Sociological Imagination In Sociology

Improved Essays
Coined by one of the earliest sociologists C. Wright Mills, sociological imagination is the relationship between a person’s personal experiences and history of society. The sociological imagination lets us better understand why our lives is how it is and how it came to be. It can be about anything, to certain events that led up to how you are now, as a person or citizen, and the relationship of it to past events, whether it be cultural or the norms of that certain experience. Some things that might come up would be figuring out where women in our society over the century while asking the social gender norms of the past centuries and how feminism came to be in bringing equality to women. It is just about as ‘imagining’ our self away from the …show more content…
It is an important aspect of sociology because it can explain the changes in society overtime, it shows how people have changed their behaviors and attitude towards society, whether it be for good or bad. Sociological imagination enables us to think that we have other options rather than just sticking to the norms; it is how we can escape the customary opinion that a certain person have to be like the rest of the context s/he is in. It can be a great start of a social change because it can turn into an issue that other people in that culture might be suffering from. Sociological imagination have led to people changing their aspects about their situation, it have led them in successes, and failures, because they have changed their personal outlook of the situation, by looking at the origins of the problem, and creating a more satisfactory …show more content…
History shows that we, as Filipinos, get support from each other; family is the center of the Filipino social structure, reason why we have a big family but also some other factors. Some even work in the same company or hire a family member. We get strength from family and we must live up to the expectations of Filipino behaviors and family. So when a family member leaves, they are affecting a social structure that have been built by ancestors and past events. Similarly, society can affect a person’s decision in their lives comes from personal experience. From my parents perspective, they moved here in Hawai’i from the Philippines because although they got enough support from family members, they wanted us to have s better future and education. My parents does not wants us to be like how they grew up with few choices and be conservative; they wanted a more freedom ideology while maintaining Filipino values such as hardworking and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Another topic that sociology focuses on is social imagination or know as the working poor. A well know sociologist C. Wright Mills explains to us how we see others society. An example…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The sociological Imagination is a way of thinking where one can “think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life”. Multiple people use this on a daily basis and do not even know it. It is a useful skill that can benefit many people from doctors, attorneys, janitors, even authors. In the book, “In the Country We Love: My Family Divided” by Diane Guerrero she details her life before and after her family was deported.…

    • 1329 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sam Richards starts out by telling us how our thoughts, feelings and actions are dictated by our surroundings. He then continues telling us how we are part of a bigger picture. We may never know all the people who are going through the same struggles we are, but we can find comfort in knowing that we are experiencing the same trials and triumphs that others are. I have learned a great deal about using my “sociological imagination” through the campaigning I did in the Republican Primary. When you are knocking on someone's door to simply ask them, "may I ask who you're voting for?".…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Throughout history, the relation of individuals to society and vice versa has been a puzzling conundrum. Humans generally tend to understand the world as through an individualistic outlook with respect to their own experiences and lives. However, sociologists such as C. Wright Mills and Allan Johnson disagree and relate the importance of a “sociological imagination.” According to Mills, the sociological imagination is “a quality of mind” that allows its possessor to use information and develop reason in order to establish an understanding and a desire to apprehend the relationship between social and historical structures and one’s biography, or essentiality their experiences and individual lives (Mills 3).…

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    I have realized that in order to better understand the situation I am faced with, it is important to attempt to view the situation from an outside perspective without my preconceived biases. While this is an unnatural feeling, and not something most people are born with the ability to do, it has allowed me to see that the benefits of that way of thinking can offer. With a sociological imagination, you are able to understand where the other parities faults lie and, more importantly, understand where your personal faults lie. A sociological imagination would allow me to view person troubles as more public issues and as a result, less the personal burden I feel due to the issue. For example, with the academic year coming to an end, I have begun searching for a summer job.…

    • 2110 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    What is sociological imagination? From C.Wright Mills Sociological imagination is the realization that personal troubles are rooted from public issues. The distinction between personal and public issues is that a personal problem refers to problems that individuals blame on themselves due to own failings. While public issues are social problems that affect several individuals.…

    • 1846 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Social institution shapes the choices I make on the daily basis because of my religion. Religion plays an important role in society, especially during my grandparents’ lifetime. They raised their children and grandchildren to be religious, go to church, pray to God and follow the Ten Commandments. Growing up, I wasn’t fascinated by the religion aspect of going…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Sociological Imagination” 1. Identify and discuss one social force discussed in the ppt. video that you hadn’t given much thought to as shaping you. The purpose of sociology is to discover and demonstrate how social forces shape our lives (Sociological Imagination, n.d.).…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Concluding Essay: Importance of the sociological imagination In sociology, the focus on the social is very significant because it allows sociologists to see much that escapes the notice of other observers (McIntyre, 2014, p. 29). The focus is not on one particular individual, instead the focus is on the social environment and the ways it affects people. To do this, sociologists rely on their sociological imagination. “Which is the ability to look beyond personal troubles of individuals to see the public issues of social structure.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In lesson one I understood that sociological imagination is the understanding that social outcomes are based on what we do. For example, the things we do are shaped the way they are for reasons, like how people around us act, situations we are in and what we think is right or wrong, which results in some sort of outcome, it’s basically seeing things socially and how they interact. It’s a complex concept that I’ve tried to read into and understand; yet I’m still not clear on it. The sociological perspective of this is really focusing on human behavior and connecting that to the society as a whole, which this “The Changing American Family” really does, it’s taking all types of behavior and situations and looking at our society as a whole to see how these behaviors are affecting it society itself. Another way of understanding both of these concepts is thinking about a couple from the 50’s and how things were back then, wives stayed home cooked, cleaned and took care of the family while the husband worked all day and took care of the “manly” jobs around the house in their free time.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Therefore, it is important to possess the sociological imagination, which helps an individual understand that an individual’s life is a reflection not only of themselves, but of the larger social forces…

    • 1605 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Epidemic of Loneliness Sociology is the study of people’s social behavior and institutions. Someone who has a sociological imagination will look at people’s behavior and think “what is causing them to act in this way? How do institutions, such as the government, influence them?” A person with a sociological imagination will draw relationships between a person, and everything that surrounds that person. A person with a sociological imagination would try to link the rising feeling of loneliness with outside influences, as opposed to internal dysfunctioning.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sociological imagination is a person's ability to connect their personal experience to society in a large extent. The main focus for the sociological imagination is to view personal troubles and interlink them to a society issue. When I read this question the topic body image came to mind. Body image is a picture or mental image of one’s own body. Many females and males struggle to be happy with their bodies.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to C. Wright Mills, sociological imagination is when people are affected by the history of society and how people affect history itself. It also allowed people to understand history and it’s meaning in life. In “The Promise,” Mills talks about how men feel like they are in a series of traps. He basically says that men are not only trouble with personal problems but public issues as well. The difference between personal problems and public issues is that personal problems only deals with someone’s private life and public issues is when everyone in your society is affected about it.…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Introduction The term “sociological imagination” was created by C. Wright. Mills (1959) to explain the relationship between the individual and the society. The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within the society (Mills, 1959). It is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another, and see the connection between personal trouble and public issues (Mills, 1959).…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays

Related Topics