Category: Sociological Imagination

Introduction

Sociology is a subject that studies societies and social behavior of individuals in a society. Social issues are matters that pertain to peoples lives as they interact with one another in a society. This paper seeks to discuss sociological aspects. Based on a newspaper article, the paper will explore concepts of sociological imagination and sociological perspectives.

Summary of the newspaper article

Santorum, taking on Michigan, wants to talk jobs, not social issues is an article that was published in the New York Times magazine on February 13, 2012. The article, written by Seelye Katharine, highlighted Santorums political campaigns that had been successful based on social issues as political agendas.

The republican presidential hopeful, who was also facing criticism over his former remarks on a feminist movements position, was however changing his political agendas to addressing economic issues rather than social matters.

Sociological imagination and its contribution to the understanding between human behavior and society

Sociological imagination is an approach to understanding the scope of sociology as a subject. It is a form of critical thinking aimed at developing insights over the subject.

Sociology is a subject that offers insight into behavior of individuals and groups of people in a society and its scope covers established relationships between people in a society, the effects of such relationships on peoples interactions and societys overall reactions to the relationships.

Sociological imagination therefore offers an approach to understanding the whole concept of how people relate in a society and how such relationships are projected to macro sociological aspects of a society.

Sociological imagination refers to the set of analytical thoughts that are applied by experts in exploring and understanding sociological aspects of people in a society. It is defined by the ability to comprehend the interaction between individuals and the society as a whole.

The imagination forms the basis of an understanding of a persons sociological environment, both personal and general. The main concept of sociological imagination is the development of an independent approach to personal aspects of sociology and the sociological factors of a persons external environment.

Sociological imagination therefore allows for a critical approach to understanding the society from a sober and impersonal approach. The approach develops a link between personal matters that affects individuals or small groups of people and social issues that concerns an entire society.

A precise example is the issue of divorce. Even though marriage and divorce are personal issues between spouses, their basis forms fundamental principles to the existence and stability of a society. A sociological imaginations approach to a single divorce case would therefore be to consider the seriousness of that single case as a factor that affects the entire society.

Since the core objective of sociology is to study and develop an insight over how people behave in their societal set up, the subject develops understanding into the relationship between individuals and the society as a whole. There exists a mutual dependence between the society and behavior of members of the society.

While opinions may be held that peoples behavior defines a society, it can be understood that the society plays a very important role in shaping the behavior of its members. Cultural values and practices in a society for instance have direct impacts on peoples thoughts and actions.

This means that a persons attitude, reaction, and behavior will largely be determined by the society from which the individual originates. This concept is in line with the principle of self-belonging that aligns a persons behavior to generally accepted norms of his or her society.

Similarly, people are the founding elements of a society. From this approach, its members define a society. As a result, moral and ethical values in a society will be defined as the set of practices that have been adopted by its members and accepted to be good.

It can therefore be understood that while the society defines and largely shape the behavior of its members, personal behavior of a person is an element to the persons entire society and may define stability of an aspect of the society.

Social imagination therefore contributes to the understanding that personal behavior and the society as a whole are related. This is because it projects personal issues as factors that determine the nature of a society.

Social imagination and the article

The concept of social imagination is directly applicable to the article. From the story, it can be identified that personal opinions and sentiments of an individual have both immediate and future impacts on the persons society. Santorum, the subject of the story is a politician who is interested in being the next president of the United States.

Though his candidature may be a personal move for political achievement of power or for prestige, his policies as the future president, if he is elected will be felt by the United States as a society. Similarly, reception and support that the article reports for the aspirant are an indication that his candidature has an impact on his society.

The article also highlights impacts of Santorums sentiments against feminist movement on his candidature. While his remarks had been made from an individuals perspective, critics have used the remarks as a tool for evaluating him for presidency.

The relationship between personal and societal interest, as illustrated by the article and in light with the principle concept of sociological imagination, identifies the story as a social issue.

Ideas and concepts of sociological perspectives

Functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism are the major concepts of sociological perspectives.

Functionalism

Functionalism, as a sociological perspective, focuses on interactions among sections or members of a society. It is also concerned with how members of a society react to sociological changes in their environment.

Conflict theory

Conflict theory is concerned with competition among members of a society as well as leadership and power.

Interactionism

Interactionism on the other hand focuses on personal exchanges and relations between members of a society.

