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Making sense of unfamiliar risks in the countryside: the case of Lyme disease

Making sense of unfamiliar risks in the countryside: the case of Lyme disease
Making sense of unfamiliar risks in the countryside: the case of Lyme disease
The focus of this paper is on how popular representations of the countryside provide countryside users with a discursive framework to make sense of unfamiliar countryside-based risks, taking Lyme disease as an example. Sixty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with 82 visitors in Richmond Park, New Forest, and Exmoor National Park in the UK. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and was informed by social representations theory. The analysis indicated that a lay understanding of the risk of Lyme disease was filtered by place-attachment and the social representations of the countryside. Lyme disease was not understood primarily as a risk to health, but was instead constructed as a risk to the social and restorative practices in the context of the countryside. The findings suggest that advice about zoonoses such as Lyme disease is unlikely to cause panic, and that it should focus on the least intrusive preventative measures.

countryside, identity, lyme disease, place attachment, risk, social representations
1353-8292
843-850
Marcu, Afrodita
25ba37d2-9068-4c58-8527-fb799152add3
Uzzell, David
77b9583b-ae49-46ee-a0c9-6c07e1979fad
Barnett, Julie
e075f8d9-cf31-4bfc-a6be-41988b5ce764
Marcu, Afrodita
25ba37d2-9068-4c58-8527-fb799152add3
Uzzell, David
77b9583b-ae49-46ee-a0c9-6c07e1979fad
Barnett, Julie
e075f8d9-cf31-4bfc-a6be-41988b5ce764

Marcu, Afrodita, Uzzell, David and Barnett, Julie (2011) Making sense of unfamiliar risks in the countryside: the case of Lyme disease. Health & Place, 17 (3), 843-850.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on how popular representations of the countryside provide countryside users with a discursive framework to make sense of unfamiliar countryside-based risks, taking Lyme disease as an example. Sixty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with 82 visitors in Richmond Park, New Forest, and Exmoor National Park in the UK. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and was informed by social representations theory. The analysis indicated that a lay understanding of the risk of Lyme disease was filtered by place-attachment and the social representations of the countryside. Lyme disease was not understood primarily as a risk to health, but was instead constructed as a risk to the social and restorative practices in the context of the countryside. The findings suggest that advice about zoonoses such as Lyme disease is unlikely to cause panic, and that it should focus on the least intrusive preventative measures.

Text
Marcu et al_Making sense of Lyme disease_Health & Place vol 17 issue 3 pages 843-850.pdf - Other
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More information

Published date: May 2011
Additional Information: Funded by ESRC: Assessing the potential risk of, and possible responses to, zoonotic diseases on the development of recreational use of (RES-229-25-0007)
Keywords: countryside, identity, lyme disease, place attachment, risk, social representations
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 359381
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/359381
ISSN: 1353-8292
PURE UUID: b935df25-d860-4ac4-ac23-e5309f9f8b52

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Oct 2013 11:48
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 15:21

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Contributors

Author: Afrodita Marcu
Author: David Uzzell
Author: Julie Barnett

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