A review of Bam housing reconstruction after the 2003 Earthquake to identify the effective factors on the survivors’ psychological recovery, based on Q methodology

The 2003 Bam earthquake is one of the most destructive earthquakes in Iran in recent decades, with extensive damage, destruction and long-term consequences. During and after an earthquake, communities experience emotional reactions and cognitive biases that arise from trauma, traumatic experiences, and traumatic losses. Housing reconstruction has powerful potential to heal traumatic consequences in the rehabilitation phase to return communities to normal life in the long run. However, due to the lack of knowledge about trauma in Iran, the dialectic of housing reconstruction and long-term rehabilitation and healing of communities has many unknown aspects. Using the Q method and the Delphi technique, the study tries to extract the factors affecting psychological rehabilitation and healing of the traumatic consequences of the earthquake in reviewing the housing reconstruction of Bam. The research design was defined in 5 stages. In defining a consensus, the items in the Q series were created by reviewing the literature and analyzing the content of 10 in-depth interviews with leading experts in the field. Using the theoretical sampling method and then snowball in the Delphi rounds, the group of research participants consisted of 23 officials and researchers in the field of housing reconstruction in Bam and socio-psychological rehabilitation of its community. Based on the findings of factor q analysis, 6 factors in the reconstruction process and the reconstructed houses in Bam, i.e., reassure housing immunity, adaptability/ flexibility, belonging, self-efficacy belief, solastalgia, and empowerment reconstruction policies and programs, and related indicators have 62.6% potential for positive or aggravating effects of earthquake traumatic consequences and rehabilitation of survivors.