Proxemics theory - originallydeveloped by Hall (1966) - isthe study of the various wayspeople understand and usespace in a cultural context.

As such it’s an interesting andinformative way to bothillustrate the idea of culturallearningand show the inter-relationshipbetween basic culturalconcepts such as:

▪ Socialisation.▪ Roles.▪ Norms.▪ Social status.▪ Values.

Hall argued different cultures create differentways of “seeing space”, with the most familiarand easily accessible example for our purposebeing the idea of personal space. This isdefined in terms of an area (or “bubble”) thatsurrounds each of us and which varies:

1. Between cultures: in England or the UnitedStates, for example, people generallylike to maintain a greater sense ofpersonal distance from others thanthey do in countries like Franceor Brazil.

2. Within cultures: thisinvolves genderdifferences in our society.Two women talking toeach other tend tomaintain less personalspace between them thantwo men talking.

This concept of personal space canbe further refined in terms of what Hallcalls three different types of space.Intimate space is a very small spacearound the individual entry into whichis by “invitation only”. We maycomfortably invite very close friends,family members or our doctor into thisspace.Social and consultative spaces: areaswhere we feel comfortable carrying-out routine social interactions withfriends, acquaintances and strangers.Public space is an impersonal areafilled with relatively anonymous

interactions (making sure you don’t bump intopeople when walking down the street, forexample).Intimate - and to some extent social - space issometimes called owned space because weconsider it “our property”, entry into which isregulated in various ways - something we canrelate to different roles, values and norms usingHall’s classic example…

C1. Proxemics Theory

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Sociology Culture and Identity

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Strangers Waiting for a Train

When waiting for a train at a railway station wefrequently play the role of stranger to otherpeople also waiting for the train to arrive.

In this situation the role, as with any other rolewe play, is surrounded by certain values. Theidea, for example, we should not behavetowards strangers as if they were our closestfriend in the world. In this particular exampleone of the values we bring to bear is that ofprivacy and, more specifically, the notion ofpersonal space as a way of maintainingprivacy. When playing the role of stranger wevalue the cultural concept of privacy, both forour own purposes and those of others.

In other words, we understand that privacy isan important concept in our culture and weshould not act in ways that invade - uninvited -the privacy of others (just as we expect themnot to invade our privacy).

One way this value is expressed is throughvarious norms that apply in particular situations.In this instance, one norm that reflects the roleof stranger and the value of privacy is that wedo not sit too close to strangers; we do not, inshort, invade their personal space.

Deviance and Defensible SpaceJust as individuals organise space, the same istrue of societies generally and this idea hasbeen applied to the idea of managing physicalspace as a way of controlling some forms ofcrime.Newman's (1996) concept of defensible spaceargued a mix of ‘real and symbolic barriers,strongly defined areas of influence andimproved opportunities for surveillance’ couldbe used to deter crime.

Alleygate projects, for example, limit access to‘outsiders’ on housing estates - locked gates towhich only residents have the key stop potentialoffenders gaining access to houses and makingtheir escape through a maze of alleys.

CCTV surveillance has also become a familiarsight in many towns, cities and individual

Experimenting with Personal Space

Using a relatively closed environment suchas your school or college library.

• Observe and record the responses ofstudents whose personal space youdeliberately invade (for example, by standingtoo close to someone). How do people of thesame and opposite sex react?

• Observe and record how people try toprotect their personal space. How are props(books and bags) used to prevent uninvitedpeople sitting next to them?

Using masking tape, place an X on the floor.Ask one student volunteer to stand on it.Individually, get other students to slowlyapproach this student until the volunteer tellsthem to “stop” when the approaching personis close enough that they start to feeluncomfortable. Measure the distancebetween the two students. Repeat with avariety of volunteers and approaches fromdifferent directions (behind, to the side)

What conclusions can be drawn from thisexercise?