The story and sociological perspectives

The story that is based on Santorums political campaigns illustrates the three sociological perspectives.

Interactionism

Interactionism is exhibited by the aspirants campaigns that involve face to face rallies.

Functionalism

Functionalism is identified by relationships that the politician has developed with groups such as conservatives and evangelicals.

Conflict theory

The contest for partys nomination on the other hand illustrates the concept of conflict theory that is also identified between the aspirant and feminist movements. The perspectives therefore apply to the story.

Conclusion

Sociology studies peoples behavior in a society. This paper has discussed sociological imagination and sociological perspectives as elements of sociology. The paper has also identified an article on social issue and related the articles story to sociological imagination, functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism.

The Sociological Imagination

The differences the writer would have discerned among the visitors to the Mall would be in terms of their dresses, personal appearances, and conduct. It could also be seen in terms of the fact whether the visitors are seriously intended on the purchase or just to look around the place and spend time. People of different age groups, occupations, income groups, and social statuses have dissimilar reasons for visiting malls. Wealthy people come to buy luxury items, cosmetics, and expensive clothes; poorer people just come to do some window shopping or buy need-based articles, children come to play, have food and drinks. There are some groups of people who just come to loiter around, watch what other visitors are up to, and generally do nothing except observing the going-on in the Mall. Their age groups, nationalities, social outlooks, and purchasing capacities are significant aspects that determine how they dress and what they buy.

According to C.W. Miles, because: neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both, we need to develop a way of understanding the interaction between individual lives and society. (Encyclopedia: Sociological imagination, 2003).

Functional Analysis

The manifest intentions of the Super Bowl are to determine the world football champions. The latent aims would be in terms of generating revenues, sponsorships, and gate money.

The manifest intention of attending church is to reinforce faith in God and pray. It is also to gain inner strength to counter the challenges of daily living. It is also a kind of solidarity shown to the community members and the church organization. The latent aims of visiting churches are to seek communion with God and seek solace in spiritual thoughts.

The manifest intentions of attending sociological classes are to prepare oneself for a career in this profession through acquiring knowledge and experience in this field. The latent objectives could be to understand the social aspects of human behavior and conduct and to pre-determine, with reasonable accuracy, how individuals/groups would behave under selected social settings.

However, it is often seen, as suggested by Robert K. Merton, that a middle-range theory. needs to be applied in sociological situations. (Merton, 2003).

Sociological Perspectives

The fundamental paradigms of sociological perspectives vest on the following patterned behavior which most of us enjoin:

1. Perceiving the obvious in the specifics: We tend to form generalized, patterned behavior processes in terms of dress code, food preference, and professed code of conduct; this could also be in terms of matching people with stereotyped characteristics, behavior, etc,
2. Seeing the bizarre in the familiar: Often people are quick to castigate uncoded behavior patterns or sometimes focus on how society guides our thoughts/actions often without our awareness. (Seeing the strange in the familiar, n.d). It is often seen that individual patterns are seen in a social context. Persons are accountable for individual responsibilities undertaken by them, without giving less credence to the fact that societal influences often interfere in individual or group action and performance.

References

Encyclopedia: Sociological imagination. (2003). Nation Master. 2009. Web.

Merton, Robert. (2003). A justice site: Sociologist. California State University. 2009. Web.

Seeing the strange in the familiar. (n.d.). 2009. Web.

Sociological imagination involves connecting personal experiences to the society and investigating how they relate. According to Mills, sociological imagination enables individuals to see the context of what influences their personal decisions and those of others. Additionally, sociological imagination allows people to enhance their identity with societal aspects and answer questions surrounding life instead of passively accepting and embracing everything without response (Chernoff, 2019). It is important to note that those who practice sociological imagination are likely to make better personal choices and decisions based on different world views orchestrated by various societal elements.

Sociological imagination allows individuals to relate their personal challenges with societal issues, which widens peoples critical thinking and ability to solve problems. Devoid of sociological imagination, peoples thinking and perspective of societal issues and personal experiences are drawn from limited social encounters. To view the world and personal experiences differently, sociological imagination invites individuals to look at and examine the familiar environment uniquely and freshly (Cragun et al., 2010). It inspires people to re-evaluate and question social surroundings by comparing them to personal experiences and those of others. For instance, if one is facing challenges accessing healthcare, it is important to determine whether the whole community is experiencing the same problem. Assuming a broad view of social experiences allows individuals to expose societal issues and understand the social reality of their lives compared to the global society.

