eng&GK=CAN&GC=01&TOPIC=7">Global South</a> — have become the backbone of the <a href="https://www.randstad.ca/employers/workplace-insights/job-market-in-canada/how-does-immigration-actually-impact-canadian-jobs/">Canadian economy and labour force</a> during this crisis. They have filled <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/10/25/income-gap-persists-for-recent-immigrants-visible-minorities-and-indigenous-canadians.html">low-paid jobs</a> such as <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/court-sides-with-quebec-dj-turned-mp-who-made-racist-screed-against-cabbies/article576433/">taxi drivers</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/migrant-workers-face-further-social-isolation-and-mental-health-challenges-during-coronavirus-pandemic-134324">farm workers</a> and <a href="https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/filipino_healthcare_workers_during_covid19_and_the_importance_of_race_based_analysis">front-line caregivers</a>. </p>
<p>These are jobs that <a href="https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/03/12/analysis/immigrantsthey-get-job-done">Canadian-born individuals avoid</a>. Immigrants often take on these jobs not because they lack <a href="http://p2pcanada.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Reitz-Closing-gaps-between-skilled-immigration-and-Canadian-labour-markets.pdf">professional qualifications</a>, but due to <a href="https://www.citywindsor.ca/residents/socialservices-/Social-Services-Overview/welcoming-refugees/Documents/Myths%20about%20Immigration.pdf">lack of opportunity, non-recognition of their educational credentials or a lack of “Canadian experience.”</a></p>
<p>Canada is an immigration country and a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-resettled-most-refugees-un-1.5182621">world leader</a> with respect to immigrant and refugee resettlement. While all individuals in Canada are coping with the impacts of COVID-19, it is crucial to understand how immigrants and refugees are experiencing the pandemic and how to help cushion its impact. </p>
<h2>Immigrant status and social ties</h2>
<p>Landed immigrants, refugees, migrant workers and international students may have different migration experiences but their status as <em>foreign-born</em> or <em>non-national</em> individuals have similarities, especially when looking at their social ties during the pandemic. </p>
<p>In Canada, immigrant social ties are often understood as <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/international-non-residents/information-been-moved/determining-your-residency-status.html">memberships to Canadian recreational or religious organizations</a>. However, <a href="http://p2pcanada.ca/research/social-and-cultural-integration-of-immigrants-in-canada/">research also shows</a> that local networks of acquaintances, friends and services — sometimes ethnic, sometimes multi-ethnic or neighbourhood networks, and various community groups — contribute to and strengthen immigrant social ties.</p>
<p>Before COVID-19, some immigrants already <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/pov-selma-kiwirra-immigration-cbc-asks-1.5036164">missed the kinds of human interaction</a> they were used to in their home countries - such as familiar faces, greeting friends and familiar products in stores. Previous research has shown that elderly immigrants struggle with <a href="https://www.winona.edu/socialwork/media/hossen_2012.pdf">social isolation</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-015-9265-x">loneliness</a> more than people born in Canada.</p>
<p>Social isolation resulting from immigrant status is an important <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182419">determinant of immigrants’ physical and mental health</a>. It is therefore important for governments and civil society to understand how their unique experiences during the pandemic may impact their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6555-1">health outcomes</a> and well-being more than those of Canadian-born people.</p>
<h2>Refugees’ concerns about social risks</h2>
<p><a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00012-eng.pdf">Immigrants, especially refugees, are also more concerned than Canadian-born individuals</a> — 53 per cent compared to 37 per cent — about the possibility of civil disorder during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Although they have different social networks than those born in Canada, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-652-x/89-652-x2015002-eng.htm">refugees may be more sensitive to certain social risks</a>, such as civil disarray or the ability to support each other. </p>
<p>Many refugees <a href="https://jhyndman.info.yorku.ca/files/2017/01/Refuge-11.pdf?x94127">lived in camps</a>, were held in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000061">detention centres</a> or transited through various countries before accessing permanent legal status in Canada. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2019.1703610">In my research</a>, I have found that some Haitian asylum-seekers had made an arduous 11,000-kilometre journey from Brazil to the U.S. — often on foot and under difficult circumstances — to claim refuge in Canada.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335148/original/file-20200514-77230-1g5v0j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335148/original/file-20200514-77230-1g5v0j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335148/original/file-20200514-77230-1g5v0j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335148/original/file-20200514-77230-1g5v0j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335148/original/file-20200514-77230-1g5v0j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335148/original/file-20200514-77230-1g5v0j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335148/original/file-20200514-77230-1g5v0j0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maryam, 8, holds her hand-drawn sign alongside her family to welcome the first Syrian refugees at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in December 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This affects refugees’ health, and may also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461517747095">reactivate some trauma</a> related to their pre-migration and migration journeys. This pandemic is a period of high uncertainty and social risk; refugees may find themselves reliving some traumatic experiences, as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/syrian-refugees-with-ptsd-offered-help-through-canadian-pilot-program-1.3350844">research has shown on the experience of Syrian refugees or the Vietnamese “boat people” who came to Canada</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.2008.154054">Research on influenza</a> suggests that refugees and asylum-seekers may be required to adjust to a double coping strategy during pandemics. First, they must comply with public health measures, such as physical distancing. The second is their adjustment to <a href="https://www.mpg.de/14741776/covid-19-and-enduring-stigma">potential traumatic migration experiences and social stigma</a>. It is expedient to pay attention to how social stigma <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/afr/what-is-a-refugee.html">may affect refugees</a>. </p>
<h2>Concerns about socio-economic impacts</h2>
<p>Immigrants are also significantly more likely than Canadian-born individuals to report that the crisis <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00012-eng.pdf">would have a “major” or “moderate” impact on their finances</a>. While 27 per cent of Canadian-born men reported that the crisis would have an impact on their ability to meet financial obligations, 43 per cent of immigrant men reported the same.</p>
<p>The most recent labour market figures for April show that Canada <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-jobs-april-1.5561001">lost nearly two million jobs</a> in sectors like <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200508/dq200508a-eng.htm">construction, manufacturing, retail trade, accommodation and food services</a>. For immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, a job loss increases their precarity, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1623017">especially among refugees who have been undergoing a decrease</a> in earnings over the past 15 years in Canada.</p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://cep.info.yorku.ca/files/2017/06/CEP-2016-GTA-Consultations-Summary-Report.pdf?x24645">precarious employment is on the rise with vulnerable populations</a> like immigrants and refugees who face higher rates of marginalization than Canadian-born individuals. </p>
