Placing Sense of Community

Behavioral geographers interpret cognitive associations between people and places to spatially understanding the social psychology of sense of community. This report acknowledges connections between sense of community and sense of place using Google Earth images to position experiences and meanings. Having participants identify significant spaces and places using Google Earth represents an alternative approach for researchers to understand how relationships are located in particular places—further framing this notion of sense of place with the literature on sense of community. The practical impact of this approach suggests an attempt to assist nongovernmental organization planners and community developers about the significance of further exploring social and psychological meanings embedded in space and place as a way of understanding local sense of community.