I think another way that people can see the world differently is by using sociological imagination to think differently and support the ability to allow an individual to depend on reliable information to investigate social experiences and events. It promotes an unbiased view of the world by allowing encouraging individuals to seek extensive information and evidence before making a decision (Chernoff, 2019). For instance, a person can use sociological imagination to investigate whether a condition affects only a few individuals or a whole community. This can be done by gathering information from various credible sources and evaluating such details while remaining unbiased.

In conclusion, sociological imagination allows individuals to examine their personal experiences in relation to the societal situation. Avoiding the influence of sociological imagination denies people the capability to understand social issues that affect the world and various ways that may be used to solve such problems. Having a broad perspective of social experiences enables individuals to reveal societal issues and comprehend the social reality of their lives.

References

Chernoff, C. (2019). The sociological imagination in the era of thought experiments. The British Journal of Sociology, 70(5), 2169-2175.

Cragun, R. T., Cragun, D., & Konieczny P. (2010). Introduction to sociology. Wikibooks.

The Sociological Imagination and Its Importance

In sociology, to understand one’s self, we must understand the relationship between self and society, which is most effectively done through the theory of the sociological imagination. In 1959, C. Write Mills stated in his seminal work, The Sociological Imagination, “The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise.” The concept is to understand the distinction between a person’s troubles and public issues.

At what point does something such as trouble finding a job shift from being a personal problem to a public issue? If one person is unemployed, that is a personal problem; however, if 1 million out of 10 million people cannot find employment, that is a public issue. According to Mills, there is an intricate relationship between the individual and society. Whatever a person does is not just because of their own choice or personal preference because there is context and circumstances for every action.

When approaching a problem from an individual perspective, the problem is only being looked at with one lens from one side. The sociological imagination views problems from many lenses from many angles. Practically, any personal behavior can be looked at with the sociological imagination. Take, for example, the public issue of obesity, which is often met with the stigma of being a personal problem.

The Sociological Imagination’s Lens on Obesity

From a personal perspective, everyone needs to eat to live, but there are many reasons other than necessities that people gather around food. Celebrations such as birthdays, funerals, holidays, or just socializing with friends often involve food. Superficially, what a person eats and how much they eat are within their control. Suppose a person belongs to a family that often gets together for large gatherings.

At these gatherings, there are often lots of carb and fat-heavy choices with lots of sugary desserts. Low-fat or healthy options are not the focus. After the family eats, they gather around a TV or a fire, and not much is done in the way of activities such as walking and running or even a game of family football. Over time, one realizes that these gatherings are contributing to growing waistlines.

It could be said that this is a personal trouble in which the person is making a conscious choice on what they are putting in their body. This may be true to some extent, but it does not provide the full picture. Human behavior is influenced by others, and in cases such as family gatherings, how might the family react if one chooses not to eat what others are? Social acceptance is a driving force for behavior, even among family, and people tend to like similar foods to the people around us.

So, actions may ultimately be personal choices, but they do not occur in a vacuum. What else may influence a person to become obese, and when does a personal problem become a larger societal issue? According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 35% of the United States adult population is considered obese. That percentage bumps up to 69% when we consider all adults who are also overweight.

Social structures that contribute to obesity include food deserts, which are areas of the United States that do not have access to healthy and fresh foods and can be found in both urban and rural areas. These are places where it is difficult to grow healthy food locally, and there is little to no access to local markets where we carry such items. Then, there are the government subsidies. Research shows that less than 1% of subsidies by the United States government go toward the production of fresh fruits and vegetables, while the majority of the subsidies are given to meat, dairy, and grain production.

Societal Structures & Obesity through the Sociological Imagination

This means that the prices of healthy foods are significantly more expensive than the prices of unhealthy foods. We are also biologically driven to get the biggest energy bang for our buck, so if we have five dollars in our pockets and are hungry, we are likely going to purchase five dollars in fast food rather than five dollars for a bag of apples. Another major contributor to this epidemic is the food industry and its marketing. When constantly surrounded by ads for candy, chips, and fast food places, people’s sub-consciences are wired to seek those out.

