Chad Walker, Ph.D.

Research - Teaching - Impact

Adding insult to injury: The development of psychosocial stress in Ontario wind turbine communities


Journal article


Chad Walker, Jamie Baxter, Danielle Ouellette
Social Science & Medicine, vol. 133, 2015 Mar 30, pp. 358-365

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APA   Click to copy
Walker, C., Baxter, J., & Ouellette, D. (2015). Adding insult to injury: The development of psychosocial stress in Ontario wind turbine communities. Social Science &Amp; Medicine, 133, 358–365.


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Walker, Chad, Jamie Baxter, and Danielle Ouellette. “Adding Insult to Injury: The Development of Psychosocial Stress in Ontario Wind Turbine Communities.” Social Science & Medicine 133 (March 30, 2015): 358–365.


MLA   Click to copy
Walker, Chad, et al. “Adding Insult to Injury: The Development of Psychosocial Stress in Ontario Wind Turbine Communities.” Social Science &Amp; Medicine, vol. 133, Mar. 2015, pp. 358–65.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{chad2015a,
  title = {Adding insult to injury: The development of psychosocial stress in Ontario wind turbine communities},
  year = {2015},
  month = mar,
  day = {30},
  journal = {Social Science & Medicine},
  pages = {358-365},
  volume = {133},
  author = {Walker, Chad and Baxter, Jamie and Ouellette, Danielle},
  month_numeric = {3}
}

 Though historically dismissed as not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) attitudes, reports of psychosocial stress linked to wind energy developments have emerged in Ontario, Canada. While the debate and rhetoric intensify concerning whether wind turbines 'actually' cause 'health' effects, less sincere attention has been given to the lived experience and mental well-being of those near turbines. Drawing on theories of environmental stress, this grounded theory, mixed-method (n = 26 interviews; n = 152 questionnaires) study of two communities in 2011 and 2012 traces how and why some wind turbine community residents suffer substantial changes to quality of life, develop negative perceptions of 'the other' and in some cases, experience intra-community conflict. Policy-related forces, along with existing community relationships may help explain much of these differences between communities. We suggest a move beyond debating simply whether or not 'annoyance' represents a 'health impact' and instead focus on ways to minimize and attenuate these feelings of threat (risk) and stress at the community level. 

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