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This article was downloaded by: [McMaster University]On: 18 December 2014, At: 14:18Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK
The Journal of Psychology:Interdisciplinary and AppliedPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjrl20
An Exploratory Investigation ofTenant Reactions to a FederalHousing ProjectE. Glen McPherson M.D. a & Marian White McPhersona
a Dearborn, Michigan, USAPublished online: 02 Jul 2010.
To cite this article: E. Glen McPherson M.D. & Marian White McPherson (1945)An Exploratory Investigation of Tenant Reactions to a Federal Housing Project,The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 20:2, 199-215, DOI:10.1080/00223980.1945.9917253
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Published as a separate and in The Journal of Psychology, 1945, 20, 199-215.
A N E X P L O R A T O R Y I N V E S T I G A T I O N OF T E N A N T R E A C T I O N S TO A FEDERAL H O U S I N G PROJECT.
Dearborn, Michigan
E. GLEN MCPHERSON, M.D., AND MARIAN WHITE MCPHBRSON
The war program at Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California, has resulted in the residence of 7600 families in the immediate vicinity of the city. T h e expansion from a pre-war urban population of 15,000 is extensive when one takes into account the additional thousands of unmarried workers and Navy Personnel in the area. Numerous federal projects have been constructed to provide housing facilities for the groups. One for family accommodations, Chabot Terrace, was built five miles north of the urban residential area and is mure independent of the city than other similar projects.
T h e houses, identical in their external appearance, are one-story wooden structures divided into family units. Approximately one-quarter acre of land surrounds each unit and is cared for, if at all, by the tenants. T h e heat- ing, cooking, and refrigeration facilities are provided but each family must obtain its own furniture. In each unit there is a living room, kitchen, and bath in addition to either one, two, or three bedrooms. T h e larger units are, of course, reserved for the larger families. Most frequently the tenant is allowed to select his unit from two o r three vacant ones of the appropriate size.
In March, 1944, at the close of the present study, there were 8,748 white and 2,161 non-Caucasian residents on the Terrace. The 127 Filipinos, 15 Chinese, 18 Spanish, and 12 Indians are scattered throughout the Terrace but tend to be concentrated in the Negro districts. Of the entire population, 1,903 were of school age and 2,505 were in their pre-school years. With the exception of a very few Navy personnel and the professional people who serve the Terrace, all of the tenants are shipyard workers and their families.
Facilities which the FederaI Administrative Office has organized for the inhabitants of this project include: an office for the renting and maintain- ing of the units ; a recreation department that stimulates intra-community activities ; a shopping center that includes a grocery, drug, confectionery, and
'Received in the Editorial Office on June 11, 1945, and published immediately at Provincetown, Massachusetts. Copyright by The Journal Press.
199
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200 JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY
general store; a beauty parlor and a tailor shop; elementary schools; day- nurseries; and, a police and a fire department. T h e California Physician’s Service has obtained a contract to provide pre-paid medical care for the workers and their families and operates a clinic for the Terrace. I n addition, denominational and non-denominational churches have been estab- lished.
T h e discrepancy between living conditions in this project and those in the more ordinary communities impressed the authors as one that might well effect changes in the psychological behavior of the tenants. T h e tedious uniformity of the regular rows of unvarying houses, the crowding and the marked untidiness of the streets suggested the justification of numerous popular articles regarding the maleffects of crowded labor areas upon those engaged in defense industries. Brief casual conversations, indicating a marked dissatisfaction with the present mode of life, further substantiated such widely publicized lay observations. Investigation of the scientific literature revealed a dearth of organized knowledge sufficient either to verify or to negate these claims.
T h e immediate problem appeared to be that of obtaining descriptive, orienting information about the residents. Since time and necessary facili- ties would not allow an exhaustive survey, the authors decided to conduct a brief interview with some of the tenants in order to gain introductory in- formation about them. Although such a procedure allows merely a statisti- cal enumeration of the tenants’ reports of their reaction to the project, it is an essential preliminary. T h e results of the interviews incidentally provide a concrete illustration of several difficulties encountered in such a research as this.
