Exorcising the Ghost of Physical Determinism - Article Example

In “Exorcising the ghost of Physical Determinism”, Karen A. Franck has shed light on the major weaknesses of the physical determinist perspective anddiscusses the so-called “fear” of determinism that has proved to be a limiting factor that is preventing modern researchers from carrying on empirical studies that acknowledge and discuss the role of the physical environment in environment-behavior study. The article discusses the roots of the term “Determinism”, and points out that in philosophy the term specifically refers to any event or happening occurring as a result of any given number of previous, or existing events or factors, without which its occurrence would not have been possible. In reference to the study of environment-behavior or for determinism in the context of environment, the author points out that three major areas are of importance. These are the built environment, the natural environment and the environmental factors which constitute factors such as social stimuli. However, in this paper, the two major factors that have been considered are Geographical determinism and Architectural determinism. According to the author, since geographical determinism refers to the natural environment whereas architectural determinism gives primacy to the built environment, when taken together these two are the best representatives of the phrase “physical determinism”. This article focuses on the fact that the philosophy of physical determinism has a lot of inherent weaknesses and due to this fact, many researchers stay clear of this subject due to a fear that any subsequent research is also going to be marred with the same weaknesses. The importance of the Physical environment: To begin with, Franck points out that the believers of geographical and architectural determinism are criticized because they are too literal in their belief of the fact that that environment has a direct effect on behavior. This stems from the fact that a lot of exaggerated stress has been laid by researchers on the idea that the physical environment has more impact on behavior than any other factors such as sociological factors. According to the author this criticism leveled at geographers and architects for being physical determinists has lead to the lack of research and development of theoretical frameworks that could generate further material for debate on the importance of physical determinism. The article points out that the right way to go forward for researchers would be to focus on the view that the physical environment is the sole factor influencing behavior and then work towards determining in which ways and conditions the behavior is effected. Indirect Effects of the Physical Environment: Another criticism leveled at the determinist perspective in environment-behavior research is that there is a lack of clearly defined and measured intervening variables in the environment-behavior relationship. The lack of an intervening variable would, thus mean that the researchers are conferring or implying that the physical environment has a direct or unmediated effect on behavior in all situations or instances. Researchers such as Brody (1972) and Lang (1980) have been criticized due to this and there is a need to quantify the intervening variable that simply put explain why a proposed environmental feature or event effects behavior in a particular way. Since an intervening variable would therefore be considered both a result of the environmental feature being considered as well as the determinant of the resulting behavior, it would imply that physical environment is in most instances an indirect effect. The author says that researchers need to put effort into presenting clearly defined intervening variables that would help in the further advancement of this field of study. The Choices that People Make: A major criticism of the physical determinist approach has been that the researchers of environment-behavior research do not give enough importance to the fact that certain people may not react to a certain situation in the same manner as most would. Simply put, there is a general lack of acknowledgement of the fact that different people make different situations in similar circumstances and while one person may act a certain way, another person may react to the same physical environment in a completely different manner. According to the author there are many questions that can be posed in this regard. For instances, in many situations, people choose to live in a harsh physical environment and actually make the choice themselves instead of the environment being forced upon them. similarly, according to the author there are many factors that can alter or change the effectiveness that any particular physical environmental factor may have on moderating the behavior of different people, and this fact poses a lot of research questions which can help achieve the advancement of this field. The Physical environment is not a given: The author points out the fourth major weakness of the determinist approach is the is the idea that the features of the physical environment are immutable. There is a major lack of acknowledgement of the fact that in a lot of circumstances, man is a major factor in the creation of any sort of physical environment and therefore the fact that physical determinists do not approach the subject of the interaction between man and the environment which essentially shapes the environment itself is a major weakness of the approach. As a subject, the researchers of both geographical and architectural determinism have not paid focused attention to this aspect of the environment-behavior relationship. Although some researchers have paid cursory attention to the theoretical aspects of the design and developmental process that generates settings or environments such as a built setting, there is a lack of empirical research that closely follows the process and determines the intricacies of the process. In this regard, the author points out a number of interesting research subjects. For instance researchers of architectural determinism can study the manner and level of environmental modifications that an occupant of a built setting can carry out. The article points an obvious direction that future researchers on the subject can take that will broaden the understanding of the research community on the subject of environment-behavior. Conclusion: This article attempts to clear up some of the ambiguity surrounding the term “physical determinism”. The major reason for that has been the pointed lack of researchers pursuing various aspects of this subject and the fact that most are skeptical of venturing down an avenue of research due to the assumption that their work will be marred with doubts and claims of exaggeration. The article discusses the major areas that have been called the weaknesses of this concept and suggests directions that researchers can take in order to take their work a step further. References Franck, K., A.(1984). “Exorcising the Ghost of Physical Determinism”. Environment and Behavior. Vol. 16, pp 411-435. Read More