ABSTRACT
Objectively conceived, household crowding is hardly a new phenomenon. Household crowding appears to have been very commonplace in various societies and subcultures around the globe. Crowding was said to take its toll on morality. The lodging-houses of London, according to Henry Mayhew, were frequented by many juveniles, both male and female, as well as by adult men and women. In referring to nineteenth century rural Germany, E. Shorter comes to a conclusion on the effects of household crowding on male-female relations. Subjective crowding is relative, dependent on a comparison of one situation with another. The chapter discusses the theoretical perspectives on crowding, noting the various stances taken by different theorists and researchers. It reviews empirical literature bearing on the consequences of crowding, paying particular attention to two large-scale studies which our investigation, in a general way, replicates and extends. One approach to crowding not in the sociological tradition has been most informative to it, nonetheless, in raising significant research issues.