<p>In the areas of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-officials-covid-19-outbreak-may-5-update-1.5556401">Toronto</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-chsld-asylum-seekers-1.5559354">Montréal</a> where there is a greater proportion of low-income earners, new racialized immigrants and high unemployment rates, residents have higher rates of infections and hospitalizations than people in other parts of those cities. </p>
<p>No matter how long immigrants and refugees have lived in Canada, their <em>foreign-born</em> status may affect them more than Canadian-born individuals during and after the pandemic.</p>
<h2>Potential remedy</h2>
<p>Some countries have used the pandemic as a pretext to deny basic human rights to migrants by implementing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-is-deporting-infected-migrants-back-to-vulnerable-countries/2020/04/21/5ec3dcfe-8351-11ea-81a3-9690c9881111_story.html">deportations</a> or propagating <a href="https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/denying-refugees-entry-to-canada-during-covid-19-outbreak-is-illegal-and-inhuman-advocates-432299/">social stigma</a>.</p>
<p>This may add to immigrants’ and refugees’ concerns about the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 on their lives. To help mediate these impacts in Canada, we should recognize the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/brownstein-immigrant-family-pays-it-forward-with-1-6m-donation-to-hospitals/wcm/b895e1f1-1d3e-4a2a-9f5b-1eeadf5458cb/">vital contribution</a> of immigrants, refugees and other migrants as some of the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/migrants-and-mayors-are-the-unsung-heroes-of-covid-19-heres-why/">heroes of the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>Federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada must adopt the <a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2020/4/29/14-principles-of-protection-for-migrants-and-displaced-people-during-covid-19">14 principles of protection for migrants and displaced people during COVID-19</a>; written by migration experts, they provide a basis for advocacy and education during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Now more than ever, as migration researcher <a href="https://www.mpg.de/14741776/covid-19-and-enduring-stigma">Steven Vertovec</a> writes, migrants deserve empathy. To promote empathy, governments and civil society should <a href="https://www.mpg.de/14741776/covid-19-and-enduring-stigma">elucidate structural and socio-economic conditions and vulnerabilities faced by many migrants and refugees</a>, just as the <a href="https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/news/2020/COVID19_Crisis_in_developing_countries_threatens_devastate_economies.html">UN Development Programme</a> and the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_740101/lang--en/index.htm">International Labour Organization</a> are doing with regard to COVID-19 and people subject to poverty worldwide. </p>
<p>Whether they’re refugees, newcomers or other migrants, <a href="https://theconversation.com/migrant-workers-face-further-social-isolation-and-mental-health-challenges-during-coronavirus-pandemic-134324">they are front-line workers</a> who not only <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6949767/immigration-coronavirus-canada/">sustain the Canadian economy</a> but also allow others to remain safely isolated at home. </p>
<p>Therefore, it’s imperative that federal and provincial governments consider the unique challenges faced by immigrants and refugees as they implement policies to help people in Canada recover from the impacts of the pandemic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carlo Handy Charles receives funding from the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship Programs. He is a member of the Trudeau Foundation COVID-19 Impact Committee. He is a Doctoral Fellow at the French Collaborative Institute on Migrations (Paris, France). He works as a Principal Investigator on a research project funded by the France-Canada Research Fund. He is the Chair of the Sociology Graduate Caucus at McMaster University. He is a Session Co-Organizer for the Race and Ethnicity Research Cluster and a member of the Anti-Black Racism Subcommittee at the Canadian Sociological Association. He is also an Advisor on the Francophone Affairs Advisory Committee at the City of Toronto.</span></em></p>Immigrants and other newcomers to Canada are worried about maintaining their relationships and staying afloat, and need government consideration and support.Carlo Handy Charles, Vanier Scholar, Trudeau Foundation Scholar and Member of COVID-19 Impact Committee, CI-Migrations Fellow, and Joint Ph.D. Student in Sociology and Geography, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1346042020-04-08T12:13:17Z2020-04-08T12:13:17ZSocial distancing increased over the course of human history – but so did empathy and new ways to connect<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326170/original/file-20200407-69763-10gbta8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reading lets you experience another time, place, even mind.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/1MHU3zpTvro">Ben White/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/social-distancing-what-it-is-and-why-its-the-best-tool-we-have-to-fight-the-coronavirus-133581">Social distancing</a> is vital in the present moment. While the increased isolation and spacing of the new drastic measures come as shock to many people, social distancing is not new if you take the long view – the very long view.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q9oOrpMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As a cognitive scientist and scholar who studies empathy</a>, I see human history as a process of increasing social distancing. Along the way, empathy emerged to bridge the widening gaps, allowing physical distance while encouraging mental bonds. In fact, I suggest that cultural practices of empathy changed over time, from mere tracking of others to “<a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501721649/the-dark-sides-of-empathy/#bookTabs=1">co-experiencing the situations of others</a>” from a distance.</p>
<h2>Staying connected over wider spaces</h2>
<p>Our ancient African ancestors lived in groups of perhaps 150 individuals. According to evolutionary psychologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VoBNag8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">Robin Dunbar</a>, human beings could live in these larger groups because they developed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1998)6:5%3C178::AID-EVAN5%3E3.0.CO;2-8">new forms of social interaction</a> their predecessors didn’t have.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326269/original/file-20200407-172365-81z6wh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grooming is a way of maintaining relationships for nonhuman primates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/eastern-chimpanzee-female-gremlin-and-family-royalty-free-image/659578581">Anup Shah/Stone Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our human ancestors replaced the physical grooming that bonded other apes with gossiping. By means of social chitchat, these first humans could focus attention on the members of their group. Physical distance could grow, while group members stayed close in a new mental way by tracking each other through spoken language. <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674363366">Grooming became obsolete</a>. </p>
<p>Somewhere in our species’ transition from a fully nomadic existence to more permanent dwellings, separations emerged. Caves and walls unite smaller groups, but separate them from others. While researchers don’t know much about this time period, they have <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/Lascaux_Cave/">discovered stunning cave paintings</a> dating back many thousands of years that depict hunting scenes. It’s impossible to say whether these images represent memories of past hunts or mythological scenes, but they illustrate how imagination transcends the walls. </p>
