Sociological Imagination Essay

“Sociological Imagination is the most fruitful form of this self-consciousness.” This quote by C. Wright Mills’ The Promise of Sociology is the basis of the meaning of Social Imagination. I believe that social imagination in important because our lives are all connected to each other. If we can step into someone else’s shoes, we may be more conscientious of the judgements we make on others. Sociological Imagination can be described in many different ways. According to Benokraits’ Introduction to Sociology, Social Imagination is the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and larger social influences. C. Wright Mills expands on this definition in his article titled The Promise of Sociology. He states that humanity
C. Wright Mills uses marriage as an example of personal biographies affecting the broader social structure. If a man and woman believe they should no longer be married due to their personal and private troubles, they divorce. Their divorce increased the divorce rate, therefore now becoming and affecting the world as a structural issue. Another example C. Wright Mills uses is unemployment. One experiencing personal trouble, would be if one is unemployed in a town of 80,000. If so, they are judged through their character, skills, and opportunities. For this unemployment to affect a broader social structure, one must look at the nation as a whole. If this nation consists of 40 million people and 12 million are unemployed, then it is an structural issue that encapsulated a broader social
If one were to view Sam’s decision to drop out of high school from a private trouble perspective would ‘victim blame’ Sam according to being lazy, and not trying hard enough. It was Sam’s choice to not go home and stay out late. If he had paid more attention in class and be on time to class, he would have been more successful. A structural issue is when one views a situation that occurred in response to social, historical, or economic circumstances. From a structural issue standpoint, Sam’s decision to drop out of high school would root back to Sam’s undereducated and underfunded elementary school, which kept Sam from his full potential in the classroom. He was barely enlightened on the true history of his world, so he lacked the understanding of the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities, which began to trouble him as well. Sam’s diet could have also affect why he was beginning to drift in school; he could barely find a meal, and if he did it was not a healthy one. The main reason why I think Sam decided to drop out of school from a public issue standpoint, is because he was exposed to the verbal and physical arguments of his parents who were struggling to get by in their neighborhood. To avoid these arguments, Sam would stay out later and later in his ‘food desert’