A Study on Changes in Sense of Place in Residential Accommodation and Supportive Housing for Disabled People

This study aimed to investigate the changes in the sense of place in residential accommodation and supportive housing for disabled people through in-depth interviews with people who have moved out of residential accommodation for disabled people and are living in supportive housing. To this end, nine participants who have lived in both residential accommodation and supportive housing were selected, and in-depth interviews were conducted three times for each individual. The interview content was analyzed using the constant comparison analysis method. As a result of the analysis, three themes and eight subthemes were derived. The three themes were ‘from a place of isolation to a place of connection’, ‘from controlled safety to an environment of relational attachment and constraints’, and ‘from objective place identity to subjective place identity’. Ultimately, as the location changed from the residential accommodation to the supportive housing, the sense of place changed from a managed sense of place to a subjective and challenging sense of place. This change in sense of place shows the effect of deinstitutionalization in that it does not allow disabled people only to remain in safety and restores their human subjectivity. Nevertheless, since there was a lack of physical convenience facilities and difficulties in forming relationships with the local community in supportive housing, support such as the expansion of convenience facilities and citizen advocacy needs to be strengthened.