Megan Brideau

11/18/16
RPTM 320 Lit Review
Constraints in Outdoor Recreation Prevent Diversity
According to the Forest Service, the majority of visitors to national forests in the U.S.
tend to be white males (Parker & Green, 2016). The problem with this is not necessarily that the
highest visitation is white males, but the fact that even in parts of the country were minority
groups actually represent the majority of the population, white male visitation is still the highest
(Parker & Green, 2016). For example, in Atlanta, Georgia, the population is 50% black whereas
only about 1.6% of the total visits to the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest is black (Parker
& Green, 2016).
Prior to the mid-twentieth century, managers of protected areas were not concerned with
the lack of racial diversity. Racism was a social norm that most rich, white people did not want
to change. In the early years of outdoor recreation, rich, white people were the only social group
that took part in outdoor recreation because they had the time, money, and access to participate
(Shores, Scott, & Floyd, 2007). Racism still persists in America today and those issues are still
reflected in outdoor recreation participation.
The first of research in outdoor recreation constraints came about in the early 1960s
when the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission pointed out the need to understand
why minority groups were being underrepresented in outdoor recreation settings (Parker &
Green, 2016). Following the Commissions observation, in 1978, Washburne investigated black
visitation in the backcountry of California (Washburne, 1978). He created a marginality thesis
stating that inequality in outdoor recreation could be attributed to historical inequality in
America. Washburnes (1978) second theory opposed the marginality theory. The ethnicity
theory suggests under-participation is a result of outdoor recreation not being a part of a culture

historically (Washburne, 1978). A persons culture (including ethnicity and race) shapes who
they are growing up and determines what leisure activities they take part in as they mature
(Shores et al., 2007). Research suggests that ethnic and racial minorities suffer more constraints
to outdoor recreation than non-minorities (Virden &Walker, 1999).
In 1987, Hutchison studied Chicagos Hispanic population. He observed them spending a
good amount of their leisure time caring for family and large groups of mostly females. He
suggested that crowd control measures in outdoor recreation functions might prevent Hispanics
from participating in such activities (Hutchison, 1987). Irwin, Gartner, and Phelps concluded this
same idea in 1990 and found that American campgrounds often did not account for big family
groups (Stodolska, 1999). Crawford, Jackson and Godbey recognized and integrated this type of
constraint and others in their model.
To identify and organize constraints in leisure Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey (1991)
developed a hierarchy model of constraints. They explained that the three types of constraints are
interpersonal, intrapersonal, and structural (Crawford et al., 1991). Interpersonal constraints
happen person-to-person; for example, not having friends to go to a leisure activity with.
Intrapersonal constraints occur in the mind of the person. These constraints involve emotions like
stress and attitude towards leisure. Structural constraints are physical barriers that prevent a
person from participating in leisure. This could be weather, no transportation, or no facility to
perform the activities (Crawford et al., 1991). Usually, the most restricting constraints are
intrapersonal because of the mental toll they can take on a person that can be difficult to combat.
On the other hand, structural constraints are seen as being the least important of the three
because those constraints only arise when the other two categories have been passed through
(Bustam et al., 2011).

In 1998, Monika Stodolska came up with a new way to consider constraints saying that
they could be organized into two categories depending on temporal nature. She defined some
constraints as being static because they do not change over time (Stodolska, 1999). Some
examples of these were discrimination or a lack of access to resources. The second category she
proposed were dynamic which included all of the flowing and changing parts of leisure that
could be constrained. These aspects included weather, family responsibilities, or time availability
(Stodolska, 1999). However, with the continuation of studies, researchers began to notice that
these two types of constraints were too restrictive (Parker & Green, 2016).
In 2005, Walker and Virden set out a process for classifying structural constraints in
outdoor recreation specifically. Their method involved four parts: 1- Natural environment
structural constraints, 2- Social environment structural constraints, 3- Territorial structural
constraints, and 4- Institutional structural constraints (Walker & Virden, 2005). In addition to
this classification, Walker and Virden (2005) formulated the data from four large North
American studies in outdoor recreation constraints. They found that there were seven reoccurring
constraints: lack of information, crowding, distance to the recreation area, family commitments,
family members in poor health, expense and a lack of companion for outdoor recreation
participation (Bustam, Thapa. & Buta, 2011). Furthering their research, Walker and Virden
went on to suggest that susceptibility of constraints is caused by both micro and macro level
factors (Walker & Virden, 2005).
The most common factor in constraints of outdoor leisure is due to discrimination. In an
early study in 1993 researchers, Blahna and Black found that African American and Hispanic
college students reported discrimination in the outdoor recreation setting from managers or staff,
the upkeep of facilities, the fear of possible racism, and fear for safety (Blahna, & Black, 1993).

In 2002, Gobster reported that one in seven African Americans reported racial discrimination at
Lincoln Park in Chicago. As a result, these same people had reduced enjoyment, discomfort in
the activity and anger that sometimes caused a change of participation (Gobster, 2002).
Additionally, researchers also uncovered the stereotyping in organizations of black and
white activities. Participants reported being encouraged or discouraged from partaking in
different activities due to the possible additional discrimination if a person participated in the
wrong one (Phillip, 1999; Washburne & Wall, 1980). Feeling welcome in a certain setting or
activity is a big part of outdoor recreation participation. Culturally and historically, different
activities were seen to be associated with different races and as a result, minorities often felt
uncomfortable participating in various outdoor recreation activities (Shores et al., 2007).
Studies have also found that socioeconomic status is an important factor in constraining
outdoor recreation participation. In todays society, African American families still earn a
fraction of white families and continue to be discriminated in the workplace despite the laws
against it. The outdoor recreation industry is a very profitable and expensive enterprise. Along
with this issue, transportation, and access restraints greatly limit minority participation in outdoor
recreation. Minorities are consistently being forced into societies with not enough access or
transportation to outdoor recreation facilities because of socio-economic status. Two notable
studies found this result. West (1989) saw lower African American participation in Detroit parks
due to transportation (Shores et al., 2007). In 2002, Shores and Gobster found the same in Latino
and Asian societies in Chicago (Gobster, 2002; Shores et al., 2007).
More recently in 2013, a study that defined traditional users as whites and nontraditional
users as nonwhites found that in Seattle, Washington, nontraditional users were more constrained
by lack of information about the available outdoor recreation (Parker & Green, 2016). However,

Child colleagues (2015) suggest more research must be performed on the topic in order to be
sure this constraint still applies since the outdoor recreation industry has improved their
marketing skills in recent years (Child et al., 2015).
Based on what the research shows now, managers need to be more aware of what
different minority groups need in terms of outdoor recreation. Educating the public about
different types of outdoor recreation offered could greatly increase minority participation.
However, more research must still be conducted on the constraints on immigrants in America
specifically. Overall, managers of American outdoor recreation facilities and activities need to be
more diverse in terms of what activities they offer and how they structure outdoor recreation
facilities in order to accommodate for minorities.

References
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