<p>Fast forward to the early modern age: Living communities became smaller and the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/657010">nuclear family of mother-father-child became the new norm</a>. This family structure started to exclude further removed relatives and members of the household. In the age of the nuclear family, social distance grew tremendously. Not just separation, <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3621211.html">but privacy became a key value</a>. Around 1800, the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Solitude-and-the-Sublime-The-Romantic-Aesthetics-of-Individuation/Ferguson/p/book/9780415905497">Romantics celebrated being in a very small group and being alone</a>.</p>
<p>Again, a new technique of empathy emerged that made the new social distance palatable: <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520230699/the-rise-of-the-novel-updated-edition">the novel</a>. Novels provided people with a way to experience what others felt from a far off distance. Empathy now became detached from proximity of time and space, and in fact, reality. You can sit alone in your room and feel with and for others.</p>
<p>Empathy could become universal and apply to everyone, including in far away places. As the historian Lynn Hunt has argued, the <a href="https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393331998">idea of human rights was born and emerged parallel</a> to the sentimental novel.</p>
<h2>How empathy isolates the self</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=820&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1030&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1030&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326270/original/file-20200407-169866-5u3k6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1030&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Koch’s discovery helped transform contact with others into a recognizable risk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/robert-koch-isolated-the-bacterium-tubercle-bacillus-the-news-photo/959158364">Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>In 1882, the microbiologist <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2009.12.003">Robert Koch identified the bacteria</a> that cause and transmit tuberculosis. His discovery changed how people view each other – the possibility of passing germs makes contact with others a risk. </p>
<p>Consequently, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Hygiene_Exhibition">international hygiene movement</a> emerged around the turn of the 20th century. The winning strategy to cope with the risk of contact, then and now, is self-control: tactics like cleaning regimes and self-isolation. In the relation of self and other, the self became dominant in Western culture.</p>
<p>Something interesting happened at the same time: Empathy also became more about the self than the other. In fact, it was around this time that <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=PVQ4AAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA17&dq=Empathy+word+origin+Titchener&ots=Km4Q3pihyr&sig=H1xQgYfJKiy9hSJVl4d7utcEJMo#v=onepage&q=Empathy%20word%20origin%20Titchener&f=false">the very word “empathy” was coined</a>. It was born to translate the concept of “Einfühlung” from German art theory, which literally means feeling yourself into an artwork. In this concept, the individual who practices empathy faces an artifact, not another human being.</p>
<p>Since 2000, social media have cultivated a new mixture of social distance and empathy. While researchers have not generally agreed whether social media <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868310377395">decrease</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.040">increase</a> social bonds, time spent on social media is time spent without physical proximity to other people. </p>
<p>These technologies have transformed one’s small cliques of friends to an amorphous collection of followers at a distance. These networks increase social distance by satisfying the need for social connection. Likes and retweets provide the pleasant feeling of mattering to others. Having resonance on the internet thus enables physical social distancing and perhaps mental social distancing, too.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326274/original/file-20200407-172365-1dqetmy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">With businesses closed and many public spaces off-limits, people aren’t able to gather and interact in person.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-Washington-Daily-Life/c4adb4163cc0492bbf5fdb0cf1c9ad63/3/0">AP Photo/Patrick Semansky</a></span>
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<h2>Social distancing in 2020</h2>
<p>The human trajectory of increasing social distance paired with new forms of empathy and related techniques, ranging from novel-reading to social media, might suggest that people are set to weather the current socially distanced situation.</p>
<p>And yet, there’s another side to what is happening now. While over the millennia, human beings have adapted to various forms of distancing, we have not lost the appeals of being close. Most people crave the presence of people, real physical beings with bodies and emotions.</p>
<p>As a species and individually, people indeed can adapt to social distance. But I suggest that once in a while we want to leave all of these adaptations behind and just meet people and rub shoulders. We may even rediscover some form of grooming.</p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134604/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fritz Breithaupt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People have changed over time, growing ever more distant and isolated from others – while at the same time finding new ways and technologies that let individuals connect and feel with others.Fritz Breithaupt, Provost Professor in Cognitive Science and Germanic Studies, Indiana University, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1135502019-03-18T18:45:44Z2019-03-18T18:45:44ZRebel teens can quickly make friends, but in the end, it’s the nice ones who have the most<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264044/original/file-20190315-28492-t9p8nx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">High school can be a hard place to make friends, but research shows being nice may be all it takes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/tXiMrX3Gc-g">Simon Maage/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Simply being nice wins more friends in high school than being a rebel, our study published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00114/full">Frontiers in Psychology</a> has found. </p>
<p>We looked at what sorts of social strategies help teens win close friends of the same and opposite sex. We asked whether aggressiveness and breaking rules – what we will call being a rebel – sometimes make teens well liked by their peers. </p>
<p>We found that empathetic children who also show some rebellious and antisocial behaviours have more opposite-sex friends in the early years of high school than those who were merely empathetic and followed the rules. But in the latter years empathetic children who keep to the rules beat their more aggressive peers and had more opposite-sex friends. </p>
<p>Past research shows <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=27012715">being empathetic</a> helps young people communicate, resolve conflict and engage in social behaviours, all of which helps build close friendships. Others <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Give+and+Take%3A+Why+Helping+Others+Drives+Our+Success%2E&author=Grant+A.&publication_year=2014">have argued</a> being a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Give-Take-Helping-Others-Success/dp/0143124986">giver rather than a taker</a> helps a person succeed socially. </p>
<p>But we wanted to find out why some people who display antisocial behaviour are socially successful. We also wanted to know if this behaviour was equally effective in opposite and same-sex relationships. Perhaps aggression and rule-breaking is attractive to the opposite sex but repellent to the same sex?</p>
<h2>Measuring empathy and aggression</h2>
<p>We addressed this question in a large, longitudinal study of friendship development in high school. The study assessed 2,803 students in 16 different schools across two different Australian states and five different time points between Years 8 and 12. We used both self-reports and peer-rated measures. </p>
