Changing Student Beliefs about Poverty, Homelessness, and Community Service: Results from Interior Design Project Interventions

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine undergraduate interior design student attitudes toward poverty, homelessness, and community service. A secondary purpose was to determine if exposure to design projects for those who have experienced hardship would change student beliefs. All freshmen ( n = 14), sophomore ( n = 22), junior ( n = 13), and senior ( n = 21) interior design undergraduate students at a public university completed a questionnaire based on several existing scales. During the semester, the sophomores worked on assignments that were designed to provide exposure to different socio–economic groups. First, students read the book Nickel and Dimed by Barabara Ehrenreich, which provided them with an overview of the problems associated with the poor. Next students completed three projects: (1) the design of a temporary homeless shelter, (2) a renovation of a childcare center office and reception area that provides services for low–income families, and (3) the design of a low–income, residential home. In all of these projects, students were required to conduct extensive information gathering so they could better understand the problems associated with poverty. At the end of the semester, the sophomores completed the questionnaire again and were asked additional questions regarding the class and projects. Student opinions towards the poor were more individualistic when compared to the middle class, yet when the middle–class comparison was removed, some of their attitudes provided a more complex understanding of poverty and homelessness. The semester–long intervention significantly shifted students’ understanding that emphasized structural and multifaceted causes of poverty.