ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that perspective on the nature of the individual and his relationship with society links together a number of related themes. Charles Horton Cooley was essentially concerned with the process whereby the human personality emerged and thus he became concerned with the role of the 'primary group' and its effects. George Herbert Mead published little, and yet he has since become the more influential thinker in the tradition of interactionism. Hence Becker's further concern in 'The Outsiders' with the relationship between changes in the law concerning marihuana and the use of it as being defined as deviant behaviour. Symbolic interactionism presents a view of human beings which stresses the indeterminate nature of their behaviour, laying emphasis on the individual's own interpretation of the situation. The criticisms indicate where symbolic interactionism can and cannot be relevant to social administration.