<p>We measured empathy and antisocial behaviour (aggression and rule breaking) using self-reports. Empathy is the capacity to understand others’ emotions. Students were asked to rate statements such as: “When someone is feeling down I can usually understand how they feel,” and “I can often understand how people are feeling even before they tell me.”</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-others-feelings-what-is-empathy-and-why-do-we-need-it-68494">Understanding others' feelings: what is empathy and why do we need it?</a>
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</em>
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<p>Aggression and rule breaking also involved scoring statements of students engaging in arguing, fighting with other children, destroying things and bullying others. The scales in our study have been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17907855">widely used</a> and validated in former research.</p>
<p>We measured friendships using peer nominations of who youth felt where their close friends.</p>
<p>Our research identified four types of young people:</p>
<ul>
<li>nice youth (around 36% of all participants, with 70% being female and 30% male) – these young people are high in empathy and avoid hurting others</li>
<li>rebels (around 11% of participants, 31% female and 69% male) – these young people hurt others, break the rules and have little empathy</li>
<li>nice rebels (around 18% of participants, 67% female and 33% male) – they have the ability to be both empathetic and hurt others</li>
<li>nonplayers (around 36% participants, with 28% being female and 72% male) – they use neither empathy nor aggressive strategies. </li>
</ul>
<p>The nice rebels were the most interesting group. Theory suggests people who exhibit these qualities <a href="https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/15796">have an advantage</a> over others because they can use empathy to build social alliances and aggression to become dominant in those alliances. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/264289/original/file-20190318-28479-1x3raei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being a bully will lose you friends.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<h2>Nice people win</h2>
<p>In Years 8-10 (around 13-15 years old) the nice rebels had more opposite-sex friends than the nice youth. The plain rebels tended to attract fewer opposite-sex friends than both the nice youth and the nice rebels, but these rebels still did better than the nonplayers, who were relatively invisible to the opposite sex. </p>
<p>However, the nonplayers did about as well as both types of rebels in same-sex relationships. </p>
<p>But in Years 11-12 (around 16-17 years old), the nice rebels lost opposite-sex friends and became less popular with the opposite sex than nice youth. The plain rebels also lost friends and became similar to the nonplayers in opposite-sex friendships. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nice-guys-finish-first-empathetic-boys-attract-more-close-female-friends-60783">Nice guys finish first: empathetic boys attract more close female friends</a>
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<p>The story gets even better (if you like nice youth). Throughout all of high school, the nice youth had more same-sex friendships than all other groups and higher well-being than both the nice rebels and the rebels. </p>
<p>At first, young people might have seen the nice rebels as charming, fun and powerful. However, over time, they experienced the rebel acting aggressively and, eventually, this disrupted the friendship. </p>
<h2>What about mental health?</h2>
<p>We also used self-reports to assess children’s well-being. We found the nice rebels and rebels consistently reported lower levels of self-esteem and worse mental health then the nice youth and nonplayers.</p>
<p>We also found important differences between males and females. Females paid a higher price for being in one of the rebellious groups, experiencing worse mental health and self-esteem than their male counterparts. We speculate society may be more rejecting of rebellious females who are aggressive and break the rules.</p>
<p>The study had its limitations. Research is needed to determine what motivates young people to rebel. We also need to better understand why rebels experience lower self-esteem and worse mental health than the nice youth and nonplayers.</p>
<p>But what our research does show is that being nice is not only the ethically right strategy, it is also the most effective. Nice strategies such as taking perspective and giving can help young people build strong social alliances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Ciarrochi receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>We know being nice is good for friendships. But we wanted to find out why some antisocial people are socially successful. So we looked at whether rebels had more friends in high school than nice kids.Joseph Ciarrochi, Professor of Psychology, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/928472018-03-21T19:33:28Z2018-03-21T19:33:28ZMany people feel lonely in the city, but perhaps ‘third places’ can help with that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211107/original/file-20180320-31614-1qtre01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Third places are most effective when, like Waverley Community Garden in Sydney, they appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/d-olwen-dee/8202779802">d-olwen-dee/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Loneliness is a hidden but serious problem in cities worldwide. Urban loneliness is connected to population mobility, declining community participation and a growth in single-occupant households. This threatens the viability of our cities because it damages the social networks they rely on.</p>
<p>One response to these trends involves “third places”. These are public or commercial spaces that provide informal opportunities for local people to mix socially on neutral ground.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-living-alone-together-in-todays-cities-and-that-calls-for-smart-and-bolshie-moves-85318">We are living alone together in today's cities – and that calls for smart and 'bolshie' moves</a>
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<p>The concept of third place, developed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Oldenburg">Ray Oldenburg</a>, is distinct from first and second places. A first place is the private space of home. Second places are where people spend significant time, often formally. These include schools, universities and workplaces.</p>
<p>Common examples of third places in cities include <a href="https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/SDP17/SDP17033FU1.pdf">community gardens</a>, libraries, public swimming pools, cafes, men’s sheds, farmers’ markets and dog parks.</p>
<p><a href="https://experts.griffith.edu.au/academic/j.dolley">Researchers</a> at the <a href="https://www2.griffith.edu.au/cities-research-institute">Cities Research Institute</a> are investigating whether these “third places” can reduce urban loneliness. Here, we report and discuss some insights from that work.</p>
<h2>How can third places reduce loneliness?</h2>
<p>There is growing understanding of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/loneliness-is-bad-for-your-health-90901">negative outcomes and costs</a> associated with loneliness. These include fractured communities, declining trust, stress, depression and disease. Clearly this is neither desirable nor sustainable.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/loneliness-is-bad-for-your-health-90901">Loneliness is bad for your health</a>
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<p>More than a century ago the <a href="http://www.soc.duke.edu/%7Ejmoody77/TheoryNotes/Simmel_StrangerDyadTriad.htm">sociologist George Simmel</a> observed how mobility disrupts social connection and creates isolation. The urban migrant leaves behind their own social ties and often struggles to connect to their new community. This challenges both the migrant and their new neighbours. </p>
