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Environment and Behavior
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Ecological Disaster as Contextual Transformation

Environmental Values in a Renewable Resource Community

Brent K. Marshall

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Central Florida, bmarshal{at}pegasus.cc.ucf.edu

J. Steven Picou

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, University of South Alabama

Christine A. Bevc

University of Colorado at Boulder

The biophysical context and contextual change have significant economic, cultural, social, and psychological consequences for individuals and communities. Although acknowledging the importance of the biophysical context for theoretical and conceptual issues, social science research typically is conducted as if context does not matter. The authors discuss the relevance of context and outline research that examines the effects of context through assumed contextual variation, subjective contextual variables, objective contextual variables, and temporal contextual variation. The authors hypothesize that an ecological disaster occurring in a community where people are connected to the biophysical environment and ecological processes will result in the adoption of a more ecological worldview. This hypothesis is tested by analyzing data collected in the renewable resource communities of Cordova and Petersburg, Alaska, in the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The authors find support for this hypothesis and provide suggestions for future research.

Key Words: ecological disaster • contextual transformation • environmental values • oil spill

Environment and Behavior, Vol. 37, No. 5, 706-728 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0013916505275310
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