Social and Home Reclusion: A Review of Foreign Research

Abstract

In recent years, researchers around the world are increasingly turning to the problem of social alienation, which is caused not only by the coronavirus infection epidemic, but also by numerous other social and institutional processes. This article presents an overview and sociological analysis of foreign approaches to the study of social reclusion as a form of social alienation in religious, socio-philosophical, psychological, recreational, historical-cultural, spatial-geographical and economic-political discourses. Social reclusion is demonstrated both on well-known historical (reclusive poetess Emily Dickinson and others) and on modern cases. It was revealed that social reclusion can occur in relation to the whole society, certain social groups (for example, family) or institutions, as well as territories. Special attention is paid to home reclusion (solitude within the walls of your home) and green reclusion (solitude in nature). The author draws attention to the opposition of researchers of social reclusion and social exclusion, isolation, cultural participation and freedom. It is emphasized that social isolation is not identical with social reclusion, but can accompany it in conditions of limited social contacts, which confirms the phenomenon of A. Hansen’s reclusive openness. It has been established that the determinants of home reclusion can be the place of residence, moral and psychological state of a person, limited health opportunities in older people, visible physiological deficiencies or dependence on the screen (mainly among young people, which in Japan is called “hikikomori”). Guided by the dialectical idea of the functionality of social reclusion, both its negative and positive aspects are shown, for example, the promotion of reintegration into society.