Human Spatial Behavior

Abstract

Over a decade ago, sociologists with an interest in the dynamics of inter per­ sonal relations turned their attention toward the spatial setting of human behavior. This was an exciting movement away from the figure of individ­ uals and groups to the ground of the space in which social activities occur. As Goffman (1963, 1971) began to study the spaces separating groups and actors, new insights into various kinds of social situations were gained. Careful observers of activities in everyday life, such as Garfinkel (1964), found regularities in the ways people used space when interacting and reported that the disturbance of these regularities created difficulties for individuals. In general, new knowledge indicated a relationship between spatial be­ havior and the social order. Hence, those sociologists studying interactions could potentially collect data on the location and movements of individuals to complement the picture of social life that evolved largely from informa­ tion of a verbal nature. It was, however, psychologists such as Sommer (1969), and not sociologists, who took these observations seriously. The general sociological ambivalence toward the spatial dimension of social life has been unfortunate both for the study of spatial behavior and for sociology itself. This is a point that I refer to repeatedly in the text that follows. 'Thanks are rendered to Claude Fischer, Harold Garfinkel, Carol Silvennan, Daniel Stokols, and Ralph Turner for comments on an earlier draft. The preparation of this chapter was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Fellowship (USPHS-MH

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