Reviews the literature from the fields of geography, psychology, anthropology, and psychiatry to develop a “psychology of place” that describes the psychological processes that are affected by geographic displacement. The main proposition is that an individual’s sense of belonging, essential to psychological well-being, depends on strong, well-developed relationships in nurturing places and that disturbances in these essential place relationships can trigger psychological disorder. In particular, the disorientation and confusion that accompany a significant alteration in a familiar place, whether caused by natural or man-made disaster, can be experienced as both bodily sensations such as physical pain and emotional feelings such as alienation. Furthermore, disruption of attachment to a place can lead to disorders similar to those accompanying disruption of attachment to a person, including sadness and longing. For displaced individuals, then, the reconstruction of order requires the establishment of a habitat that can give them a sense of identity and security. Empowered collaboration- the collective effort of displaced people to identify priorities and resources and to rebuild were necessary- is the tool for reestablishing familiarity, repairing attachment to place, and stabilizing place identity.
