Remembrance of places past : adult recollection of childhood place experience

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the nature of adult remembrance of childhood experience of place. The research asks what it is like for adults to recall their childhood experiences of place, and what role childhood place experience plays in shaping adult identity. The study explores the lived experience of seven participants, five men and two women, as they remember the outdoor places of their childhood in semi-structured interviews. It undertakes a phenomenological investigation into the nature of these experiences, consisting of an individual description of each remembrance experience, phenomenological reduction, and identification of the qualities of the experience. The integration of several concepts in the light of participants' experiences of childhood place remembrance can be considered to be an initial step towards establishing a development theory of place.

Date of Award	2007
Original language	English