Application of the integrated threat theory to conservation law enforcement.

Autor: Soofi M; Department of Conservation Biology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.; Geography Department, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.; CSIRO Land and Water, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia., Ghasemi B; Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA., Ahmadpour M; Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.; Research Center for the Caspian Region, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran., Soufi M; Hyrcanian Institute of Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism, Kalaleh, Totli-Tamak, Iran., Islami I; Department of Rangeland Management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Noor, Iran., Eckert A; Department of Conservation Biology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany., Arabi MHG; Research Center for the Caspian Region, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.; Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran., Qashqaei AT; Kharrazi Complex, Tehran, Iran., Selyari J; Faculty of Natural Resource and Environment, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran.; Iran Department of Environment, Tehran, Iran., Nasirahmadi K; Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, Behshahr, Iran., Kamp J; Department of Conservation Biology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany., Waltert M; Department of Conservation Biology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany., Addison J; College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Douglas, Queensland, Australia., Pavey CR; Department of Conservation Biology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.; CSIRO Land and Water, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology [Conserv Biol] 2024 Aug; Vol. 38 (4), pp. e14248. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Mar 13.
DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14248
Abstrakt: Interactions between law enforcement agents in conservation (e.g., rangers) and illegal resource users (e.g., illegal hunters) can be violent and sometimes fatal, which negatively affects conservation efforts and people's well-being. Models from social psychology, such as integrated threat theory (ITT) (intergroup interactions shape intergroup emotions, prejudices and perceived threats leading to hostile attitudes or behaviors between groups), are useful in addressing such interactions. Conservation approaches relying mainly on law enforcement have never been investigated using this framework. Using a structured questionnaire, we collected data from 282 rangers in protected and unprotected areas (n = 50) in northern Iran. We applied Bayesian structural equation modeling in an assessment of rangers' affective attitudes (i.e., emotions or feelings that shape attitudes toward a person or object) toward illegal hunters in an ITT framework. Rangers' positive perceptions of illegal hunters were negatively associated with intergroup anxiety (emotional response to fear) and negative stereotypes about a hunter's personality, which mediated the relationship between negative contact and affective attitudes. This suggests that negative contact, such as verbal abuse, may lead rangers to perceive illegal hunters as arrogant or cruel, which likely forms a basis for perceived threats. Rangers' positive contact with illegal hunters, such as playing or working together, likely lowered their perceived realistic threats (i.e., fear of property damage). Perceived realistic threats of rangers were positively associated with negative contacts (e.g., physical harm). The associations we identified suggest that relationships based on positive interactions between rangers and illegal hunters can reduce fear and prejudice. Thus, we suggest that rangers and hunters be provided with safe spaces to have positive interactions, which may help lower tension and develop cooperative conservation mechanisms.
(© 2024 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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