Psychological well-being of people living near landfills: preliminary case study in Indonesia

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the psychological well-being of people living around landfills, which constitutes a preliminary case study localized in Samarinda city, Indonesia.Design/methodology/approachThis current study used a descriptive, participatory case study design. For data collection, interviews and participatory observation were used. Specifically, this case study took place in Samarinda City, Indonesia.FindingsThe psychological well-being of the people living around landfills was indicated very low in the light of psychological well-being such as personal growth, life’s goals and self-acceptance dimensions.Research limitations/implicationsPsychological well-being is part of an attitude of gratitude, thus making individuals happy and satisfied in life. The results of this study point to the fact that people who live around landfills have low psychological well-being due to lack of support from the community and government. In addition, with this research, people who live near landfills are very happy because they feel cared for and care about their condition. People who live near landfills expect the government and surrounding communities to know about their situation so that they become prosperous and well-being. In addition, providing medical team services, sending clean water and providing good solutions can help people who live near landfills. The limitation of this preliminary study was that researchers could deeply explore the lives of people in the next research. Besides, the next research can provide a camera or voice recorder in the state of only observation. In addition, the researcher can analyze more deeply in the next research. The final limitation was that participants could not have enough time to interact with, thus, the researcher could not collect the data to explore further.Practical implicationsBase on the result in this study, the government needs to have the policy to take care of those people who stay near landfills, for example, improving drinking water, establish the health management and giving a right to people to stay near landfills.Social implicationsBy improving the growing environment, the people live near landfills can have some changes in their life. In addition, the negative stereotype and prejudice can be decreased and establish a more friendly society and increasing their well-being.Originality/valueThe participants were found to be problematic, primarily in managing their environment and influencing their personal growth. On top of that, the participants appeared to possess a lack exposure of to social interaction with other communities, which might cause them social gap and lack of caring perceived toward the surrounding environment, lack of better life’s goals, the disappointment of current conditions due to low educational and skill backgrounds. Nonetheless, the participants were still of gratefulness upon the situation for they were still granted health for studies to support their families. Besides, the participants did not show any positive attitudes toward themselves because of the disappointment of their condition and personal qualities.