Rapprochement between psychiatry and sociology has developed rapidly during the last few years. In theory and in research there is more collaboration than ever before and every prospect that this interdisciplinary trend will continue for some time to come. The present discussion is a case in point. It lies in the emerging field of social psychiatry (or psychiatric sociology)-in the rich borderlands where these two sciences of man can work together with mutual benefit. The aim of the analysis that follows is to show that certain emotional problems cannot be understood adequately unless changing conditions of the larger social environment are included in the framework of thought. In other words, we shall attempt to interpret psychological phenomena in the light of certain broad changes that have occurred in our society.