Public Policy Meeting

Title

Name

Institution

Summary

Although technological advancements and industrial revolution has brought about constructive alterations in human life but other side of the picture is comparatively more jaundiced! It has given us too much to litter. Littering is a serious public behavior potent enough to produce immense land pollution. This paper is concerned with the thorough description of meeting that I attended for policy making regarding littering and land pollution in district school Los Angeles, California. Whole observed activity will be narrated under separate headings for providing reader with the quicker insight about the meeting.

Nature, location and timing of meeting

This meeting was held in the district school of Los Angeles at 11 A.M. and lasted for 2 hours, aimed at presenting the prevalence of littering and preventive strategies to avoid it. Litter is typically referred to as trash thrown in the most inappropriate place, time and manner. This practice is considered unlawful because it costs millions to the government in terms of cleanup costs. Along with the economical disadvantages, it spoils the beauty and worthiness of area. Schools are highly formalized institutions, adding constructive learning for shaping students’ personality. Hence, littering, at this level, needs to be discouraged.

A description of items covered by the meeting

As meeting was aimed at addressing the littering issues in schools, focus was centered on the psychological etiology behind this “widely-acknowledged” phenomenon and corresponding management strategies. Following items were addressed in the meeting:

What is the psychological explanation behind littering? Why students tend to throw remains inappropriately? What is the nature of their innate predispositions and thinking patterns in this regard?

What role is played by the environmental factors for littering?

How social interactions explain and determine littering experience?

Development and implementation of technique effective for discouraging littering based on the psychological principles

Stakeholders that attended the meeting

As it was a school board meeting, stakeholders consisted of Head of the institution, teachers, parents, management staff and governmental representatives belonging to the concerned authorities.

Stakeholders that are impacted by what was decided at the meeting

Based on the items meant to be addressed, it was determined that human being is having an “unconscious” mind where memories and context-specific behavioral exhibitions from the ancestors are located. Our stone-age ancestors were uncivilized hence this may be the potential reason behind littering as an unconscious response (Jung, 1953).

Secondly, environmental role is also considerably significant in this regard. Students litter because they lack appropriate littering places e.g., dustbins; location of dustbins is another factor behind littering. They may find no time for reaching such places to throw remains and prefer littering where “convenient.”

Thirdly, the most important factor behind littering is social factor. Behavioral psychologist Albert Bandura presented the “social learning theory” stating that humans behave in certain ways just because other humans do so (Bandura, 1977). Students learn to litter because they observe other students littering.

Moreover, another renowned psychologist B. F. Skinner suggested that reinforcement and punishment are two accepted ways that shape our behaviors in desired ways (Skinner, 1938). Applying this operant conditioning model to the littering phenomenon, it can be inferred that students litter because they do not get anything extraordinarily positive and desirable when they “do not litter” likewise, they do not get extraordinarily undesirable and unfavorable reward when they litter.

Peer pressure is another compelling factor behind littering. Students litter because they have to maintain peer group standards and norms. Hence, psychological, environmental and social factors collaboratively foster littering behavior. Based on these facts and figures, it was decided that:

Dustbins will be installed with the compelling messages on it at appropriate intervals

A grading activity will be assigned to the students involving awareness campaign and practical attempts to reduce wastes. This activity will be monitored by teachers and management staff and its successful completion will bring considerable percentages in the annual examination result.

Each class will be assigned particular areas in the school responsible for reducing littering. Monthly rewards will be presented to the top groups.

Educational lectures and importance of cleanliness will be included in the formal class instructions.

Nearly all the stake holders agreed on the above mentioned points because its cost is far less than what litter authorities consume annually. Their cost/benefit analysis justifies their implementation.

Nature of public comments that were voiced or presented at the meeting

Comments that I heard were not contrary to my expectations at all. They all opposed littering practices and agreed on the above mentioned suggestions because these were all based on psychological theories. Particularly, parents were quite satisfied with the strategies because these focused on the Skinner’s concept of positive reinforcement, eliminating the factor of punishment. Moreover, authoritative representative also liked them because of their cost/benefit effectiveness.

Explain what you learned from this experience and whether you recommend it to others. Explain your rationale.

I learned that there is nothing without a cause, so is the human behavior. We always behave in certain ways due to certain underlying reasons—nature of reasons may vary. I learned that human behavior is based on the psychological, environmental and a social factor no matter it is constructive or unfavorable behavior. I learned that behavior can be modified through reinforcements and punishment. We must intend to know the reasons first; preventive and management strategies must be developed and applied accordingly. This is the only way to make strategies work effectively and this is what we call strategies having “theoretical grounds.”

As these suggestions were based on the theoretical grounds, the chance of their success is quite irrefutable. This is why; I strongly recommend it to others.

References

Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century.

Jung, C. G. (1953). Collected works. Vol. 12. Psychology and alchemy.