Black people's cognitions of natural recreation resources in the Natal North-Coastal region
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Date
1986
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Abstract
This study was designed to investigate how Black people in the Natal north-coastal region cognize natural recreation resources as they are defined at present. The basis of the research is modeled on the premise that because of existing spatial and socio-economic inequalities in South Africa, Black people may well have a negative attitude towards natural recreation resources. In essence the aims of the study are to:
(1) Identify value systems strongly associated with and involved in the formulation of the images and cognitions which Black people have towards natural recreation resources and facilities.
(2) Reveal the cognitions which Black people have with regard to the identification, management, utilization and conservation of natural recreation resources and facilities.
The procedure used two separate sample populations. The first survey (N=515) investigated the general population's cognitions of and behaviour towards natural recreation resources and facilities. The second survey (N=35) sought to establish the actual background material from organizations or agencies engaged in the administration and management of recreation resources. Data was computer-analyzed using frequencies, univariate procedures and cross tabulations which contained a chi-square test and measures of correlation. These procedures were used to analyze data acquired by means of cognitive statements, photographic images from 24 photographs depicting recreation resources and through use of semantic differential scales.
Some of the broad, basic hypotheses the study considers are: (1) That Black people have negative cognitions of natural recreation resources in general; (2) that Black people have a positive frame of mind relating to the aesthetics and conservation of natural recreation resources; (3) that Blacks have a negative cognition of the management of natural recreation resources; and (4) that the current cognitions of natural recreation resources are related to the respondent's "place of residence, standard of education, occupation, sex, age and religion.
The study is broadly structured around eight chapters. The first chapter gives an overall orientation to the study and is further methodologically elucidated in Chapter 5. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the conceptual sources and relationships which exist between geography, recreation, psychology and philosophy. Chapter 3 specifically treats the African philosophical perspectives of the natural recreation environment. On the other hand, chapters 4, 6 and 7 deal with empirical sources in the form of field survey materials of recreation authorities, the general population and their interpretation, respectively. Overall summaries of the study, and of its implications and conclusions are presented in Chapter 8.
The major conclusions of the study are: First, that Black people within the north-coastal region of Natal cognize the natural recreation resources positively. Secondly, that whereas there was a positive association of the cognized utilization of natural recreation resources with aesthetic constructs, there was a negative association of the management of these resources with functional constructs such as "inadequate" and "restricted". Thirdly, there were, in general, no significant differences by age, sex, education, occupation and place of residence which affected the cognition and use of resources and facilities either positively or negatively. However, on categorizing the cognitive constructs of recreation resources into "aesthetic" and "functional" attributes, these tended to vary by socio-economic variables. Fourthly, on the strength of the preponderence of cognitive constructs that were aesthetic and abstract, it was concluded that philosophical and cultural value systems are strongly associated with the natural recreation image formulation amongst Black people in the study area.
The study has important implications for the management, planning and research of the recreation system in the north-coastal region of Natal. The evaluation of Black cognitions of natural recreation resources is a necessary exercise if the general recreation system in South Africa is to be made equitable and remodelled to cater for every person within the population.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Geography at the University of Zululand, 1986.
Keywords
Recreation areas--Natal (South Africa), Geographical recreations., Natural resources--Natal (South Africa)