These low nutritional value snacks are also what always surround the customer at any convenience store. The ads are also often marketed to children who are much easier to influence, which also creates generations that have to deal with breaking junk food habits. These are by no means the only social structures that contribute to obesity as a social problem, and by no means is obesity the only issue these structures contribute to.

Currently, America spends approximately $147 billion on illnesses and diseases related to obesity. This creates even more issues as the cost of healthcare and health insurance increases because society cannot afford to treat the expanding obese population. The major benefit of the sociological imagination is that it reveals the weaknesses in these systems as points to be fixed in order to address the issue.

In the war against obesity, attacking the aforementioned contributing social structures is the most apparent way to combat the epidemic. If farming subsidies begin to shift, then these food deserts will start to become scarcer. The government would also need to start placing regulations on food marketing, especially for children. Taxes on junk foods and fast foods while incentivizing healthier food with lower prices due to changing farm subsidies would truly alter the direction of this public health crisis. The sociological imagination shows that society influences a person’s behavior, and that person’s behavior contributes to a social issue.

References

1. Mills, C. W. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford University Press.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Obesity Prevalence Among US Adults.
3. Harris, L. & James, M. (2020). Government Subsidies and Their Impact on Food Choices. Economic Perspectives.
4. Nelson, K. (2015). Marketing Junk: The Influence of Advertising on Eating Habits. Consumer Behavior Journal.
5. Parker, J. & Thompson, E. (2018). Obesity and Societal Influences: A Sociological Analysis. Public Health Journal.

Introduction: Songs and Sociological Imagination

Songs are the way artists let out emotions and communicate messages. Songs generally have a sociological stance that can be interpreted through a sociological view. Through the analysis and evaluation of themes in a song, one can relate to the sociological elements that the song seeks to communicate. In addition, it is also possible to understand the small group interaction among the artists and others involved in the process of producing the song.

A clear understanding of the social situations of the artists gives the audience the ability to determine the motivation behind the singers’ decision to write and sing the song. An overall social structure that motivates the singers to produce the song can also be used as a basis for analysis. Focusing on the song “Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem and Rihanna released in June 2010. The paper explicitly analyzes the content of the song in relation to the artists’ social positioning at the time, the symbolic elements, the social structure leading to the song’s release, and the interaction between the two artists who feature in the song.

Interpreting Symbolic Elements Through Sociological Imagination

The song “Love the Way You Lie” is based on the sociological themes of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), domestic violence, and abusive relationships. The lyrics are mostly symbolic of the issues that the song is about. In the opening lyrics, which also form the song’s chorus, Rihanna says, “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn…” to mean that she is “burned” in the intimate relationships. The burn, in this case, is indicative of the suffering and abuse she has to go through in her relationship.

Despite this, her intimate partner is not concerned about her suffering. This is unlike what is expected in an intimate relationship. Her partner ought to be the one to help her with the challenges she is going through. However, he is not interested in helping her out. The female partner is, however, persevering and is able to live with her situation when she says, “But that’s alright because I like the way it hurts.” She is comfortable with the pain and is ready to take in as much as he can bring.

The conflict theory can be used to further understand the symbolic perspective of the song’s lyrics. According to the conflict theory, society is involved in contention, instability, and dynamic trends. Players in any social setting are engaged in a struggle for scarce resources, with the elite controlling the poor and weak. The constructs of this theory directly relate to the social relationship presented in the song. The two bring out a special situation in which both of them compete over who ought to be the one to take the blame for the misfortunes they go through. The woman in the song (Rihanna) is expressive of the torture she goes through to be in an intimate affair. For example, she says, “I know that I should leave you, but I can’t because I love the way you lie,” to symbolize how much she deserves to quit the relationship, but her decision is clouded by her love for him.

The rapper Eminem, raps about violence in their relationship. He acknowledges the fact that the relationship is not stable. A line from the song reads, “and right now there’s a steel knife, in my windpipe …” to signify that the violence in their relationship does nothing but cause him pain. The steel knife indicates the pinch that he has to persevere to ensure that the relationship does not come to an end. As the man, he has to take the highest responsibility in the relationship to keep their love going.