Since some organization for even an introductory survey is necessary, two aspects of the Terrace situation were selected as feasible points around which to organize the exploratory interview. First, the uniform physical appear- ance of the Terrace suggested the opportunity to study the nature of group formations in the absence of selective factors such as well established family reputations and the equipment and location of the home. Secondly, marked patronage of the pre-paid medical clinic indicated that much attention was being given to physical complaints. This suggested the facilitation of any relationship that might exist between wartime residency and the tenants’ interpretations of their general health. Although these two problems have the advantage for research of involving controls not encountered in the more ordinary communities, the solution of them was subordinated to the attempt to achieve some description of Terrace life. As a result, the interview was
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E. GLEN MC PHERSON, M.D., A N D MARION W. hlC PHERSON 20 1
specifically designed to reveal certain chronological and geographical data about the subjects, their social contacts, their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the Terrace, and, in the one group, their general health.
T h e interview method was selected as the most productive of any single tech- nique when one is limited by rather severe temporal restrictions. Since no at- tempt was made to check the veracity of the reports, the results indicate merely what the tenants wished the investigators to know. T h e reports are likewise a function of the subjects’ comprehension of the questions. Frequent failures to understand the nature of the desired information will appear in the dis- cussions dealing with the specific content of the interview.
T h e selection of the subjects to be studied was first made from the records of the California Physician’s Service which included members in 2,101 of the 2,903 units on the Terrace, or approximately 7,850 people. Subscription to this service is voluntary and presents no constant sampling error. T h e records were searched for families in which there were four members, in which both parents fell within the age range of 25 to 35 years, and in which both children were either in their pre-school years or were school at- tendants. This size was selected as one that would allow family stability but would not impose the financial and recreational barriers encountered in larger groups. T h e parental age range was chosen as one that would repre- sent a relative stability of interests at a socially active period of life. Division on the basis of school attendance was maintained in order to secure some subjects who, having only older children, would have relatively more time and freedom to devote to physical complaints.
T o reduce the heterogeneity of the group a11 cases were eliminated in which relatives, friends, servants, or lodgers were resident in the home ; in which the mother was commercially employed; and, in which there was a chronic incapacitating illness in any member of the family. Since all of the subjects had lived on the Terrace for at least three months, it was unneces- sary to exclude any women who had had insufficient time to establish social contacts. Because they were professional or military families, three of the cases who had met all of the preceding criteria had to be eliminated. Re- fusals to give any information were encountered at four of the houses. Failure to locate anyone at home necessitated the dropping of 17 of the original cases. This entire selective process reduced the number of tenants to be investigated to 54: 37 families with children of pre-school age and 17 families whose children were school attendants. T h e mothers of the younger children, Group A , were visited by the psychologist to determine the factors influencing the formation of spontaneous friendships. T h e physi-
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cian carried on the same study with mothers of the older children, Group B, and also investigated the relationship between health and project residence.
T h e housewives were selected for interviewing because they are the best informed about the total family group, because they are more dependent upon the Terrace as a socializing medium than are their commercially em- ployed husbands and neighbors, and because of their greater accessibility during the day. If the husband happened to be at home at the time of the interview his comments were requested and added to the records. T h e data presented are, however, based on the women’s reports.
As a means of establishing rapport the investigator first introduced him- self or herself and clarified his, or her colleague’s relationship to the medical c l ink1 N o special appointment was made for the interview and it was con- ducted under the circumstances in which the subjects were found. Although no interview was conducted in the presence of visitors, in many instances other members of the family were in the house. T h e subjects were told that the investigators were interested in the people on the Terrace, how they enjoyed living there, what they did for recreation, etc. Numerous at- tempts were made to make clear to the subjects that the interviewer did not represent any agency but was professionally interested in knowing about the people in this somewhat unique community. Informality and spontaneity were encouraged. Direct questions were asked only when the women other- wise failed to reveal the desired information.
Because the results are a function of the interviewing method, they will be concurrently discussed even though such a procedure tends to distort the coherence of the interview as it actually occurred. Throughout the dis- cussion the information obtained by both investigators will be presented together unless there are seemingly significant differences in which case they will be noted. Specific questioning revealed the identifying data pre- sented in the following baragraphs.
