sociopetal

Adjective

sociopetal (comparative more sociopetal, superlative most sociopetal)

1. Of a place, etc.: involving the arrangement of a group of people so that each person can see and interact with the others.
   • 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...
   • 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...

   Antonyms:

   sociofugal