Behind Closed Doors: a Look at Trauma-Informed Design
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For domestic violence survivors in the United States, finding help to escape their dangerous circumstances is increasingly difficult. Rural and urban areas alike are incredibly underserved, and victims are turned away constantly due to a lack of resources and insufficient bed spaces. Moreover, those who do come across refuge are typically placed in emergency shelters built upon a basis of convenience, not human healing. As a result, survivors may break free of their situations for only a short amount of time, or perhaps will not have enough motivation to leave their abusers in the first place. In addition, without the necessary environment required for long-term healing of mind and body and the resources needed to provide them with the tools for empowerment and independence, they are more likely to fall back into the vicious cycle of abuse. Trauma-informed care is reasonably well-known in the healthcare world, but the practice is only recently making its way into the architecture realm. However, in order to create a new narrative for victims and their families, the assimilation of trauma-informed design into the current emergency shelter model is critical. The notions of privacy, safety, and choice are just a few aspects that should be incorporated into the built environment to reduce stress and boost morale. The ultimate goal is to create surroundings conducive to long-term healing for the residents, ensuring that they can successfully lead lives thriving independently of their abusers. Therefore, what is the best way to provide refuge for survivors to heal from intimate trauma and transition from dependence through the partnership of trauma-informed design and architecture?
Subject
Trauma-informed designDomestic violence
Transitional housing
Architectural design
Women's shelters
Emergency housing
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ArchitectureCollections
Citation
Novak, Sophia Shirazawa (2022). Behind Closed Doors: a Look at Trauma-Informed Design. Master's thesis, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /196021.