The destruction of the forest and its impact on soul as informed by indigenous peoples

Cohn, S. M. (1997). The destruction of the forest and its impact on soul as informed by indigenous peoples (Doctoral dissertation, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 1997). UMI no. 9839598

This dissertation relies on a heuristic methodology employed to study how the destruction of forests is creating a negative impact on the psychological and spiritual aspects of the lives of both native and non-native peoples. Although not intended as an anthropological study, the study queried indigenous forest peoples about their feelings related to forest destruction under the assumption that they are among the people most intimately in contact with the immediate psychological and spiritual impact of deforestation. Written under the umbrella of a new branch of psychology called "ecopsychology," a blend of ecological and psychological perspectives, this dissertation examines both why humans continue to live in an abusive relationship with the planet and how humans can begin to heal that abusive relationship. In addition to presenting transcripts of interviews with indigenous peoples, this dissertation reviews the literature contained within the disciplines of ecohistory, ecophilosophy, ecopsychology, forests, and soul. The dissertation concludes with a movie-length screenplay story, written in Standard Script Format, which incorporates the themes presented in both the interviews and the literature review, and as is required by heuristic research, is a personal response to the dissertation material.