Sociological Imagination free essay sample

Why is it important for humans to use their sociological imagination? In this essay I will interpret my sense of thoughts about C. Wright Mill’s theory of humans using their sociological imagination and feeling â€Å"trapped†. Modernity has consumed a lot of our lives that we now sense a feeling of being â€Å"trapped† in ourselves. We evolve ourselves solely around our immediate surroundings, forgetting how important it is to remember our histories and past. We are so caught up in modern technology such as cell phones, social media, TV, how well have to dress to impress people that we often forget what is going on around us in the rest of the world. C. Wright Mills had presented the theory that in order for an individual to use their own sociological imagination, they must assimilate their personal lives with the society arround them and build a connection between both to view it from another individual’s perspective. It is this quality, I am going to contend, that †¦ may be called the sociological imagination† (1959, 3). This shows that Mills believes that people strive for the understanding and ability to use the sociological imagination. Even though the concept of sociological imagination is valuable for the average person, Mills states that the average person may not even know that the sociological imagination exists, or that people don’t understand that way of thinking completely. Mills expalins this when he says, â€Å"Seldom aware of the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history, ordinary men [people] do not usually know what this connection means† (1959, 2). Mills essay describes how sociological imagination is very beneficial to the average person (even though a lot of people don’t use or understand it) when analyzing their own milieu and how their milieu is affected by and connected to the larger society in which they reside. When reading the works by Stephanie Coontz, Simon Davis, and Charles A. Gallagher, it was easy to see that all three have sociological imaginations. This was even more clear when referring back to C. W. Mills’ explanation and examples of sociological imagination. In the work by Coontz, she explains how relations between adults and teens are strained, not because there are more bad kids or bad parents, but because of changes in the social structure (1997, 8). Coontz explains this by saying, â€Å"The most common dilemma facing adolescents, and the one that probably causes the most conflicts with adults, is their ‘rolelessness’ in modern society †¦. oday’s adolescents have very few opportunities to do socially necessary work† (1997, 8). By explaining the personal trouble between parents and teens by examining the public issue of the increasing â€Å"rolelessnes† of teens in society, Coontz has demonstrated her sociological imagination because as C. W. Mills said in his essay, â€Å"the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between ‘the personal troubles of milieu’ and ‘the public issues of social structure’† (1959, 4). Simon Davis’ study of traditional sex stereotypes shows that Davis used sociological imagination during his study. Davis shows this when he states that his study had some limitations, â€Å"It could be argued that people placing personal ads are not representative of the public in general† (1990, 33). This shows that even though the study was focused on personal ads in one newspaper, Davis was aware that it may not fully represent the public in general and therefore the change in sex stereotypes may or may not still be common. This ability to look beyond the area being studied when thinking about representing the public and trying to see if it changed (in this case if the sex stereotypes were still in operation) shows sociological imagination because according to C. W Mills, â€Å"to understand the changes of many personal milieu we are required to look beyond them† (1959, 6). The article by Charles A. Gallagher proves that Gallagher has a sociological imagination because of the way he explains the miscounting of races by showing how many people’s lack of sociological imagination causes them to miscount other races.