Sociological Imagination Essay Samples

The modern sociology of Mark Weber

Sociological imagination is the study of imagination based on the race, ethnicity, the social structure and the political policy of a region or state. Mark Weber is one of the pioneers of modern sociology. In his findings he concluded that sociology is a science that should strive to understand the society. This would prevent people from making their own conclusions.

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It was introduced by Wright Mills in the year 1959. It also known to be the relationship between the individuals’ dilemmas and the social forces that are at play behind them. Sociological imagination is very important in that considering religion, in the United States of America, a Christian might have “true” religion. The same applies to the Hindus, the Muslims in Egypt and also the Hindus in India. Apparently not all of them get a detailed analysis of all the religions. It is very subjective in groups, since one group considers itself group while the other is considered bad.

This imagination helps the people understand the society in which they are interacting with. This helps them move away from the reality and focusing more beyond the picture. By observing the connection between the history and the facts at hand, we are able to acknowledge that personal troubles and social problems are linked. Moreover, most people are unable to see this.

Sociological imagination enables one to understand the social forces in the context of cause to effect. Thus they are able to understand how history, individual acts and the location and environment are interlinked. This will assist in solving personal troubles that are based on the character of an individual with respect to the connection to the people around him. Considering a student in college that never does his homework, and is always parting frequently and much more skipping classes, it is noted that this kind of student about 50% of them never graduate.

It can also be used in the assisting in understanding the common issue of divorce cases. Taking the USA about 223,000,000 people have taken a vow of marriage but divorce is a common event. We have to notice that the percentage of both the males and females that are getting married is continually declining from the 90’s and sadly is that the ratio of divorce to marriage is for every two marriages, one ends up in divorce.

Factors that lead to this shocking statistics is based on the economy, marriage market and other external factors. During high economic prosperity there is higher divorce rate compared to the economic hardships. They are more common in the urban areas than the rural areas. Many are pursuing this course but are not being enslaved by this social forces. Moreover, they still impact them that are in the same path.

Divorce is not the end of the world. Sociological imagination shows that it is not only the individual behavior that lead to divorce. Society allows the formation of new social bonds. It is has enabled us observe that some people are capable of having life partners but can maintain a relationship for a particular length of time.

The sociological imagination definition

Sociological imagination is the way of applying imaginative thinking in asking and getting answers to sociological questions in that anybody using sociological imagination thinks oneself away from the known routines of day to day life .

This indeed implies that the things done on a daily basis might lead to at least some impact in the society which may include things like norms and even motives.

Sociological imagination is therefore applicable in a day to day activity to impact positively .For instance , it could be applied to for example any issue or even event or even an activity using a very different perspective from that someone would sometimes use is by the use of sociological imagination .Looking at an example like say drinking coffee which could be seen as as a type of self-care since it speeds up someone`s metabolism .Its consumption is also considered as a ritual or even a custom by some people because they consume it at the same time even though scientifically coffee contains a significant amount of caffeine that sometimes cause addiction by the consumer and hence another way to perceive the consumption since it is now an addiction and not just the simple act of self care.

People can also meet for coffee that results to it being a social ambiance in which the idea is focusing on the meeting with another individual hence focusing more on the intersection of a group or even a person or more rather than the actual action of drinking coffee .

Another perspective is that Mills chose sociology because he felt it was a discipline that could offer the concepts and skills to expose and respond to social injustice . He eventually became disappointed with his profession of sociology because he felt it was abandoning its responsibilities, which he criticized in his book The Sociological Imagination.

In some introductory sociology classes the sociological imagination is brought up, along with Mills and how he characterized the sociological imagination as a critical quality of mind that would help men and women to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves .

The advantages of using popular films to enhance students' comprehension of sociological topics is widely recognized. Those who teach courses in social problems report using films to teach about war, to aid students in adopting a global perspective, and to confront issues of race relations. There are benefits of using film as part of a multimedia approach to teaching courses in popular culture. It provides students of medical sociology with case studies for hands-on observational experiences. It acknowledges the value of films as historical documentation of changes in cultural ideas, materials, and institutions .

With this application , sociological imagination is a success with several other examples in a a day to day activities hence to be considered .

C. Wright Mills sociological imagination

The sociological imagination is a concept used by the American sociologist C. Wright Mills to describe the ability to “think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life” and look at them from an entirely new perspective. In order to develop such skills, you must be able to free yourself from one context and look at things from an alternative point of view.Mills thought that sociology can show us that society – not our own foibles and failings – is responsible for many of our problems. He argued that one of the main tasks of sociology was to transform personal problems into public and political issues. Mills defined sociological imagination as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.”The sociological imagination enables people to distinguish between personal troubles and public issues.

Mills’ main point is that many of the problems people are faced with in society have social roots and are shared by many others. These roots are often related to the structure of the society and the changes happening within it. Hence, it is important that sociologists, and other social scientists, demonstrate why these problems have sociological causes, enabling the individual to understand how his or her biography is linked to the structure and history of society. This may hopefully help empowering individuals to transform personal unease into public issues in order to facilitate social change.

So how can we use this insight to help us achieve success.The lack of the ability to find a job, pay the mortgage, pay the rent, etc., is by individuals often seen as the result of personal weakness, created by a person’s own errors. People therefore search for causes within themselves, internalizing the problem. However, it is highly unlikely that the various thoughts, feelings and ideas you may have had, and situations encountered in your life, are completely unique. At one time or another they have all probably been experienced by others.

When a lot of people in society face the same problem, one must rather ask whether there is something within the structure of society that is contributing to this problem. In many countries today, unemployment may be explained by the public issue of economic downturn, caused by the subprime mortgage industry. In other words, it may rather be defined as a social problem than of one stemming from personal shortcomings.

When many people in society lack the ability to achieve success, it is important to identify the roots of the structure, such as inefficient political solutions, discrimination of certain groups and the exploitation of the labor force. Since problems like these cannot be solved by the individual alone, it is important that we use our sociological imagination and apply it in our daily lives, enabling us to change our personal situation and ultimately create a better society.

It is important to point out that the idea of the sociological imagination should not be used as an excuse for an individual not to try harder to achieve success in life. Some people would misuse this idea as a way of running away from personal responsibility.