Territorial Behaviours As The Regulators Of Interpersonal Space

Territorial behaviours as the regulators of interpersonal space.

Presentation of the research results concerning mental representation of physical space and territorial behaviours of socially excluded people, carried out with the use of visual methods.

Human territories illustrate the interdependent nature of the exchange between the man and the environment. Territories provide order and stability, as well as enable ‘mapping’ of such types of behaviour, that can be expected in specific places. In this way, they help us plan and organize our daily lives. Territorial behaviours understood as such have been the subject matter of my research, the results of which will be discussed in hereby presentation. The research aimed to identify the relationship between occupation of a certain social position and the way of schematization of space, and, on the other hand, it served the purpose of recognition the relationship between knowledge about the environment and territorial behaviours. It sought to answer the question: how do the people who are experiencing social exclusion – either having a house or homeless – shape their knowledge about the environment? How can physical space co-create a social distance? The mobile method – photo walk, which was used in the study, provided visual material for the analysis of territorial behaviours, and completed descriptive and graphic material obtained through space mapping, projective methods, in-depth interviews and surveys. In the presentation I will draw attention to the way physical space resonates with its ideas and the way of creating its own territories, which are a stage where social interactions are implemented. The ways of perception and organization of the space and the use and creation of its sociopetal and sociofugal character, by which it acquires the regulatory role for interpersonal relations and relationships, will be visualized as well.