MOBILE HOMES: A PSYCHOLOGICAL CASE STUDY OF INNOVATION IN HOUSING.
Item
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Title
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MOBILE HOMES: A PSYCHOLOGICAL CASE STUDY OF INNOVATION IN HOUSING.
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Identifier
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AAI8203338
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identifier
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8203338
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Creator
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WALLIS, ALLAN DENNIS.
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Contributor
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William H. Ittelson
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, General
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Abstract
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In comparison to other major sectors of the economy, housing has been regarded as a lagging industry at least since the end of the First World War. Government programs to achieve industrialization have repeatedly failed to obtain their objective. The reasons for this are considered. Some suggest that the failure of industrialization is a problem primarily of material techniques. Others suggest that it involves a change in the consciousness (i.e. attitudes, beliefs and expectations) which serves to organize housing activities.;A paradigm describing the dual character of the industrialization of housing (i.e. as a revolution in techniques and consciousness) is presented. This paradigm considers housing change in terms of an image shift. The nature of an image shift is described as a process involving: a psycho-cultural image of housing, a metaphoric image of industrialized housing, the physical artifact, models of the relationships between various activities in housing, and the background of assumptions which a culture holds regarding the nature of technology. Four strategies for the integration of housing innovations, vis-a-vis image shift, are described. These strategies are: conventionalization, syncretism, independence and structuralization.;The body of the dissertation consists of a two part case study of mobile homes considered as a form of industrialized housing. The case study is intended to demonstrate the utility of the theoretical paradigm in investigating the process of industrialization. The first part of the case study analyzes the historical development of the mobile homes from its origins as a travel trailer, in the 1920's, up to the passage of major federal mobile home regulations in 1976. This review is based on a content analysis of trade journals, popular literature, legal rulings and previous scientific studies.;The second part of the case study investigates the use of mobile homes in a single midwestern city: Muncie, Indiana. It is based on: participant observation, in-depth interviews with 10 mobile home households in one park, and a comparative questionnaire survey of 60 people living in mobile homes, conventional homes and apartments.;The concluding chapter identifies two characteristics of mobile homes which seem to make them a successful form of industrialized housing. These characteristics are thinness and collage. It is suggested that they provide a basis for establishing continuity between the mobile home and the indigenous tradition of American housing, while helping in the transfer of the practices of industrialization into the area of housing.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
