Fire Fighters, Neighbourhoods and Social Identity: the relationship between the fire service and residents in Bristol
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- Introducing Avon
- Chapter Two: Background Literatures from Social Psychology, Human Geography and Urban Studies
- Thematic literatures
The research contextFor the most part, this research is set within three neighbourhoods in Bristol, and a number of Bristol fire stations, as used by Avon Fire and Rescue Service. The use of neighbourhoods as a unit of research is discussed in greater detail in the first Literature Review chapter, and the neighbourhoods where the research was conducted are introduced in the Methodology. Suffice to say, environmental psychology (Proshansky, Fabian et al. 1983, Pol 2002, Lalli 1992) has much to say about residential environments, and the impact that they have on our identities. As such, neighbourhoods are used in this programme of research both to reflect the way in which we as residents navigate our cities, but also to reflect the way in which the fire service delivers policies at a local level. Although many of us would struggle to define the neighbourhood (Galster 2001), we are broadly familiar with what it comprises. Conversely, the definition of the fire service is relatively straightforward, yet its internal workings remain a closed world to all but fire fighters and the small number of support staff who work with them. Introducing AvonThe county council of Avon ceased to exist in any real sense in 1996, when it became the four unitary authorities of Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset (BANES). The historic name of Avon persists in a number of local authority settings, including the police (Avon and Somerset Constabulary) and the Fire Service (Avon Fire and Rescue Service – AFRS), and the four unitary authorities are sometimes referred to as ‘CUBA’: the county that used to be Avon. Avon Fire and Rescue Service covers these four unitary authority areas. It employs over one thousand people, around nine hundred of whom are operational fire fighters, and the other deployed in support. There are a further two hundred retained fire fighters providing cover in their local communities. Avon’s headquarters (HQ) are co-located with a fire station in the centre of Bristol, and Control (from where emergency calls are handled) is near Bath. There are a further 23 stations, and a training centre (near Avonmouth) which is shared with a number of other fire services. Although Avon covers four local authority areas, the majority of residents and incidents occur within the Bristol area. Further, the Bristol area is the most socially diverse and tends to present the most challenging conditions in which crews work (although that is not to say the other areas are entirely unproblematic). As such, the majority of the work undertaken in this research project has been in Bristol stations, and in certain neighbourhoods. Whilst it would be disingenuous to Avon to disguise their involvement, it would also be hard to disguise the area and city, as the most diverse and populous within the South West. So, Avon and Bristol both remained named within the study. However, in the interests of confidentiality, I have disguised neighbourhoods and stations. Chapter Two: Background Literatures from Social Psychology, Human Geography and Urban StudiesIn this and the next chapter, I propose to examine the literatures which underpin this programme of research, covering two linked but distinct areas: literature relating to the themes of this research project and literature which takes the fire service as its subject matter. In a third chapter, linking the literature reviews with the studies, I will consider literatures which relate to my proposed methodologies. These literatures help to pose the research questions. As discussed in the Introduction, the aim of the research is to explore the relationship between residents and the fire service in Bristol, by asking questions about how hostility and resistance arise, what social identity approaches can tell us about this and the extent to which current engagement mechanisms are effective. Thematic literaturesThis first chapter of the literature review deals with the themes and theoretical areas which inform this programme of research. This research project is very much grounded in an interdisciplinary approach, and, as such, the literatures necessarily draw on a number of different fields, including social and environmental psychology, criminology and human geography. However, as I will discuss, these are linked through the broad themes of identity and place, providing a coherent underpinning and context to the research. In the first instance, I will look at social identity approaches, considering the ways in which group and individual identities are formed, and how this informs people’s actions, allowing conflict between groups to be examined without apportioning blame to either group. This covers social identity and self categorisation theories, as well as issues around bias, stereotyping and social conflict and issues which arise in crowds before considering the contact hypothesis which proposes mechanisms for reducing conflict between groups. Social identity approaches to an extent provide the theoretical underpinning for this research project, whilst the subsequent areas provide context and depth to the different fields that are touched upon. Another way in which particular groups, notably the police and regeneration workers have sought to improve relations within communities has been through engagement, and so this forms the next section. Identity is not solely formed by group membership, rather becomes salient in a variety of contexts. One such context of relevance to this research project, and forming the second major theme, is place. Debates around place have a number of theoretical underpinnings, including from environmental psychology and human geography. I will start by looking at ideas of place identity, linking between this and the previous themes, and briefly discuss how place is constituted as a social construct with relevance to identity, the political aspects of which inform a number of conceptualisations of exclusion. Processes of exclusion are, inevitably, geographically concentrated, most notably in neighbourhoods, and these are discussed next, alongside social capital, which is often used as an explanatory mechanism for this trajectory. Issues of ASB and incivility are of particular concern both to the fire service and to residents in many neighbourhoods, and so this forms the next section, which concludes this first literature review chapter. Download 0.87 Mb. Share with your friends:
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