ABSTRACT
This proposed spatial ecological systems framework is both a domain of study and an interpretative methodology for interrogating theory-laden data in spatial terms throughout the book. Concentric and diametric spatial structures of relation are more dynamic and interactive than just static relational schemas. Key contrasts are outlined between concentric and diametric spaces as relative connection/separation, openness/closure and symmetry. A concentric relation assumes connection between its parts, whereas diametric opposition assumes separation. Diametric spatial mirror image symmetry inversions include good/bad, powerful/powerless, active/passive, love/hate, sacred/profane, us/them, normal/other, win/lose, success/failure and above/below hierarchy. Diametric opposition, as the basic schema for Western logic, is strongly associated with a Western priority for diametric over concentric spaces. While debate between fluid open networks and closed defined territories takes place in geography, the proposed concentric and diametric spatial systems for psychology offer a framework to relate openness and closure, connection and separate boundaries. A spatial ecological systems approach questions the separability of the individual from any given system, rather than assuming inevitability of the connective linkage between individual and environmental system in previous ecological approaches. This raises possibilities for the agential role of concentric and diametric spatial systems to mediate between systems and the individual’s interaction with such systems.
