ABSTRACT
Classified by colleagues as ' ethnographic," this approach varies from the quantitative one frequently employed by psychologists. Rather than compare samples from control and affected communities, this chapter focuses on victims from the contaminated community to gain insight into the dynamics and meaning of contamination over time. A victim-focused approach is useful for trying to understand the most important effects of a contamination event, simply because it best represents those most impacted. There were several phases of incubation for the Legler groundwater contamination event. Early residents formed their residential expectations when Legler was pristine. Although Legler residents found the health, water, and security problems disturbing, they failed to comprehend the significance of these events as signposts of contamination. Active opposition to the landfill would demand some major event, such as a particularly frightening incident or notification of contamination.
