A Mentality Study on Drawings of Flood Victims

Abstract

Massive flooding in parts of Thailand during the period September - November 2011 had great impacts on residents of the areas affected. The Faculty of Fine Arts, Srinakharinwirot University, set up one of the relief teams. As a faculty staff member, the author undertook a visual art project among those affected.

The study was carried out on 74 immigrants at the Rajamangala Stadium Shelter; the drawings at the site were examined for their mentality status. The fi ndings disclosed 21 of the 74 subjects expressed aspects of the disaster event in their drawings, among which 12 subjects expressed some mental aberrations caused by the event.

The present study has confi rmed once again that drawings can release the suppressed memories that hauntthe subconscious of victims.

Key words: flood, victims, disaster, drawings, mentality, Thailand