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Thesis
Her story cloth: support for women who are psychiatric service users with narrative needlecraft
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Dec 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010840
Abstract
There is life before psychiatric hospitalization and there is life after psychiatric hospitalization. After being discharged from care, psychiatric survivors are thrust from a hospitalization setting into their pre-hospitalization lives. This transition is not only jarring, but also risky. After being discharged from inpatient psychiatric care, psychiatric service users are at an increased risk for many adverse public health outcomes, including suicide. Women, in particular, are more likely to have negative experiences in care and are more likely to be readmitted to care after discharge. To add insult to injury, psychiatric survivors are viewed as unreliable narrators of their own experience. This research responds to this multi-faceted problem by asking, how might story cloth making workshops help femme psychiatric survivors document and process their experience and form community bonds? Story cloths are a Hmong form of narrative needlecraft similar to quilting that documents a lived experience with fabric scraps and embroidery. Many case studies demonstrate that women's craft groups, particularly quilting groups are sites of community building and empowerment. Moreover, needlecraft has recently emerged as a useful and appropriate medium for art therapy. This project is informed by qualitative interviews with experts in clinical art therapy and leadership in service user support groups. These interviews will inform the development of a workshop prototype. The prototype will then be tested through a focus group with experienced sewists who will provide constructive feedback on the workshop's technical aspects. Their feedback will inform further iterations of a peer support story cloth making program. Ultimately, this project endeavors to merge knowledge from many disciplines to inform the creation of story cloths that will function like a boundary object, connecting different social groups with varying relationships to the target user population, most importantly supporting femme psychiatric service users through community, sewing arts, and storytelling following their discharge from care.
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Details
- Title
- Her story cloth
- Creators
- Josepha Sugrue
- Contributors
- Diana S. Nicholas (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- 87 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Architecture, Design, and Urbanism; Design Research; Drexel University; Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design
- Other Identifier
- 991022019219804721