All of the subjects who met the criteria for Group A were white. I n Group B, 13 of the the families were Caucasian, two were Negroes, one was an Indian-Mexican union, and the 17th family was composed of a Negro husband and a white wife.
T h e chronological age range for both male and female parents in Group A was from 25 to 35 years, with a modal fathers’ ages in Group B was from 29 mothers’ 25 to 35 years, mode 30.
age of 26 years. T h e range of the to 35 years, mode 32; and, of the
lOnly the physician, at the Medical Clinic, Terrace.
was employed by an agency serving the
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E. GLEN MCPHERSON, M.D., AND MARION W. MCPHERSON 203
T h e educational level of the adult members of the families ranged from four to 17 years of formal school attendance. Even though the modal rating for both sexes in both groups is 12 years, the level in Group B is slightly below that of Group A . T h e former group contains one case of four and one of five years’ attendance, whereas the lower limit of the range in Group A is eight years.
Of the 54 women, 20 stated that they had never been commercially em- ployed. Wi th the exception of two nurses and two school teachers, the remainder had been employed at some time as factory workers, domestics, store clerks, telephone operators, or stenographers.
T h e subjects’ husbands were most frequently skilled or semi-skilled day workers. Previously, however, one had been a social worker, two were sales- men,. and three were in the Navy. I n addition, a grocer, a service station attendant, and a barrel bander had each owned their own business. One individual had been a partner in a familial ownership of a broom manufac- turing plant. T h e present wartime employment of the group represents the ordinary labor classifications found in the building and repairing of ships or in the trades auxiliary to those processes. Although machinists, welders, molders, and riggers were the most common occupations, there was one fore- man and two ordnance men. It is interesting to note that only eight of the 54 men were now engaged in their pre-war trades. At the time of the inter- view 35 worked on the day shift, 15 on the swing, and four at night. All workers had been on the same shift since the beginning of their employ- ment at the shipyard or for at least eight months.
California was the native state of at least one member of the family in 1s of the cases. One of these families had been life residents in a town 17 miles north of the Terrace. Thirteen subjects had lived in California before moving to the Vallejo area from one to 14 years with a modal stay of six years. T h e remaining 26 families represented 14 different states. Of these, 23 had been life residents in the localities they had recently left. One family had remained at their previous address for 12 years, one for seven years, and one family presented a history of change to various parts of the country every four to six months. In other words, the group does not represent itineracy to the frequently supposed extent.
When employment on Mare Island began, 20 of the families moved di- rectly to the Terrace. A t the time of the interview they had lived there for periods varying from 16 months, when the project began, to seven months. T h e modal duration was 12 months. I n one case the husband had resided in Vallejo for nine months before the family moved to the Terrace. The re-
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maining 33 families had resided in Vallejo from two to 48 months before moving to the project where their period of residency varied from eight to 16 months, with a modal duration of 16 months.
After securing these identifying data, attention was directed to the tenants’ social contacts. Inquiries were made regarding the number of people known in the area on arrival and the tenants’ relationship to them, the number of people met on the Terrace and the circumstances under which these acquaint- ances had been formed.
If the subjects knew no one or if they had very few friends or relatives in the area, the information was specifically stated. When the number ex- ceeded three or four there was difficulty in obtaining a definite response. T h e reported range of people previously known was from no one to “several.” The tabulated responses indicate that 44 per cent knew no one on arrival, 30 per cent had relatives in the area, and 26 per cent had friends there.
T h e subjects who had relatives in the area frequently referred to them in terms of a single kin. Inquiry would reveal the expected presence of the family of the relative. T h e elaboration of the subjects’ relationships to their acquaintances was vague. Such responses as “people from my home town” or “friends at the welding school” were common. When asked how well the tenants had known them or how frequently they had contacted them, one received such indefinite responses as “talk to them sometimes” or “visit them in their homes.” There was no observable attempt at distortion but rather an apparent lack of comprehension of the desired detail of the information.