<p>Third places can help by creating or enhancing a sense of community on a smaller, more human scale – a relief from the overwhelming sensory experience of a large and unfamiliar city. The village-like feeling of third places can reduce people’s anxieties and make them more comfortable with trying a new social experience.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/neighbourhood-living-rooms-we-can-learn-a-lot-from-european-town-squares-91065">Neighbourhood living rooms – we can learn a lot from European town squares</a>
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<p>Third-place interactions encourage conversation in a homely atmosphere. Regulars who are local to the area often help with this. </p>
<p>In third places, people are free to come and go without obligation. The status and backgrounds of users are largely irrelevant. These places are generally designed to be accessible, accommodating and inviting for all ages, low-profile, comfortable and conversational.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209793/original/file-20180311-30979-1czlecn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Third places that offer opportunities for shared activities, such as a game of outdoor chess, provide reasons to strike up a conversation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/36177169@N02/9447253805/in/photolist-YwZB36-24USnnG-22csYvf-ZN1JKZ-226FRs1-vtJowW-BDaZMV-F3Dfou-FpmC5J-D7Gs5a-YHqZ2Q-XGCKxU-foPDqi-bnTt3m-ehAJBE-7J4Rjp-5nRRTb-5qPbrv-7zCtks-3eu6Pb-6KwBXM-3jWmL-8Cx4z4-6SUK8J-221CMLW-bFS3tF-gGuDpD-CUbRAb-r5o2MH-w6YjB7-Z147Az-6FURxw-22wjfPH-YLyLQS-XPxwte-D81K56-uDGi6S-y9x4UQ-41kpT4-NbDSjq-EUxYQU-vLHuM2-CtFVuR-22Y4Dmd-22NG4MT-21MFoHK-HLMVX3-21F9DA8-wL62u7-24Ls9Uw/">alexmerwin13</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>Third places bring people together based on shared spaces, which become more important than individual histories. This can reduce wariness of strangers and create social connections. Third places can lead to more resilient and better-connected communities, building up social capital, while reducing loneliness.</p>
<h2>Providing quality third places</h2>
<p>There are steps that can be taken to design and safeguard third places. Local councils and urban planners have important roles, given their central place in directing land uses. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most important thing is to understand the valuable social capital that successful third places offer. Once planners understand the value of third places, they can actively work to support them. </p>
<p>Walkability is an important factor. Third places encourage familiarity through repeated incidental interactions between locals, both regulars and newcomers. Ideally, people connect within their local neighbourhoods. Being able to visit without needing a car can encourage more people to use a place. </p>
<p>Space for third places can be designed into neighbourhoods and urban areas. Sections of parkland can be given over to public facilities such as outdoor gym equipment, dog parks or skate parks. Dedicated trading areas can be provided for farmers’ markets. </p>
<p>Third places are most effective when they encourage interactions between locals. Providing facilities and activities creates a purpose to interactions and reasons to start chatting. </p>
<p>Local councils can support citizen-led activities such as community gardens and men’s sheds. They can also provide activities such as Tai Chi classes.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209884/original/file-20180312-30994-1byutk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209884/original/file-20180312-30994-1byutk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209884/original/file-20180312-30994-1byutk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209884/original/file-20180312-30994-1byutk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209884/original/file-20180312-30994-1byutk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209884/original/file-20180312-30994-1byutk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209884/original/file-20180312-30994-1byutk5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Outdoor Tai Chi classes turn green spaces into third places.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brian Robinson/Flickr</span></span>
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<p>Protecting existing third places is as important as providing new ones. For example, a local council may be tempted to allow housing to take over the site of a community garden. While there may some be reasons to support that idea, it should be carefully considered against the loss of social capital and the risk of entrenching social isolation. </p>
<h2>Valuing and promoting third places</h2>
<p>We live in an age of urban mobility with no historical comparison. Many of us have been strangers in a new city. Loneliness is an unwelcome and growing feature of this urban mobility. Third places offer a useful and tested model for reducing loneliness by improving community. </p>
<p>Yet many city dwellers see these spaces but don’t use them. In this sense, perhaps the biggest barrier is our willingness to make the time to seek out and participate in third places. For those people who do, banishing loneliness could be one of the greatest benefits.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/planners-know-depressingly-little-about-a-citys-impacts-on-our-mental-health-81098">Planners know depressingly little about a city's impacts on our mental health</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92847/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Matthews receives external funding from the Australian Research Council, as well as internal funding from Griffith University. He is affiliated with the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Planning Institute of Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Dolley receives funding from Griffith University in the form of research support for her PhD studies. Joanne is also co-editing an Edward Elgar book provisionally titled, 'Rethinking Third Places: Informal Public Spaces and Community Building' (with A/Prof Caryl Bosman).</span></em></p>Third places are shared spaces where people can informally socialise. As a potential antidote to the modern scourge of loneliness, it’s worth asking what makes the best of these places tick.Tony Matthews, Lecturer in Urban and Environmental Planning, Griffith UniversityDr Joanne Dolley, PhD Candidate, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/909012018-02-26T11:45:35Z2018-02-26T11:45:35ZLoneliness is bad for your health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206052/original/file-20180212-58348-8nssp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social isolation is linked to increased blood pressure and depression.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-woman-sitting-alone-grey-sky-294408389?src=d5IARcm9VAyaxxtyff3f0w-1-50">Mindmo/shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imagine a 65-year-old woman who sees her physician frequently for a variety of aches and pains. She might complain of back pain on one visit, headaches another time, and feeling weak on the next. Each time, her physician does a physical exam and runs the appropriate tests, without finding anything to account for her symptoms. Each time, she leaves the office feeling frustrated that “nothing can be done” for what ails her.</p>
<p>However, if we looked more closely, we’d find out that this patient lost her husband five years earlier and has been living alone since. Her three children all live in other states. Although she dotes on her grandchildren, she sees them only about once a year. She has a few friends that she only sees occasionally. If asked, she would probably tell you that, yes, she is lonely. </p>
<p>This is a common picture in a family physician’s office. These ill-defined symptoms without any clear cause might well be the result of social isolation and boredom. Research shows that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/well/mind/how-loneliness-affects-our-health.html">people who feel lonely</a> have more health problems, feel worse and perhaps die at an earlier age.</p>
<p>Psychiatry, my specialty, has long known that feelings of all kinds can affect our physical health in profound ways. It seems officials are starting to take that seriously – the United Kingdom now even has a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/world/europe/uk-britain-loneliness.html">minister for loneliness</a>. And for good reason. </p>
<h2>Negative effects</h2>
