Territorial Denial and Biosocial Harm: A Case Analysis of Chronic Spatial Instability and Masculine Identity Formation

Abstract

Chronic spatial instability, which may be defined as the cumulative effect of repeated disruptions to
territorial anchoring within domestic, institutional and communal spaces, has yet to be studied as a
separate pathway of embodiment within Nancy Krieger’s ecosocial paradigm. The current research
explores the potential of identifying biosocial effects as a result of three particular forms of disruption
— namely, severed domestic bonds, institutional incarceration and territorial dislocation — on
marginalised males, along with compensatory behaviours that could serve as adaptations in this regard.
The study is based on a qualitative behavioural case analysis with an application of spatial mapping in
combination with the theoretical frameworks of Hirschi's (1969) social bond theory, Hamilton’s (1964)
kin selection theory, as well as the ecosocial- biosocial synthesis by Krieger (2011). The study is based
on Nandha (2001), a realist cinematic document of marginalised masculine development in Tamil Nadu,
South India. Findings have demonstrated that these three forms of disruption act collectively to impair
elements of social bonding and result in hypervigilance, attachment dysregulation and identity
dislocation in the male subject. The compensatory adaptive mechanism in question included surrogate
kinship and spatial mobility as biosocial substitutes for denied territorial and relational anchoring. These
outcomes provide theoretical support for the hypothesis that chronic spatial instability may function as
a distinct pathway of embodiment within Krieger’s ecosocial framework.