Sheltering and Housing Recovery Following Disaster*

Abstract

Reestablishing housing is a critical factor for understanding recovery processes, whether one is addressing the phenomenon at the household or community level. Researchers examining household or family recovery, for example, have utilized a variety of measures or indicators to capture different dimensions of recovery including psychological or perceptional measures related to stress, and sense of loss and recovery to more objective indicators such as regaining income, employment, household amenities, and household assets (Bates, 1982; Bolin, 1976, 1982, 1993, 1994; Bolin & Bolton, 1983; Bolin & Trainer, 1978; Peacock, Killian, & Bates, 1987). However, this research also suggests that fundamental to an overall assessment of household recovery is reestablishing permanent housing, or in the vernacular, home, because without establishing home, the ability of a household to carry out normal activities and reestablish a routine is limited and hampered (Bates & Peacock, 1987, 1993; Bolin & Trainer, 1978; Quarantelli, 1982). In short, delays in reestablishing housing all too often delay all other dimensions of recovery (Bolin, 1986).