T h e results of questions as to the manner in which people had been met are presented in Table 1 which categorizes the subjects according to the initial contacts they had on arrival in the area. A single method of meeting people was listed by 17 of the subjects, 24 gave two methods, 11 enumer- ated three means of contact, and two reported four. Inspection of the table reveals that acquaintance with neighbors is by far the most common method of contact. Only five subjects failed to mention them and as single factors they are listed 13 times, the highest frequency. T h e next important item was the combination of husbands’ work associates and neighbors. Work alone was mentioned twice and was the only single factor other than neigh- bors that was listed more than once. T h e third highest frequency was neighbors and relatives, and the fourth was neighbors and friends who were known at the time of arrival in the area.
T h e verbal reports of the subjects failed to reveal any entirely isolated women. One of the five subjects who failed to mention the neighbors as acquaintances reported that she thought them “sinful.” She had joined the
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E. GLEN MC PHERSON, M.D., AND MARION W. MCPHERSON 205
TABLE 1
SHOWING THE METHODS OF MEETING PEOPLE AS REPORTED BY THE SUBJECTS CATEGORIZED ACCORDING TO INITIAL CONTACTS ON THE TERRACE
Methods' Initial Contacts
none relatives friends Total
Neighbors Neighbors-relatives Neighbors-friends Neighbor s-w o rk Neighbors-relatives-friends
Neighbors-relatives-friends-work Neighbors-work-friends Neighbors-work-relatives Neighbors-work-bus Neighbors-work-Air Raid Warden
Neighbors-work-Cub Scouts Neighbors-work-Red Cross Neighbors-Parent Teachers Association Neighbors-California Physicians Service Neighbors-political campaignb
Neighbors-buses Neighbors-church-carpool Neighbors-church-work Neighbors-church Relatives-work
Church Work Friends
11' ld 1" 4 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 1 0
1' 1 0 1 0
1 1 0
0 5 1 1 1
1 0 3 1' 0
1 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0
2 0 2 3 0
0 1 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 1
0 0 2 0 0
0 1 1
13 6 4 8 1
1 1 3 1 1
1 1 1 1 1
1 1 2 1 1
1 2 1
'These do not necessarily represent the order in which they were originally enu-
bConducted to elect a project council composed of Terrace residents. 'Two of these subjects a re non-Caucasian families. 'Relatives or friends followed rather than preceded these subjects. "Women in non-Caucasian families.
merated by the subjects.
Pentacostal Church since moving to the Terrace and was obviously an ardent adherent of its tenets. Another who omitted the neighbors stated that she did not like the Terrace because of the "mixture of people" and that she met her friends through her husband's work. One individual stated that since most of her neighbors were commercially employed she had little opportunity to meet them, so relied upon the families of her husband's work associates as a means of contacting acquaintances. Unlike the other subjects, the remaining two women failed to express any rejection or in- accessibility of the neighbors but were able to maintain previously estab- lished contacts. One had an unusually large number of relatives in the
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area and exchanged frequent visits with them. T h e other associated with friends made by her mother who had previously lived in the area. Both this last subject and the one who thought the neighbors “sinful” had untidy homes with inferior furnishings and may, on account of this, be encounter- ing some neighborhood rejection.
Because of the small number of cases, the data for the non-Caucasian subjects present an inadequate picture of this group. T w o reported the neighbors as a single method of contact and the remaining two listed the buses in addition to neighbors. T h e fact that none of the Caucasian women mentioned the buses as a place of social contact and that there were con- siderable racial transportation difficulties suggests a greater socialization of the minority group in this tense situatiom2
Although the Terrace residents have the facilities for the formation of a community, there is little indication that one has developed beyond the immediate geographical groupings. Interest groups are definitely in the minority and contact by propinquity, which may o r may not coincide with interest, is as yet the dominant mode of association. Only four women re- ported activity in non-religious, organized service groups and only two men- tioned meeting people in groups associated with their children’s formalized activities. These reports are in agreement with Loomis and Davidson’s finding (2) that in a new rural community acquaintances made in formal gatherings accounted for only 2.4 per cent of the methods of contact.
