Sociopetal

Sociopetality is that quality which encourages, fosters and even enforces the development of stable interpersonal relationships such as are found in small, face-to-face groups. The tepee, the igloo, the Zulu kraal are examples of buildings that could be described as highly sociopetal.

Rather than design and furnish wards that further the patient’s desire to retreat from people, most psychiatrists would like to establish sociopetal wards in which patients are oriented toward other people.

Since there were few semiprivate sociopetal spaces or other facilities that could promote the formation of a social order, the informal social networks found in lower class neighborhoods didn’t develop.

[Robert] Sommer suggested that conversation among patients might be increased by rearranging the furniture into a “sociopetal” arrangement, with small numbers of chairs arranged in conversational groupings.

A sociopetal pattern, seats arranged in a circular type setting, encourages interaction, focuses people on the center of the room, and brings them together. We find this arrangement at the dining room table where family and guests eat and drink as friends. […] A worshiping community striving for energetic involvement in the liturgical event will discover that a more sociopetal arrangement of seats will begin to shape the participatory behavior of the assembly.