ABSTRACT

In Strategic Interaction Erving Goffman (1972) demonstrated how the activities of intelligence agencies could be related to other social settings of information control. Whether the setting is one of electronic transmissions, smoke signals or facial expressions, seekers of intelligence must attend to the possibility that their rivals are engaged in impression management. Goffman suggests concepts applicable across a variety of settings, although his primary concern was with the face-to-face interaction which occurs when individuals are in each other’s immediate presence.