Aug 20, 1993 - They do not reaeh towards the sort of activity that isinvestigative in the meaning of. "investigative journalism". Nor are they as fu1l~bloodedlyâ¢â¢m ...
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SEVEN ASSUMPTIONS FOR AN INVESTIGATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY David Canter Centre for Investigative Psychology Bleanor Rathbone Building
1heU~emi~ofL~~ow Liverpool L69 7ZA UK 'Iel: (44)(151) 794 3910 ,
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Fax; ~(lS1) 7943938 e-mail: eanter@)iv.ac.u.k
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4-I 1. INTRODUCTION In preparation for the writing of this essa.yI undertook a daunting task. I du~ out many of the environmental psychology papers l have written over the last 2S years and. looked at them to see what usunlptions \1lJderlay those papers. The experict1ce proouc:ed a real surp:1i.se. '!he sutprise came from the discovery of the ranae of topics. as varied as stuClies of reactions to working in open plan offices (Canter. 1m), fumiture arrangements in Japanese a.partments (Canter, 1973). h\1DW1 behavior in fires (Canter, 1990), the design of hostels for the homeless (Moore, Canter, Stockley. &t Dnke,l99S). and the gcographiea.lactivities of serlal rapists (Canter & Larkin. 1993a). There Seetn.8 to me to be a style to most studies, and to the accollUtIgave of the#, that remains remarkably uncb.anged~om my earliest publication in the late 60's in the Architect.S~Journal on "the Need for a
Theory of Function in Architecture" (Canter, 1971) to my most recent contribution, this year, to a set of essays edited by Birgit Cold on "Health And Beauty: Enclosure md Structure" (Canter, 1999). Even my cwrent domman' concertl.& with the actions of criminals ha\lemany similarities to earlier studies. All these studies explore how people make sense
of their surroundings and act iJlrelation to that understanding.lbey put the active penon at the forefront and attempt to understand how the CQ1l.text of that person's actions provicles a basis for coueeptualizinJ their dealinp with the world, TheoretiC4/,Ptnp«rives in M\lwmnmt-Blhaliior Ru~tJTdl,edited by Wapl!er er AI. Kluwer Aoademic I P!cll.llm. Pub1ilhM\, New York, 1999.
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Sut mote impOttant than the similarity in the central theoretical perspective is the similarity in MW those topics are tackled, the way I approach answering the questions they raise. That is the basis of the surprise. For me e~h of the publications was a distinct event. Often it was an account of a particular study that haa been carried out in response to a distinct challenge or opportunity. These studies were never part of any predetermined progum or p!'eviou.sly specified enviromnental psychology model. Yet an approach CJnefges from. them, a framework that is reflected in cammon themes and a cumulative claritication of those themes and their relationship to each other. It is as if I was attempting to play jazz improvisations using different motifs, but each Improvisation ended up sounding rather sixnilar. although. the tune does evolve and ch.~e. What hWi been evol'\ling throu.pout this qu.arter century of research is a certain type of psyeholopeal activity. One that I have called '·'investi,ptive psychology" because it focuses on examining existing circumstances and naturally occu.ning patterns of activity in order to sohe problems and provide insight. It is thus investigative in Ii number of senses, but most particularly in the sense that the problema that are tackled have an existence independently of any scientific mtere6t iD them. A perspective I first outlined in my inauguralleeture at Sun-ey Univemty (Canter. 1985a). They do not reaeh towards the sort of activity that is investigative in the meaning of "investigative journalism". Nor are they as fu1l~bloodedly ••m.••• estigative" in the sense that Douglas (1976) advocates in his aooount of "Investigative Social Research" .He sees the truth. of social reality as only open to con.struction from the active participation of
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tcam.s of people in the processes they are studying. The investigative psychology I am desaibing is rather more genteel than that. It uses rather more distant forms of contact with its subject matter than the intense immersion in the setting that Douilas inslSts is so important.Xt is also different in focusing on the experience and conceptu.allzatioll! of individuals and the conceptual systems they draw upon to guide their activities. Xtis much more intluenced by the psycholopca1 perspective of George Kelly (1955) and his "a1ter~ native eOn&trUctionism". than the field research approaches of Garfinkel (1967) and
GoffmUl (1963) that are a major source of Doualas' methodoloi)'. In other words, my quest is to underStand the processes aoing on within individuals that helps to explain their actions in and on the world rather than social p.coCC5~CSthat are .the product of s1J.ch actions. As is obvious from =y wrltinp the other dominant 1n.ftuence beyond George Kelly was the social science methodoloJ;i.st Louis Guttman (Levy, 1996). He took the notion of alternative coIlltructionism into fundamental questions of research process. He thw does share with Douglas the view that scientific truth is constrUCted ratheX' thaIl discovered. but he sho'Wed how research methodologies can assist that eonstruction, My ~tudies, though, are certamly not solely acadexnic. Some of them are "action research" in the sense that they are carried out with the objective of provi~g direct input to the decision processes of the people Ot organizations beiIlg studied. Some are even consultancy proj eets to provide direct guidance to' a commissioning client. Others have been carried out 'With more aeneraI sciend.ftc objectives in mind. What they all have in common, thoush, is a search for the me-=gs characterize people in their daily situations.
and psychological stnIC.tures that
Z. AN UNFOLDING LOGIC B
To ~t some understanding of the unfolding logic and therefore the assumptions, theories and methods that are characteristic of my work it will be helpful to have a. brief reswne of the studies in which I and my ooUeaaues have been involved.
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It started with an interest in the nature of aesthetic experienee and a desire to study tho reactions of artists to -;heir own creative processe5.1 suppose this grew out of my om. dallyin" with the arts (Canter, 1998) and the mixture of interest in the creative, subjective processes of drama lmd painting as well as the scientific processes. However, there are rarely opportunities to fund research of such a pure. arc