Church as a place of meeting people was reported by five individuals. Even though this is the highest frequency for any single organization, it is not as important in this newly formed community as casual contacts. This is in accord with one of Loomis’ studies (1) of government resettlement projects which revealed that associating families were members of the same church less often on the projects than in the community of their previous residence. It is interesting to note that Lundberg and Steele (3) found in a well established village that common church membership was one of the most evident factors in friendship groupings.
Many of the subjects reported a decrement in the frequency of church attendance upon taking up residence on the Terrace. Only five of the 19 women who attended regularly before moving to the project now did so. A decrease in the frequency or discontinuance of attendance occurred in 32 of the subjects. On the other hand, an increase was reported by two indi-
’During the study there was a stabbing of a white bus driver by a Negro and various Caucasian-sponsored petitions to obtain separate transportation facilities were being circulated.
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E. GLEN M C PHERSON, M.D., A N D MARION W. MCPHERSON 207
viduals and the same frequency was maintained by three subjects. Complete lack of participation in religious activities either before o r during Terrace residence was reported 12 times. These data, of course, fail to establish the reasons for these changes in the frequency of attendance.
T h e mothers of the younger children were asked about the disposition of the children when the parents left the home. T h e responses to this item, quickly and specifically given, frequently included more than one method of care. Taking the children along was mentioned 17 times and one subject stated a preference for this type of care. T h e employment of a school girl was reported 16 times. T w o subjects had each made one unsuccessful attempt a t this and one other woman complained that its cost was prohibitive. Rela- tives were four times reported to care for the children and in five instances the father stayed with them while the mother went out for recreation. In another five cases, the subjects reported making mutual exchanges of child care with a neighbor. One individual, the wife of the former social work- er, stated that since they could not find a satisfactory means of caring for the children, they entertained more in their own home and thus tended to main- tain their social contacts.
All subjects were asked how many times they had gone out “to have a good time” in the immediately preceding two weeks. This time interval was chosen as one that would minimize memory distortion and would allow an adequate sample of the women’s recreational activities. T h e range was from 0 to 6, the mode and median for Group A was one and for GrouR B two.
Questions as to how many friends had been made on the Terrace brought a repetition and intensification of the difficulties found in the attempt to determine the number of people known on arrival. Early in the study an attempt to establish a definite criterion of friendship as recommended by Moreno (4) was made. T h e psychologist, as a means of developing the inter- view and testing its feasibility, interviewed several residents who did not meet the criterion for inclusion in the final group. These women were re- quested to name the people they had met on the Terrace whom they w d d like to have live with them in the post-war community of their residence. This request proved most impractical because of the tenants’ difficulty in abstracting their own wishes from the practicalities of such a situation and from their friends’ reactions. Such phrases as “but the Millers own a home in the southern part of the state” and “I don’t think the Smiths would like to go to Montana with us’’ indicate their failure to grasp the directions. Th i s was the most frequent result even though numerous techniques of ex-
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planation were tried. Because the results were obviously so invalid, this cri- terion was dropped.
No further attempt was made to define the word friend and consequently our records are based on the subjects’ unmodified connotations. I n no in- stance was an elaboration of the meaning requested. Only two individuals gave any indication of being aware of variations in the connotation of the word: one distinguished between close and casual friends and another im- plied a similar distinction by qualifying her statements with the words “real friends.”
Responses as to the number of friends were generally vague utterances such as “a few” or “several.” Because the psychological value of the abso- lute number of contacts is so limited, the subjects were not pressed to make a definite numerical statement. Instead, they were asked if they had fewer, as many, or more friends than they had in the community of their previous residence.
Only one woman reported that she now had more friends than previously and only four stated that they now had an equal number. T h e remainder reported that they had fewer friends than in their previous community. T h e one woman who now had more friends had relatives in the area and had in addition become acquainted with her neighbors and with families oi the men who shared rides in her husband’s car. She was particularly enthusiastic about the project and volunteered the information that physi- cally she now felt better than ever before. Two of the subjects, who now had an equal number of acquaintances, had “a lot of friends” on the Terrace when they arrived. A third knew no one but had always been a regular church attendant and stated that she had as many “close” friends in the Vallejo church as in any other. T h e remaining woman knew no one on arrival but had become acquainted with the families of her husband’s work associates.
