Although Berne proposed transactional analysis as a social psychiatry, his constructs can be synthesized as a social psychology. This more effectively integrates his observations on personal functioning, interpersonal transactions, social aggregations, and organizations. The perspectives of Laing (1971), Mead (1956/1964), and Natanson (1970) on self and others; Minuchin (1974) and Joines (1988) on boundaries; and Klein (1956) and Scarf (1987) on projective identification are helpful in this synthesis. As a social psychologist, Berne offered insights on communication, socialization, and the interconnecting of persons and structures. The interrelationships of fields of specialization (clinical, counseling, educational, organizational) are more apparent when transactional analysis is viewed as a social psychology.
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