That'S What We Call 'Aesthetics,' Not A Public Health Issue

The Social Construction Of Tap Water Mistrust In An Underbounded Community

Bibliographic Data

ID2497320
AuthorsAbby M Vidmar (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, corresponding author), E Christian Wells (0000-0003-1966-2680, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), Madeleine Zheng (0000-0001-9922-2938, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), Nora Awad (0000-0002-4639-4784, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), Sarah Comb, Sarah Combs (0000-0001-5406-8850, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), Diana Diaz (0000-0001-5122-052X, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
Year2023
Volume82
Issue4
Pages342-353
Publication date2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Organization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7259 • E-ISSN: 1938-3517
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.17730/1938-3525-82.4.342
OpenAlexW4388825132
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited60

In the United States, underbounded communities—urban disadvantaged unincorporated neighborhoods characterized by high-poverty and high residential density lying just outside the border of an incorporated municipality—often lack consistent access to clean and safe water. Poor water quality and inadequate infrastructure shape residents’ risk perceptions, often leading to tap water mistrust, but little is known about the broader social, political, and economic drivers of water quality in these settings or about how such drivers inform the social construction of risk across different stakeholder groups. Using an underbounded African-American/Hispanic neighborhood in the Tampa Bay metropolitan region as a case study, we illustrate how tap water mistrust is socially constructed and how these constructions contrast between neighborhood residents and government officials. Interviews and participant observation with these groups reveal that tap water mistrust emerges from the nexus of inadequate infrastructure, poor housing conditions, challenges relating to the affordability of piped water, and jurisdictional disconnects. We call for interventions that foreground participatory research, integrate social and cultural context into technical solutions, and prioritize equitability in decision making

Context (archaeology · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Metropolitan area · Nexus (standard · Overcrowding · Poverty · Psychological intervention · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Engineering · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Noise Effects and Management · Psychology · Risk Perception and Management