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The rural ideal in American society and its influence on attitudes towards population limitation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Larry D. Barnett
Larry D. Barnett
Affiliation:
California State College, Los Angeles
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Extract

A prevalent feature of American society is the strong desire to live in areas of low population density and close to nature, a phenomenon which can perhaps be most appropriately termed a ‘rural ideal’.* It is paradoxical that this phenomenon has been little studied and totally disregarded in quantitative research, for it apparently has a long-standing and central place in American history (Schmitt, 1969; White & White, 1962). The ideal, which some would argue conforms to a basic biological need of the human species (e.g. Iltis, Loucks & Andrews, 1970), may help to explain and predict such social phenomena as migration to the suburbs (Schmitt, 1969; Strauss, 1961), the growth and prevalence of recreational activities which bring the individual into closer contact with nature and/or into lesser contact with other people (e.g. camping, fishing, hunting, visits to national parks) (Schmitt, 1969), and rising rates of deviant behaviours such as neuroses and violence with increasing population density (Ehrlich & Ehrlich, 1970).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , April 1972 , pp. 235 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

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References

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