In comparison of the two theories the core issue is not to focus on the social problems as such, but rather the causes that influenced the problem to become a social one.

Symbolically people are directly and indirectly influenced by others to behave in a certain way, for instance the use of nyaope drug in the black communities because that is where is most commonly used. The drug is used by teenager and young adults males and partly females, when I was doing my research and asking some of the boys in my neighbourhood, I discovered that not all nyaope addicts comes from poor background, in fact mostly are what we call "the cheese boys" they had everything and went to the best schools, that is where the symbolic theory applies that could it be that other users have reinforce their use of the drug in a sense that they felt cool and wanted to fit in with their peers by going down to their level, so that they all have something in common.

In contrast a conflict theorist would argue that this nyaope boys and girls are victims of circumstances and economic distress such as unemployment, poverty and scarce resources to stimulate young minds, such as recreational facilities like to that of their white counterparts,which could be a point again,because at the end of the day "an idle mind becomes a devil's workshop".

In conclusion every theory that is applied to a social problem, has a base to be true because as people we come from different background and are influenced by different circumstances.