Vínculo com a natureza em pais-mães e suas implicações no comportamento parental

Abstract

The present study aimed to understand the behavior that establishes Connectedness to Nature among fathers and mothers residing in Manaus-AM, and the implications for the experiences that they provided for their children. The construct Connectedness to Nature (CN) can be defined as the emotional attachment of people to nature, which is manifested in the adoption of attitudes that reveal environmental care and concern. Thus, in this research, it was imperative to apprehend the meaning of nature, since it is the result of a historical construction. Additionally, the research tries to understand what characterizes the lived experiences in nature of the parents and children, and identify the behaviors that define their relationship with nature. This is a descriptive exploratory study with a multi-method approach. The instruments used were semi-structured interview, free word association and social scale. Fifty-eight people (33 fathers and 25 mothers), residents of Manaus and with children up to 11 years of age, participated in this study. The data generated by the interviews was submitted to Content Analysis, after categorization was made using Descriptive Analysis; the free word association technique was subjected to Similarity Structure Analysis (SSA). Finally, the social scales were worked out from the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Simple Descriptive Analysis (SDA). All quantitative analysis was performed using the SPSS (Social Package for Social Sciences) program. The results revealed that when referring to nature the participants do so in both an objective (geophysical aspects and elements present in it) and subjective (social, symbolic and affective aspects) way. For most parents accessing nature as a space for their children’s leisure is not their preferred choice. There is a slight expectation that, in the future, it will be possible to make use of this space, but this desire is shared by only a few parents. For these urban famillies leisure activities are primarily carried out in enclosed, public or domestic, spaces. This is the both the current situation, and the desired ideal situation. The results highlight this disparity and suggest that parents are not trying to overcome it. It was found that the majority of parents have a high level of CN (or Connectedness to Nature). However, this is not manifested as more time spent in contact with nature or in actions of environmental care. There is an incongruity between feeling connected to nature and being actually present in it. Some factors that contribute to this gap were listed by the participants - such as such as safety and security issues and the lack of leisure time. The data shows that there is a long way to go, before the connection with nature, in fact, results in actions that express care for the natural environment and in experiences in nature. To achieve this, family and social support must be more effective.