Abstract
This study of place identity analyzes how mobile Americans construct a sense of home through place affiliations. Based on interviews with 432 migrants to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this research indicates that migration does not preclude an emergent sense of home but that migration at different stages of the life cycle does produce different patterns of place affiliation. Where younger migrants more often base their identity on affiliations of friendship, family, and emotional self-attributions, older migrants do so in terms of dwelling and prior experience with place. Thus, this study challenges the view that place identity is eroded by mobility, arguing instead that place identification must be understood within the process of life cycle change and place mobility.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altman, Irwin andSetha Low 1992 Place Attachment. New York: Plenum.
Altman, Irwin andCarol Werner 1986 Home Environments. New York: Plenum.
Bellah, Robert, et al. 1985 Habits of the Heart. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Berger, Peter, Brigitte Berger, andHansfried Kellner 1974 The Homeless Mind: Modernization and Consciousness. New York: Vintage Books.
Brown, Samuel R. 1989 “Community attachment in the United States: A critique of two models.” Paper presented at the 84th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco.
Buttimer, Anne 1980 “Home, reach, and the sense of place.” In Ann Buttimer and David Seamon (eds.), The Human Experience of Space and Place: 166–187. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Cebula, Richard J. 1974 “The quality of life and migration of the elderly.” Review of Regional Studies 14:62–67.
Chevan, Albert andLucy Rose Fischer 1979 “Retirement and interstate migration.” Social Forces 57:1365–1380.
Cochrance, Timothy 1987 “Place, people, and folklore: An Isle Royale case study.” Western Folklore XLVI:1–20.
Coles, Robert 1967 Migrants, Sharecroppers, and Mountaineers. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
1987 Identity and Community on the Alaskan Frontier. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
1992a “Family and retirement in the context of elderly migration.” In Maximiliane Szinovacz, David Ekerdt, and Barbara Vinick (eds.), Families and Retirement: 205–221. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
1992b The Cape Cod Retirement Migration Study: A Final Report to the National Institute on Aging. Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
Cuba, Lee andDavid M. Hummon 1993 “A place to call home: Identification with dwelling, community, and region.” The Sociological Quarterly 34:111–131.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly andEugene Rochberg-Hanton 1981 The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Duncan, James (ed. 1982 Housing and Identity. New York: Holmes and Meier.
Erikson, Kai 1976 Everything in Its Path. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Fava, Sylvia andJudith Desena 1984 “The chosen apple: Young suburban migrants.” In Vernon Boggs, Gerald Handel, and Sylvia Fava (eds.), The Apple Sliced: 305–321. New York: Praeger.
Feldman, Roberta 1990 “Settlement-identity: Psychological bonds with home places in a mobile society.” Environment and Behavior 22:183–229.
Fried, Marc 1963 “Grieving for a lost home.” In Leonard Duhl (ed.), The Urban Condition: 151–171. New York: Basic Books.
Gerson, Kathleen, C. Ann Stueve, andClaude Fischer. 1977 “Attachment to place.” In Claude Fischer, Robert Jackson, C. Ann Stueve, Kathleen Gerson, and Lyn Jones (eds.), Networks and Places: 139–161. New York: The Free Press.
Galsgow, Nina 1980 “The older metropolitan origin migrant as a factor in rural population growth.” In Andrew J. Sofranko and James D. Williams (eds.), Rebirth of Rural America: 153–170. Ames: Iowa State University
Goudy, Willis J. 1982 “Further considerations of indicators of community attachment.” Social Indicators Research 11:181–192.
Guest, Avery M. andBarret Lee 1983 “Sentiment and evaluation as ecological variables.” Sociological Perspectives 26:159–184.
Hayward, D. Geoffrey 1982 “The meanings of home.” Human Ecology Forum 13:2–6.
1989 “House, home, and identity in American culture.” In Setha Low and Erve Chambers (eds.), Housing, Culture, and Design: 207–228. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
1990 Commonplaces: Community Ideology and Identity in American Culture. Albany: State University of New York Press.
1992 “community attachment: Local sentiment and sense of place.” In Irwin Altman and Setha Low (eds.), Place Attachment: 253–278. New York: Plenum.
Hunter, Albert 1974 Symbolic Communities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kasarda, John andMorris Janowitz 1974 “Community attachment in mass society.” American Sociological Review 39:28–39.
