2.2. The care farm as a therapeutic residential community
In the United States, farm settings have been utilized as a site for the provision of services and activities to promote recovery from mental illness. These farms, premised on the concept of “moral treatment,” were “designed to restore inner equilibrium … and to create anew, ideal mini-society in which virtues of order, calm and productive work would replace the chaos and competitiveness of a burgeoning new world” (Kennard, 1998). They provided a therapeutic social environment where people could engage in a “culture of enquiry” (Campling, 2001; Griffiths & Hinshelwood, 1995) by expressing their own feelings and views and by participating in a “living and learning environment” (Kennard, 2004). They were designed to be evolving in nature, encouraging continued improvement and refinement to the model on which they were premised. Importantly, they provided residents with a
comprehensive biopsychosocial approach to treatment. Unfortunately, increased industrialization, a growth in the numbers of individuals diagnosed with mental illness, and the prioritization of custodial care in lieu of treatment by legislatures led to not only the evolution of therapeutic farms to asylums, but to the deterioration of conditions within the asylums.The asylum and the therapeutic farms of the nineteenth century that were premised on the concept of “moral treatment” have since led to the concept of the therapeutic residential communities. These communities consist of “a
consciously designed social environment within a residential or day unit in which the social and group process is harnessed with therapeutic intent. In the therapeutic community the community is the primary therapeutic instrument” (Lees, 1999).
Therapeutic residential communities focus on individuals with mental illness; offer opportunities for community, companionship, work, creativity, and respect for the individual; often pair activities with psychotherapy and medication, if needed; utilize structured activities to occupy time; and may include the idea of a spiritual rebirth.
Animal-assisted therapy or activities may be utilized to induce and mediate physiologically de-arousing states of anxiety and arousal, mediate social interaction, provide stress-buffering social support, and enhance self-efficacy and coping skills through the availability of work-related activities. Art and other expressive therapies help to reduce individuals’ feelings of isolation and increase self-confidence.