Definition of "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.

1957 April, Humphry Osmond, “Function as the Basis of Psychiatric Ward Design”, in Daniel Blain, editor, Mental Hospitals, volume 8, number 4, Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association Mental Hospital Service, architectural supplement, page 28, column 1

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.

1963, Robert Sommer, Robert Dewar, “The Physical Environment of the Ward”, in Eliot Freidson, editor, The Hospital in Modern Society, [New York, N.Y.]: The Free Press of Glencoe; London: Collier-Macmillan […], page 339

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.

1978, Paul A[llan] Bell, Jeffrey D[avid] Fisher, Ross J[ohn] Loomis, “Environmental Solutions to Urban Problems”, in Environmental Psychology, Philadelphia, Pa.; London; Toronto, Ont.: W[alter] B[urns] Saunders Company, chapter 8 (The City), page 304

[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.Referring to the 1963 quotation.

1981, David E[lliott] Campbell, “Microenvironments of the Elderly”, in Forrest J[ay] Berghorn, Donna E[lizabeth] Schafer, Associates, editors, The Dynamics of Aging: Original Essays on the Processes and Experiences of Growing Old, Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, part 7 (Environmental Aspects of Aging), pages 421–422

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.

1994, Richard S[tephen] Vosko, “Evaluating the Place of the Altar or Table”, in Robert E[ugene] Webber, editor, Music and the Arts in Christian Worship (The Complete Library of Christian Worship; 4), book 2, Nashville, Tenn.: Star Song Publishing Group, part 3 (The Visual Arts in Worship), chapter 12 (The Primary Visual Arts for Worship), page 600, columns 1–2