Sociological Imagination

Words: 2074
Pages: 9
Open Document
The sociological imagination emphasizes the connection between personal troubles (biography) and structural (public and historical) issues. An example of sociological imagination would be, there is a girl who wants to look thin, but cannot achieve this look. The girl goes into a chronic depression and suffers from an inferiority complex. In order to be thin, she becomes anorexic and experiences severe health problems. Most people would say that it's her own personal problem. If we apply sociological imagination, we realize that society’s’ image for the perfect woman is to have fair skin and a small waist line and it is that obsession that has indirectly affected the girl. The media portrays beautiful girls as thin. This portrayal of …show more content…
Family is the first agent of socialization. Mothers and fathers along with other members of the family help teach a child what they need to know in order to survive, such as relating with other people and how the world works. Many social factors affect how a family raises their children. If we apply sociological imagination we can see that individual behaviors will be affected by the time period that they live in. An example of this would be a few decades ago it would not have been considered strict for a father to strike his son with a belt if he misbehaved, but in todays’ world it is looked at as child abuse. A peer group is a second agent of socialization and is made up of people who share the same interests. Peer group socialization begins when the older kids on a playground teach the younger ones about taking turns or the rules of a game. As teenagers this process continues and they begin to develop an identity separate from their …show more content…
Your task is to apply principles of deviance to a social issue. 1) In one sentence define social deviance. 2) Next, explain the three sociological perspectives of deviance (i.e. functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionist). 3) Briefly describe an issue that is considered deviant behavior in U.S. society. 4) Using one of the three perspectives, explain why this behavior is deviant, why it’s caused from your perspective, and how this issue could be “solved” from your chosen perspective.
1. Deviance is any behavior that violates a social norm and is usually severe enough to cause disapproval from the majority of society.
2. A type of symbolic interaction is labeling. This theory says that behaviors are deviant only when society labels them as deviant. Society interprets certain behaviors as deviant and then labels certain individuals. Labeling theory leaves some unanswered questions, such as who applies what label to whom and why they do
Show More

Related Documents: Sociological Imagination

The Sociological Imagination

inequality, was the power of elites and their control of society, the shrinking middle class, the relationship between individuals and society, and the significance of an historical perspective as a key part of sociological thinking. Mills's most powerful and famous work, was The Sociological Imagination (1959), define how one should access the world if one wants to see and understand as a sociologist does. He focuses on the importance of seeing the connections between individuals and everyday life and the…

Words 194 - Pages 1

The Sociological Imagination

they go about things in life. People cannot change the environment they grow up in, but they do have the power to change themselves to become successful in life. The sociological imagination is a perspective that lets people see the relationship between society’s forces and the personal lives of the person. Sociological imagination allows people to look beyond their surroundings to see the relationship between their personal experiences and the society they are in. Being a junior in high school,…

Words 636 - Pages 3

Sociological Imagination

I would define the Sociological Imagination as one’s ability (subconsciously or consciously) to analyze social structures and nuances in a society, that effect individuals within or without of that society. It is an innate skill within every person but also a skill that many choose to forget that they even have it. As students of Sociology we must tap into that skill and step out of the infinite loop of action within our society and reaction within ourselves. Only then can we truly understand what…

Words 677 - Pages 3

Sociological Imagination Analysis

Sociological imagination refers to examining one’s position in a larger society. It suggests that we look at the bigger picture and see where we are within it. It was a term that I was not familiar with before this class started, but I have come to use it in everyday thinking. Having a sociological imagination allows us to see things clearly from our perspective but also to step outside our perspective and look at how everyone else fits into the world. It allows us to examine things like race and…

Words 356 - Pages 2

The Sociological Imagination Essay

The Sociological Imagination C.W. Mills (1916­1962) Most of his writings during the 50’s Brief history… ● Political Climate of the 1950’s ­ Conservative ● World Events ­ WWII and the Cold War ­ People were in fear of being nuked and being infiltrated by soviet ideology (Red Scare) Current State of the Union ● Americans are losing their democracy and their ability to make decisions that affect their own lives and the direction of their country ● Mills believed that widespread alienation…

Words 791 - Pages 4

Advantage Of Sociological Imagination

eager to take this class to develop your own sociological imagination. Having this valuable skill will provide benefits for the rest of your life. I bet the first thing that comes to your mind is what is a sociological imagination? You are probably thinking you know an imagination is being creative, or being able to come up with new ideas or concepts in your mind. Well, a sociological imagination requires you to be creative as well. The sociological part of this term deals with studying society…

Words 2340 - Pages 10

Sociological Imagination Analysis

When The Sociological Imagination was published in 1959, American author and sociologist C. Wright Mills had written what the International Sociological Association has deemed one of the most important books for the field of the twentieth century. Mills believed that in order to properly study people and society, one must exercise the sociological imagination, “a quality of the mind that allows us to understand the relationship between our individual circumstances and larger social forces” (Ferris…

Words 591 - Pages 3

Sociological Imagination In College

Sociological Imagination is by definition “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.” Or in simpler terms seeing the “big picture”. I honestly never liked the idea of college “A place to go learn after High School except you pay for it” but I did not want to live my life working 3 jobs to just have a roof over my head living paycheck to paycheck so I decided to go for Community College and see where that goes. When looking at colleges that will decide how…

Words 241 - Pages 1

Sociological Imagination Tool

The sociological imagination lets us see our own selves and our social environments in a reflective way and allow us to question the things we taken for granted. According to Thompson, Hickey, and Thompson (2017), “by using sociological imagination we can better see the relationship between ourselves and the society in which we live” (p. 4). Using our sociological imagination teach us to “make the familiar strange” or to question habits or customs that seem natural to us (Thompson et al., 2017, p…

Words 150 - Pages 1

Summary: Sociological Imagination

What was prevalent in the article was that Mr Wright had provided a well-balanced explanation of the advantages of possessing and the disadvantages of not possessing and reasons for why societies do/do not possess sociological imagination. Mr Wright identifies this through the relationships and understandings of the relationship between two within society. By such means, the personal uneasiness of individuals in which can be focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics which in…

Words 148 - Pages 1