<p>In 2015, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352">researchers from Brigham Young University</a> looked at multiple studies on loneliness and isolation. Their results from several hundred thousand people showed that social isolation resulted in a 50 percent increase in premature death. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.alzinfo.org/articles/feeling-lonely-increases-alzheimers-risk-2/">Loneliness and social isolation</a> are also associated with increased blood pressure, higher cholesterol levels, depression and, if that weren’t bad enough, decreases in cognitive abilities and Alzheimer’s disease. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ancient.eu/article/991/prehistoric-hunter-gatherer-societies/">Humans evolved</a> to be around others. Long ago, we hunted in small hunter-gather groups, where social cohesion could help protect from predators. Being alone without support in the wild is dangerous – and stressful. You’d have to be <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/hypervigilance">constantly vigilant for dangers</a>, ready to go into <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-of-fright-why-we-love-to-be-scared-85885">“fight or flight”</a> mode at any time. </p>
<p>Over the short term, stress can be healthy. But in the long term, uncontrolled stress becomes a problem. There’s <a href="http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2011/02/the-physiology-of-stress-cortisol-and-the-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis">good evidence</a> that chronic stress elevates levels of a hormone called cortisol in the brain. <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/march7/sapolskysr-030707.html">Cortisol</a> can decrease immune system responses to infections. It might even make neurons in the brain less active and even lead to cell death. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402162546.htm">It contributes to inflammation</a>, which is connected to cardiovascular disease, stroke and hypertension and is probably a cause of depression.</p>
<p>Just like the person long ago in the wild, someone who’s lonely over the long term can experience these cortisol responses. Lonely people are stressed much of the time. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207322/original/file-20180221-132647-wklk0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1135&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Loneliness is more common in older adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lost-thought-older-redhead-woman-standing-586522505?src=iDZPxO1hBBTOArRsL00rpQ-1-3">surowa/shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Another hormone named oxytocin seems to play a role in social isolation. In popular media, oxytocin is often referred to as the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-oxytocin-is-the-love-hormone/">“love hormone.”</a> This is an overstatement, but oxytocin is involved in <a href="http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb08/oxytocin.aspx">relationships and pair bonding</a>. For example, after birth, high oxytocin levels are associated with better mother-infant bonding. </p>
<p>Oxytocin also seems to be linked to reduced stress. For instance, it’s associated with decreases in <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-fear-be-erased/">levels of norepinephrine</a>, the “fight or flight” hormone, as well as decreases in blood pressure and heart rate, much the opposite of chronic cortisol. Oxytocin also seems to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4518468/">decrease activity in the amygdala</a>, a part of the brain that activates whenever there’s a perceived threat. </p>
<h2>A little less lonely</h2>
<p>So what can we do about all this? There are no real medications to treat loneliness, unless one is also depressed or has high levels of anxiety.</p>
<p>Issues with loneliness seem to be more prevalent in older adults. The AARP found that about <a href="https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/aarp_foundation/2012_PDFs/AARP-Foundation-Isolation-Framework-Report.pdf">17 percent of older Americans</a> are lonely and or isolated.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/loneliness-can-really-hurt-you/">CNN reporter and physician Sanjay Gupta suggests</a> that society should start to view loneliness as another chronic disease. If so, then patients need long-term strategies to manage this problem.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the currently recommended treatment revolves around establishing social relationships. For older adults, joining the local senior center is a wonderful way to get involved in activities and meet people. What about volunteering? Senior volunteer programs are always looking for older adults who will deliver meals, do mailings and a variety of other activities. It is surprising how small things can also be helpful. </p>
<p>A simple phone call once a day from an adult child is an opportunity to share things from the day or about grandchildren. Even better, video conferencing via computer is easy and cheap. You can actually talk to and see your children and grandchildren who might be on the other side of the country. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/57/7/M428/553460">Studies in long-term care facilities</a> found that pets can also reduce loneliness. </p>
<p>Because people have to be followed for years in order to determine if these or other interventions actually counteract the effects of loneliness, little work of this kind has been done as of yet. It seems reasonable, though, to think that psychosocial interventions are powerful, since healthy adults have these kinds of coping skills. </p>
<p>From a medical perspective, the wise physician will schedule people who seem to primarily be lonely for periodic visits just to talk. In my opinion, this could prevent more unnecessary testing and costly care. </p>
<p>Finally, even if you have a rich set of social contacts, maybe your neighbor who walks by alone on occasion doesn’t. Say hello.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jed Magen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social isolation is linked to higher blood pressure, lower cognitive abilities and even increased chances of premature death.Jed Magen, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/910652018-02-14T19:05:43Z2018-02-14T19:05:43ZNeighbourhood living rooms – we can learn a lot from European town squares<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204968/original/file-20180206-14107-1wng3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Campo Santa Maria Nova, in Venice, is a fine example of a compact, human-scale European plaza.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian urban design has historically focused on providing and improving access to public green spaces. As cities increase in density, this is a crucial part of creating healthy, engaged communities. But Australian urban designers often fail to consider the “other half” of public space – the town square.</p>
<p>Public squares or plazas were, and are, the centres of daily public life in many European towns and cities. Today they still influence the perception of place and help shape local identity. In Australia, <a href="http://fedsquare.com/">Federation Square</a> is an outstanding example of a space where Melbourne comes together. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/like-it-or-loathe-it-heres-why-apple-doesnt-need-a-planning-permit-for-its-fed-square-store-89527">Like it or loathe it, here's why Apple doesn't need a planning permit for its Fed Square store</a>
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<p>However, public plazas need not be limited to the city centre. Social isolation is a major health concern in both suburbs and cities. Public spaces that offer opportunities for incidental interactions help build healthier and less isolated communities.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204974/original/file-20180206-14072-lrg6zh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Public spaces that encourage people to sit and linger, as seen here in San Gimignano, Italy, promote social activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>There’s more to public space than green space</h2>
<p>In Australia, priority is given to green space – sporting grounds and parks. These are often segregated from the “flow” of a community. Of course, green spaces provide a necessary escape and respite, but they should not be considered the only way to provide community space in our suburbs.</p>