These five women who reported that they did not experience a decrement in the number of friends tend to have certain characteristics in common. T h e four who had pre-school children took the children with them when they left the home. Also, they had less tidy and attractive homes than most of those visited. T h a t is, the interiors were quite in accord with the physical appearance of the Terrace as a whole and may have been an important factor in their adjustment to the project. It is interesting to note that none of these four individuals complained about the quality of the Terrace population. As will be noted later (Table 3) such criticisms were among the most frequent made by the entire group. I n contrast to these
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four women, the remaining subject had school age children, average home equipment and did complain about the large number of people and the gen- eral congestion on the Terrace. I n other words, relative freedom from child care is suggested for all these five women, whereas quality of the home and criticism of other project tenants distinguishes one of them from the remain- ing four.
Analysis of the reports from the entire group in terms of shift during which the husbands worked failed to reveal any clear cut differences, either in the number of friends or the method of contact. One woman, however, specifically stated that eight months previously her husband was changed from the swing shift to night hours and since that time she had met fewer people. Wi th the exception of the night shift, the expected importance of working hours as they affect recreational activity is distorted in this situa- tion because of the large number of people who work during each shift and because the commercial recreational facilities cater to the different work- ing schedules. This distortion is represented by the fact that there was an equal or greater number of friends reported by three of the 35 women repre- senting the day shift and by two of the 15 composing the swing shift. All of the four subjects whose husbands worked on the night shift had fewer friends than in their pre-war communities.
T h e next part of the interview dealt with the tenants’ reasons for coming to the area, their approval or disapproval of the Terrace, and their intent to remain at the conclusion of the war. Table 2 presents the results of the inquiries as to why the tenants had come to Mare Island. T h e women tended to give only one reason with no elaboration of the factors contributing to it. T h e frequency with which the reasons were voiced as an action of the spouse and one in which the subject took no part was striking.
Responses of the two groups varied in that there was a much greater number in Group A who said that they had been influenced by relatives and who reported a desire “to get a defense job.’’ T h e importance of in- fluence exerted by relatives was more frequently reported in Group A in spite of the fact that Group B had a slightly higher percentage of members with relatives in the area. In Group B pre-war business failure was men- tioned by four of the 17 subjects but by only three of the 37 in Group A . T h e desire for increased remuneration was stated three times in Group B but only once by the other subjects.
These reports are indicative of socially acceptable responses and of differ- ences between the investigators. It is interesting to note that only once was avoidance of the draft suggested although the chronological ages would appear
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TABLE 2
SHOWING THE FREQUENCY OF VARIOUS REASONS FOR SEEKING EMPLOYMENT ON MARE ISLAND I N BOTH GROUPS O F SUBJECTS
Group Group Reasons A B Total
T o get a defense job Defense work-desire to live in California Defense work-opportunity for electrical work Defense work-pre-war business failure Business failure-fortuitous contact
Business failure-friends reference Business failure-relative’s influence Familial contacts here Gov’t. agency referral-familial contacts Gov’t. agency referral
Trade school instructor’s advice Result of Federal construction work in area More money Patriotism Avoid draft
Needed a job Political corruption in former position Radio advertisement
20 2 1 2 0
1 0 6 0 0
0 1 1 0 1
1 1 0
1 0 0 2 1
0 1 1 1 4
1 0 3 1 0
0 0 1
~
21 2 1 4 1
1 1 7 1 4
1 1 1
to justify the inference that such had been an important factor. T h a t the physician may have established deeper rapport is indicated by the decrease in Group B in glib assertions of a desire to obtain defense employment and by the increase of statements of mercenary consideration. Undoubtedly the prestige status of the medical practitioner is involved.
There are, however, two suggestions that basic differences between the groups may exist. First, the adult members of Group A were younger than those in Group R and therefore were probably a less stable peacetime group. One would expect them to be more free to move and to accept relatives’ suggestions, in fact, more in need of them. Secondly, the fact that in many cases their children were born after Pearl Harbor would indicate that the draft threat was to them more imminent and thereby increased their need to obtain employment in deferrable occupations.
