Coping with Environmental Change: A Social Systems Model

Abstract

Change in the physical environment affords an especially interesting context within which to examine the process of environmental coping. Recent work conducted by the Environmental Psychology Program at the City University of New York* in the psychiatric pavilion of a large municipal hospital, which we will call Bridgehaven, provided a unique opportunity for investigating how people cope with environmental change. In order to test the behavioral effects of variation in ward physical environment, we received permission to plan, finance, and direct the extensive remodeling of an admission ward in the hospital. This chapter discusses the fascinating manner in which ward staff members dealt with the challenge presented by this large-scale change in the ward setting.