<p>When done right, plazas are nodes of vibrancy. Places like this are needed alongside green open spaces to accommodate unexpected and planned events and enrich the everyday life of communities.</p>
<p>Plazas accommodate a broad variety of activities, bringing people together without separating them from the street. Successful plazas encourage people to travel across them. This is achieved by embedding them within the street network. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204970/original/file-20180206-14067-b0mjbg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1071&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many European plazas, like this one in Como, Italy, are approached through narrow streets, offering a welcoming open space to mingle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Especially evident in historic European towns, the approach to a plaza may be through windy, tight streets with limited direct sunlight. This makes the open, sunlit space of the square a welcome change. At entry, a momentary slowdown and a catching of breath occurs as the diluted intensity offers relief from the busy streets just passed and often teeming with tourists.</p>
<p>Plazas are a visual and psychological marker within the street network. They help us navigate the city and contribute to the identity of an area. </p>
<p>And by acting as neighbourhood living rooms, these shared spaces offer a place for residents to sit and meet, sometimes incidentally. A sense of community and belonging is fostered slowly in these spaces as formal and informal connections grow.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204969/original/file-20180206-14072-e0bfqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A good plaza serves as a neighbourhood living room where people feel comfortable spending time together. This one is in San Gimignano, Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What makes a good plaza?</h2>
<p>Characteristics of successful plazas vary, but a set of basic conditions exists.</p>
<p>Influential architect and design theorist Christopher Alexander suggests that <a href="http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/Ecological_Building/A_Pattern_Language.pdf">squares should be made much smaller than first imagined</a>.
This maxim holds true in many modern cities where overly large squares become empty, windswept voids, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pra%C3%A7a_dos_Tr%C3%AAs_Poderes">Praça dos Três Poderes</a> in Brasilia. </p>
<p>Designers need to consider a balance between accommodating large gatherings and the likely number of occupants at most other times. Providing for relative intimacy will ensure that spaces are inviting and feel lively. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-love-parklets-and-businesses-can-help-make-them-happen-87172">People love parklets, and businesses can help make them happen</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/jgehl">Jan Gehl</a> notes, for a neighbourhood square to function, faces need to be recognisable. Face recognition occurs from a distance of about 70 to 50 metres. At 25m, facial expression and details are
understood.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204975/original/file-20180206-14104-hrw1cz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The contained, human-scale plazas of places like Como, Italy, are more inviting than large empty expanses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Locating a square at a confluence of streets will ensure that it is connected to the surrounding area and is a desirable thoroughfare. </p>
<p>The edges of the space are critical in supporting a lively atmosphere. Ground floors of surrounding buildings should house various attractions to provide pockets of activity. A mixing of functions will ensure activity from morning through to late in the evening.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/contested-spaces-living-off-the-edge-in-a-city-mall-where-design-fuels-conflict-72351">Contested spaces: living off the edge in a city mall where design fuels conflict</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Protection from negative sensory influences, such as sun, traffic or rain, is important for creating a pleasant and comfortable environment in which people
wish to remain. Formal and informal seating, such as steps or building ledges, should also be provided. </p>
<p>Alongside elements, such as fountains and play areas, that provide a focal point, varied shop windows, building materials and design can provide visual complexity. All these elements help create a rich, inviting and memorable place. </p>
<p>The recently completed <a href="http://www.connectstonnington.vic.gov.au/grevilleandking">Greville Street upgrade</a> in Prahran, Melbourne, shows a change in attitude within Australia’s approach to suburban development. Greville Street has become a <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/shared-space">shared zone</a> with a new small square connected to Grattan Gardens. </p>
<p>The square offers a variety of convenient places to sit and people-watch, as well as respite without disconnection. When the fountain is running, children and pets playing with water jets provide entertainment for all. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-friendly-furniture-in-public-places-matters-more-than-ever-in-todays-city-83568">People-friendly furniture in public places matters more than ever in today's city</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/204972/original/file-20180206-14093-320hoo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The creation of Greville Street square shows a shift in the planning of suburban public space in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gehl observes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whether people are enticed to walk around and stay in city space is very much a question of working carefully with the human dimensions and issuing a tempting invitation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This invitation holds the key to improving physical and mental health, and increasing civic pride. Within these inviting shared spaces, incidental interactions – the momentary glances and shared moments between strangers – can decrease feelings of loneliness and increase a sense of belonging to a community. This is important for general societal wellbeing, especially considering the <a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-social-researcher-and-author-hugh-mackay-on-2017-a-really-disturbing-year-89445">prevalence of loneliness</a> today. </p>
<p>Successful neighbourhood squares allow for incidental encounters. They encourage lingering and interaction. Most importantly, they bring an area to life and give the community a space in which everyone is invited to participate and belong.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205434/original/file-20180208-74470-7s3yjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A successful plaza, like this one in Venice, is a place where people naturally linger.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dina Bacvic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91065/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dina Bacvic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Done right, a plaza can bring life and a sense of identity to an area. So why has urban design in Australia neglected the town square in favour of green space, and what makes for a successful one?Dina Bacvic, Architect and Urban Designer, Plus Architecture, and Tutor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/880432017-11-27T08:05:43Z2017-11-27T08:05:43ZA close up look at the social networks of Lake Victoria’s fisherfolk<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196264/original/file-20171124-21811-1h0decm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lake Victoria sustains about 200,000 fishers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jen Watson/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The fisheries of Lake Victoria, the second largest freshwater body in the world, support the livelihoods of <a href="http://www.firstmagazine.com/Publishing/SpecialistPublishingDetail.aspx?SpecialistPublicationId=24">around</a> three million people in the countries that border the lake – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. But there have been widespread concerns, since the early 2000s, that fish stocks and catches of the key commercial fishery of <a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/scienceandhealth/Scientists-alarm-over-decline-Nile-perch-stock-in-Lake-Victoria/3073694-3488878-a92u0a/index.html">Nile perch</a> are declining. This is largely attributed to <a href="http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/news/counties/Lake-Victoria-Nile-Perch-stocks-drop-over-pollution/4003142-4141910-qex4b6z/index.html">pollution</a>, <a href="http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/africa/africas-biggest-lake-is-on-the-verge-of-dying/news-story/364bdb4e810ab33aa6434f3b71a473dc">overfishing</a> and the widespread use of <a href="http://www.nation.co.ke/business/seedsofgold/Destroy-illegal-fishing-nets-on-Lake-Victoria/2301238-3234536-102ftot/index.html">illegal gear</a> that catch undersized fish. </p>
