Architecture: Effect of Territory, Boundary, and Orientation on Family Functioning

Abstract

Most students of family process and family therapy practitioners have failed to pay sufficient attention to the importance of the physical home environment. The thesis of this paper is that the physical home environment may facilitate or constrain inter- and intrafamily interaction, role relationships, values, and indentities. The paper presents a comprehensive review of the status of current knowledge concerning family interaction and the home environment. We propose a conceptual framework to facilitate discussion of the nature of man-environment relationships and focus attention on those aspects of the physical environment that have been noted as profoundly influencing family life. These are illustrated by three brief vignettes drawn from case studies of families in their home environment.