RECREATION

WITHIN MARGINALIZED

COMMUNITIES

David Mauricio Leon Alvarado

 ABOUT ME AND

WHY THIS TOPIC

IS IMPOTANT TO

ME

Born in El Salvador
Immigrated to the

U.S at the age of 8

Started working at

the age of 14
WHAT IS PRIVILEGE?
Privilege Walk
 THINGS THAT HINDER RECREATION TO

MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES

Economic barriers
Physical Access
Relational or cultural access
Social-psychological barriers
 ECONOMIC BARRIERS
Transportation
To overcome physical distances
Admission Fees
Wage-earners may incur additional costs to taking time off
Cost of Equipment
e.g., color pencils, board games, art materials

Latino adolescents mentioned monetary resources as the significant

barrier to participation in recreation programs

 PHYSICAL ACCESS
Proximity
People of color, older adults, and those without a

college education exhibit lower levels of participation

in recreation programs.
Perceived and actual walkability of the distance to
parks is related to frequency and duration of use.
RELATIONAL OR CULTURAL

ACCESS
Knowledge of technical skills
Is often gained through close social relations as does the

information on where to engage in outdoor recreation

Lack of representation
Perpepetuates stereotypes of who does and does not spend

time outside
SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL

Gender
BARRIERS
Perceived safety
Generational Trauma
Jim Crow segregation continues to have an effect.
Black Americans have lower rates of park and natural space
use and perceive discrimination or lack of safety in outdoor

spaces.
Intergenerational and collective trauma associated with

slavery and lynching continues to diminish or prevent

Black experiences in wilderness settings

U.S Latino populations view the environment as a place of

agrarian productivity, but also a place of bondage to

dominant economic institutions through the exploitation of

migrant workers.
Exclusion
 Multiple Hierarchy Stratification

Perspective
Belonging to multiple disadvantaged groups compounds and increases

inequities in access to parks and recreation.

MHSP affects participation in various outdoor activities
Race/ethnicity
Gender
Age
Education
Income
place of residence
 Women, people of color, and those with low-

income status participate in less outdoor

recreation than white men (Shores, Scott, and

Floyd 2007). Participation rates are even

lower for rural residents (Yousefian et al.

2009), people with disabilities (Burns and

Graefe 2007), and people of more than one

marginalized social group (Powers et al.

2020).
WHY IS IT

IMPORTANT FOR

US TO BE

AWARE OF

THESE ISSUES
To best serve patients
WITHIN

MARGANILIZED

POPULATIONS
 Don'ts

WHITE SAVIORISM
Definition: used to describe white people who consider

themselves wonderful helpers to Black, Indigenous and People

of Color (BIPOC) — but they “help” for the wrong reasons (and

sometimes end up doing more to hurt than help).

Actions Examples
1. Brutalities in the morning 1. Volunteerism
2. Charities in the afternoon 2. Diversification efforts in outdoor

3. Awards in the evening recreation

3. Youth developing programs
Take a moment and reflect on

a time you have

seen/done/heard of white

saviorism. Share with the

person sitting next to you.

 WHAT SHOULD YOU NOW?

Don'ts Do's
Be a white savorist Reflect on the reasoning for your

Do interventions just to do
interventions
interventions Include interventions that can be

translated back to the patients

homes
Offer resources
Do's EXAMPLES OF

INTERVENTIONS THAT

REQUIRE NO

EQUIPMENT
Psychiatrist
Whozzle "smurf"
Octopus 8
Signs
Riddles
Through the green
glass door
Umbrella party
Right party
Going on a picnic
 WHAT ARE SOME

INTERVENTIONS THAT YOU

COULD DO THAT PATIENTS

WOULD BE ABLE TO

TRANSLATE HOME?
QUESTIONS?

 Sources
Andrea Armstrong & Brian T. Greene (2022) Sense of Inclusion and Race in a Public, Outdoor

Recreation Setting: Do Place Meanings Matter?, Society & Natural Resources, 35:4, 391-409, DOI:

10.1080/08941920.2022.2045413
Kristina R. Anderson, Eric Knee & Rasul Mowatt (2021) Leisure and the “White-Savior Industrial

Complex”, Journal of Leisure Research, 52:5, 531-550, DOI: 10.1080/00222216.2020.1853490

Samantha L. Powers, KangJae Jerry Lee, Nicholas A. Pitas, Alan R. Graefe & Andrew J. Mowen

(2020) Understanding access and use of municipal parks and recreation through an

intersectionality perspective, Journal of Leisure Research, 51:4, 377-396, DOI:

10.1080/00222216.2019.1701965