<p>With <a href="http://www.fao.org/fishery/nems/37841/zh">around</a> 1,500 landing sites, Lake Victoria sustains <a href="http://www.firstmagazine.com/Publishing/SpecialistPublishingDetail.aspx?SpecialistPublicationId=24">about</a> 200,000 fishers, referring both to the owners of boats and the crew who undertake the manual work of fishing. There are then the small-scale fish processors (usually women), agents who buy fish for fish processing factories and local traders who buy for local and further markets.</p>
<p>These fisherfolk live and work at the fish landing sites where they develop close social and economic ties over time. These ties form social networks that are critical for gaining access to employment, labour for the boat and fish to process and trade. Efforts to address the challenges facing Lake Victoria, particularly of illegal fishing, should therefore take into consideration these close community ties as they demonstrate that there is close cooperation and dependence among the fisherfolk. This could be built on to strengthen their involvement in fisheries management.</p>
<p>We did <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08941920.2017.1383547">research</a> in the three countries bordering the lake to understand the personal networks of the three main occupational groups better; boat crew, boat owners as well as fish processors and traders. We also tried to understand how they benefited from having strong social ties.</p>
<p>We found that people rely heavily on others working in the same occupation and living at the same landing site, despite significant migration between landing sites, and that the provision of credit, employment, labour and social support brought people together and secured livelihoods. </p>
<p>Our findings are important because social ties influence people’s attitudes to management and their willingness to get involved in managing the fisheries with government. Understanding the basis of social cohesion can therefore inform the design and implementation of fisheries development and management approaches so that they build on connections people already have, and that are critical to their well-being.</p>
<h2>Understanding social ties</h2>
<p>The research involved both a quantitative questionnaire and a qualitative interview. Interviews were conducted with a sample of boat owners, boat crew and fish processors/traders at 18 landing sites – six in each country. We interviewed 85 men and 19 women. Most of the women were in the fish traders and processors category while the men were mostly boat crew and boat owners.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196261/original/file-20171124-21805-vohayp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196261/original/file-20171124-21805-vohayp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196261/original/file-20171124-21805-vohayp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196261/original/file-20171124-21805-vohayp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196261/original/file-20171124-21805-vohayp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196261/original/file-20171124-21805-vohayp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196261/original/file-20171124-21805-vohayp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fish buyer and fishermen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jen Watson/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To find out who mattered most in people’s personal networks related to fisheries, respondents were asked to name up to seven people with whom they had discussed their fishing activity within the previous two weeks. What we found was that the largest group within each personal network came from the same occupation, though this was even more the case for fish traders and processors than for boat crew and boat owners. </p>
<p>This was surprising. We’d expected that the networks of fish traders and processors would be more diverse given that they frequently interacted with crew and boat owners to buy fish. Their close relations within the occupational group reflected the high degree of dependence they have on each other. Dependencies included needing to trade onwards, to get access to credit and to get business advice. Around half of their network members lived outside of the landing site, reflecting their wide trading networks.</p>
<p>But we found that most of the network members of boat crew and boat owners stayed at the same landing site. The mobility of fishers might suggest that their networks would be more geographically diverse, but boat crew rely on their local friends when they migrate in search of better fish catches and prices, using their networks to help them move.</p>
<h2>Benefiting from ties</h2>
<p>So, how do people benefit from these social ties? </p>
<p>For boat crew, financial help and provision of advice were the most common benefits stated. Most advice related to fishing grounds, but also included advice on running businesses and how to get into fisheries. Boat crew frequently rely on each other, for example they may replace a friend who can’t go out to fish or share their portion of the catch with crew members who were not able to go out or caught a poor catch. These reciprocal arrangements provide an important safety net.</p>
<p>Boat owners reported that they benefit from boat crew through the skill, hard work and knowledge the crew members have. They also benefit from ties with other boat owners through providing financial assistance and advice. In terms of their relationships with fish traders and processors, boat owners gain access to credit and secure a market for their catch. Fellow fish traders/processors also benefit significantly from receiving advice and assistance from each other, such as helping secure access to markets and transport fish.</p>
<p>The networks are therefore critical for gaining access to credit and employment, maintaining reliable and skilled labour, and sustaining access to markets. People turn to each other when in need of resources and advice, whether in relation to fisheries, running their business or for personal matters. These networks ensure that fish, income, employment and information flow, at and from the landing sites. They also confirm that there is constant economic and social interaction, with personal and work lives strongly intertwined.</p>
<p>These networks, associated with the provision of advice and credit, could be harnessed to use peer communication in tackling illegal fishing. They could also be harnessed to strengthen the <a href="https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1411741/museveni-probe-illegal-fishing">case for</a>, and implementation of, co-management of the lake’s threatened fisheries. The findings confirm that the cohesive nature of fishing communities is encouraging for community-based and collaborative management as community members have shown themselves to be able to work together effectively.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88043/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Nunan receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust and the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation programme, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council and the Department for International Development. </span></em></p>Social ties between Lake Victoria’s fisherfolk are critical for gaining access to credit, employment, maintaining reliable and skilled labour and access to markets.Fiona Nunan, Professor of Environment and Development, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.