Klapp, Orin 1969 Collective Search for Identity. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Laumann, Edward andJames House 1970 “Living room styles and social attributes patterning of material artifacts in an urban community.” Sociology and Social Research 54:321–342.
Litwak, Eugene andCharles F. Longino, Jr. 1987 “Migration patterns among the elderly: A developmental perspective.” The Gerontologist 27:266–272.
Long, Larry H. andKristin A. Hansen 1979 Reasons for Interstate Migration. Washington DC: Bureau of the Census.
Longino, Charles F., Jr. 1982 “American retirement communities and residential relocation.” In Anthony M. Warnes (ed.), Geographical Perspectives on the Elderly: 239–262. New York: Wiley.
Low, Setha andIrwin Altman 1992 “Place attachment: A conceptual inquiry.” In Irwin Altman and Setha Low (eds.), Place Attachment: 1–12. New York: Plenum.
Packard, Vance 1972 A Nation of Strangers. New York: McKay.
Perin, Constance 1977 Everything in Its Place. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pratt, Gerry 1982 “The house as an expression of social worlds.” In James Duncan (ed.), Housing and Identity: 135–180. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers.
Proshansky, Harold, Abbe Fabian, andRobert Kaminoff 1983 “Place identity: Physical world socialization of the self.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 3:57–83.
Rapoport, Amos 1982 “Identity and environment.” In James Duncan (ed.), Housing and Identity: 6–35. New York: Holmes and Meier.
Reed, John Shelton 1983 Southerners: The Social Psychology of Sectionalism. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
Relph, Edward 1976 Place and Placelessness. London: Pion.
1978 Prisoners of Space? Exploring the Geographical Experience of Older People. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
1983a “Place and personal identity in old age: Observations from Appalachia.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 3:299–313.
1983b “Between worlds: A relocation dilemma for the Appalachian elderly.” International Journal of Aging and Human Development 17:301–314.
Rubenstein, Robert L. 1986 Singular Paths: Old Men Living Alone. New York: Columbia University Press.
Rybczynski, Witold 1986 Home: A Short History of an Idea. New York: Viking.
Sampson, Robert J. 1988 “Local friendship ties and community attachment in mass society: A multilevel systematic model.” American Sociological Review 53:766–779.
Seamon, David 1979 A Geography of the Lifeworld. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Seamon, David andRobert Mugerauer 1985 Dwelling, Place, and Environment. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Shumaker, Sally A. andDan Stokols 1982 “Residential mobility as a social issue and research topic. Journal of Social Issues 38:1–19.
Shumaker, Sally A. andRalph B. Taylor 1983 “Toward a clarification of people-place relationships: A model of attachment to place.” In N. R. Feilmer and E. S. Geller (eds.), Environmental Psychology: 219–251. New York: Praeger.
Sofranko, Andrew J. 1980 “Job seekers and amenity movers: Differences and impact potential.” In Andrew J. Sofranko and James D. Williams (eds.), Rebirth of Rural America: 139–152. Ames: Iowa State University
Sofranko, Andrew J. andJames D. Williams 1980 “Motivations and migration decisions.” In Andrew J. Sofranko and James D. Williams (eds.), Rebirth of Rural America: 45–66. Ames: Iowa State University.
Solomon, Ellen R. andVictoria A. Steinitz 1986 Starting Out: Class and Community in the Lives of Working-Class Youth. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Steinfeld, Edward 1982 “The place of old age.” In James Duncan (ed.), Housing and Identity: 198–246. New York: Holmes and Meier.
St. John, Craig, D. Mark Austin, andYoko Baba 1986 The question of community attachment revisited.” Sociological Spectrum 6:411–431.
Toffler, Alvin 1970 Future Shock. New York: Bantam.
Webber, Mel 1970 “Order in diversity.” In Robert Gutman and David Popenoe (eds.), Neighborhood, City and Metropolis: 791–811. New York: Random House.
Wiseman, Robert F. 1980 “Why older people move.” Research on Aging 2:141–154.
Wiseman, Robert F. andCurtis C. Roseman 1979 “A typology of elderly migration based on the decision making process.” Economic Geography 55:324–337.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cuba, L., Hummon, D.M. Constructing a sense of home: Place affiliation and migration across the life cycle. Sociol Forum 8, 547–572 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01115211
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01115211