It was difficult to categorize many of the subjects as either definitely liking or disliking the housing project. Frequently a statement of approval or dis- approval would be followed by humerous spontaneous criticisms that con- tradicted the general assertion. In five instances the tenants stated that they disliked the Terrace but were unable to list specific complaints. Because of these inconsistencies, each individual’s general attitude was used as a basis
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E. GLEN hlC PHERSON, M.D., AND MARION W. MC PHERSON 21 1
for classifying her into one of three groups: those who were pleased, those who were displeased, and those who did not show a marked reaction. Such a tabulation gave the following membership in each group: 29 of the sub- jects or 54 per cent of them did not like i t ; 14 or 26 per cent were satis- fied with the Terrace; and 11, or 20 per cent were classified in the inter- mediate category.
Positive and negative criticisms of the Terrace are presented in Table 3. T h e numerical predominance of complaints over approbations indicates gen- eral dissatisfaction. T h e promptness with which the criticisms were enumer- ated indicated that the subjects had well formulated opinions and that they were willing to express negative as well as positive attitudes to the inter- viewers. T h e only apparent exception to this is in regard to the, medical clinic. It is possible that the interviewer’s known connection with this agency eliminated complaints of it.
T A B L E 3 SHOWING THE FREQUENCY OF VARIOUS POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CRITICISMS OF THE
TERRACE AS REPORTED BY BOTH GROUPS OF SUBJECTS
Criticisms Positive Negative
Ter race Population-social status friendliness number of children supervision of children
Ter race Facilities -laundry shopping transportation play space child care assistance
Congestion and Noise Sanitation Condition of houses Cost of houses
Administrative Office Medical Care Plan Employment Conditions Climate
City of Vallejo New Environment Nostalgia Facilitation of Family Living
2 10 1 2 0 3 0 4
0 18 0 5 2 4 1 0
0 1 2 0 1 0 5 11
1 2 1 0 0 8* 1 0
Tota l 18 80
*In two of these cases the subjects owned their own homes in the community of their previous residence.
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212 JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY
T h e number of criticisms reported was from 0 to 5 with a modal fre- quency of two. Of the 21 different factors mentioned, five were favorably commented upon by some subjects and unfavorably by others, e.g., the cli- mate. T h e most numerous complaints dealt with the congestion and noise on the Terrace and with the quality of its population. It is the authors’ impression that several of the complaints listed under “congestion” inferred disparity of other residents as well as mere over-crowding. The two positive statements about the tenants referred specifically to the subjects’ neighbors and not to the larger groups. Although the non-Caucasians were only once specifically mentioned, criticism of them was inferred several times. One of the subjects who complained about the transportation facilities was a Negro.8
Inquiries as to whether or not the tenants intended to remain in the area after the war brought prompt responses indicating that most of them had made definite decisions. Of the group, 53 per cent definitely did not intend to remain in the area, and 29 per cent were in doubt as to whether or not they would leave. Only 18 per cent were certain of staying. Expressed uncertainty of post-war employment was an important factor among the 15 subjects who were undecided as to their future course. T h e Army was about to settle the issue for two members of Group A. One family was packing to leave the area for other employment at the time of the interview. T h e preponderance of negative expressions elicited by this question again indicates the lack of hesitancy about expressing such attitudes to the inter- viewers. If the results are at all predictive for the total population, then many of the fears of an over-crowded labor area after the war are exag- gerated.
In Group B inquiry into the family health with particular emphasis upon that of the housewife was made. Only three severe health abnormalities were encountered: a 13-year old mentally deficient child was present in one home; and one child in each of two other residences had had poliomye- litis during the epidemic of the previous summer.
T h e data presented in Table 4 are the women’s interpretations of their own health. When more than one condition was enumerated, the classifica- tion in the table was made on the basis of the most outstanding or annoy- ing factor. Residence on the project brought about no change in the medi- cal status of nine of the subjects, or 53 per cent of the group. In no instance of satisfaction with the Terrace was there an unfortunate change in the physical condition. There was a report of poorer health by six of the 17
‘See footnote No. 2.
