Chatman’s Life in the Round
Elfreda Chatman “life in the round” theory was developed from her study of the social world of women prisoners. A life in the round “requires a public form of life in which certain things are implicitly understood” (Chatman, 1999, p. 212). Its members are considered “insiders” who are largely unconcerned with events in the outside world as it has little bearing on the insiders’ isolated experience; what carries value is information that can be used within their small world. Social roles and group standards are created and upheld by inside members.
Chatman proposes that there are qualifications for what constitutes a life in the round. A participant of life in the round has a “small-world conceptualization;” it is a world in which the insiders define limits such as boundaries, social norms, and language used (Chatman, 1999, p. 214). A life in the round is lived out under the close examination of others, and it is a life that is generally routine and predictable, making information-seeking outside of the small world unnecessary and undesirable.