Comparing urban sociology’s human ecology and community psychology’s ecological metaphor

《Comparing urban sociology’s human ecology and community psychology’s ecological metaphor》

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摘要: This paper explores how two distinct scholarly disciplines both concerned with place-based human behavior have independently developed an ecological framework: urban sociology’s human ecology, and community psychology’s ecological metaphor. A comparison of these two frameworks shows they are similar in many ways, including their foundations, processes, and legacies. These frameworks emerged independently in similar social and intellectual milieus separated by 50 years, suggesting that their similarities could be the product of convergent evolution. These similarities highlight opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, while the differences identified by this comparison highlight opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning.AcknowledgmentsSome of the ideas in this paper grew out of conversations about the relationship between human ecology and the ecological metaphor with Patrick Janulis in 2011.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.Additional informationNotes on contributorsZachary P. NealZachary P. Neal is associate professor of psychology and global urban studies at Michigan State University. His research focuses on the development of network methods and application of network science techniques to understand cities at multiple scales.