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E. GLEN MCPHERSON, M.D., A N D MARION W. MCPHERSON 213
TABLE 4 SHOWXNG THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION WITH THE
TERRACE AND GENERAL CONDITION OF HEALTH AS REPORTED BY THE WOMEN .IN GROUP B
Condition of health Reaction of the women
Like Dislike
Better Same More Colds Nervous
1 1 4 3 2
4 2
subjects who disliked the project. One dissatisfied woman, however, re- ported improved health. Inspection of the table reveals an increase in colds and unpleasant nervous conditions in the women who did not like the Terrace. This is in accord with the physician’s impression that the fre- quency of such complaints in daily clinical practice on the Terrace exceeds that generally encountered.
These data do not, of course, separate cause and effect or indicate the severity or the duration of the complaint. T h e purpose of this part of the interview was merely to check on the existence of any relationship between health and reaction to the Terrace. O u r results suggest that dissatisfaction with Terrace life could be a factor contributing to the extensive patronage of the medical facilities.
As must be apparent to the reader, this study is characterized by numer- ous limitations. T h e necessary abbreviation of the research program re- sulted in five obvious inadequacies : the inclusion of only housewives as subjects; a restriction of extensive verbal questioning; a lack of observa- tions of non-linguistic behavior that would serve as a check and supplement to the subjects’ reports; the variability of data obtained by two inter- viewers each representing different r6les in Terrace life; and, failure to insure standard physical conditions for the interview. As a result, the initial aim to tabulate certain introductory data has been telescoped both in regard to the number of people and areas of investigation. Undoubtedly corrections and compensations could be made in a more extensive survey. One must note, however, that such remedies include observations of non-linguistic behavior, a definite departure from the interview method per se.
One restriction of the study is the failure to obtain a sample that allows valid predictions for the total group. T h e authors believe this is inherent in the data and therefore a limitation only in a traditional sense. cus- tomary attempts to establish sample groups neglect the variability Qf the subjects in favor of their similarities. This study has attempted to mini-
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mize such a distortion by presenting the information obtained without undue emphasis upon central tendencies or by searching for the factors “typical” of the project residents. T h e diversity of the entire population was so great that the application of our selective criteria resulted in a reduction from approximately 7,850 people to 54. Furthermore, the groups retained still lacked homogeneity. Intra-group deviations occurred, for ex- ample, in racial membership, the extent of formal education, occupations, working hours, amount of previous transiency, time spent in the area, and the number of friends or relatives in the area. In brief, the only certain common factor was Terrace residence. T h e tabulation we have compiled is, therefore, descriptive of only a few tenants. Including them in a larger group will tend to obliterate further their variability and will not validate a more comprehensive description of Terrace life.
If, however, in spite of the precariousness of such a procedure, one wishes to speculate from the conclusions of the interviewed group, one might infer that the conditions found in the sample are less extreme than those encoun- tered in numerous members of the total group in as much as the subjects are women who have been able to maintain their family unity. If familial in- tegrity really holds its reputed importance as a factor in personal stability, the sample population is favored.
In spite of all the inadequacies of the survey, some descriptive informa- tion was obtained. By way of review let us briefly summarize the most common characteristics found in the subjects. As a final word of caution, these are not to be interpreted as “typical” of the sample but rather as a convenient way of indicating the most frequent conditions encountered in the various areas covered by the interview. Hypothetically, the tenants know no one on arrival, become acquainted with their neighbors rather than in organized groups, make fewer friends than in the community of previous residence, attend church less often, and leave home for recreational purposes once a week. They come from some other part of California so that their husbands may obtain defense employment, do not like the project, do not intend to remain after the war, and dislike the congestion, the climate, and the type of people on the Terrace.
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E. GLEN MC PHERSON, M.D., AND MARION W. MCPHERSON 215
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3. LUNDBERG, G. A., & STEELE, M. Social attraction patterns in a village. So&
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