Small Group Interaction: Personal Histories Influencing Sociological Imagination

The song goes beyond entertaining the audience through its lyrics. Both artists had had histories of domestic and intimate partner violence before releasing the song. Rihanna, to begin with, has openly spoken about the abuse that she went through in their intimate relationship with another singer, Chris Brown. Rihanna’s role in the song features that of a vulnerable female player in a social relationship. She was able to take in all the social abuse from her intimate partner but could not sustain it any longer.

The violence in the song is also indicative of what Eminem, the rapper, went through in his past. Known to rap about issues surrounding violence, the artist’s background reveals a person who went through moments of torture and social violence when growing up. His reasons for being angry in his songs trace back to the poor, bullying, and flunky moments he went through when growing up. Before being identified by the rap legend Dr. Dre, Eminem had been struggling with drug addiction, social abuse, and violence against his mother and other women around him. In the song “Love the Way You Lie,” the artist is expressive of the pain that he goes through as a reflection of his past social life.

Social Structure in 2010: Viewing Through Sociological Imagination

In the year 2010, CDC released a report that indicated one of the highest trends in intimate partner violence, abuse against women, and other forms of domestic violence. In the report, approximately one in every five women and one in every seventeen women had had incidents of sexual abuse and harassment. In addition, at least one in every three women and one in every four men had been through incidents of violence perpetrated by an intimate partner.

The release of the song fits the social structure and challenges at the time of its production. Most of the domestic violence emanated from intimate partners. The year 2010 also marked the time when physical and psychological abuse by intimate partners reached its peak. Women were seen to be more on the receiving end. However, statistics on male victims also indicate a higher number. Eminem and Rihanna were creative in their symbolic illustration of what was taking place in the world, specifically in the United States during the period.

The extent to which victims reported incidents of domestic violence remained low. Despite being in such relationships, only 51% of all the women abused reported their cases. Rihanna creatively presents this point in the song’s chorus when she says, “But that’s alright because I love the way you lie…” to criticize women’s perception of the suffering that they undergo in their intimate relationships. Most of those who passed through domestic violence in 2010 did not report such matters to the relevant authorities for various reasons.

Sociology has increasingly gained interest in studying IPV and its effects on society. Examples cited of various forms of abuse indicate that stalking, rape, physical fights, emotional torture, and lack of concern are among the many ways in which perpetrators display their abusive tendencies. Caught up in these relationships, the intimate partners are ready to go through all the suffering in order to remain committed to such relationships. Rihanna and Eminem’s social backgrounds exemplify the difficulties that various partners have to go through in pursuit of their social success.

The social control theory can be used to further illustrate how various social patterns can be used to prevent incidents of IPV and other forms of domestic violence. The theory stipulates that people in relationships, commitments, and social beliefs make use of these platforms not to commit social offenses. In the event that these commitments are clouded by other social evils, such as violence and abuse, they are likely to engage in deviant acts. Eminem’s background, displayed partly in the song, relates to a background of drug and substance abuse. The deviant act was caused by his previous social encounter with poor parental involvement in his upbringing. The report produced by the CDC on IPV and other forms of domestic violence implies that society ailed from significant abuse at the time of the release of the song.

Conclusion: Music, Sociological Imagination, and Social Commentary

In the song “Love the Way You Lie,” Rihanna and Eminem point out the extent of abuse in domestic settings in the year 2010. Intimate Partner Violence and other forms of domestic abuse reached their highest levels in the year 2010, based on a survey report produced by the CDC. The song’s lyrics also indicate the differences in the artists’ past, pointing out how they both perceive violence and abuse. The song also illuminates how women are mostly on the receiving end of social abuse and IPV. Through this song’s analysis, the paper has vividly displayed how music can be used to communicate social issues and concepts.

References

1. CDC. (2010). National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. United States: CDC. Retrieved on December 1, 2018.
2. Eagly, A. H. (2010). The social psychology of group identity and social conflict: Theory, application, and practice. Washington: American Psychological Association.
3. EminemMusic (2010). Eminem- Love the Way You Lie ft. Rihanna. YouTube. Retrieved on December 1, 2018.
4. Hayden, E. (2010). Love the way you lie: What’s Eminem trying to say? The Atlantic. Retrieved on December 1, 2018.
5. Rankin, J. H., & Wells, L. E. (2016). Social control and self-control theories of crime and deviance.

Sociological Imagination: Introduction and Theoretical Foundations

In sociology, to understand one’s self, we must understand the relationship between self and society, which is most effectively done through the theory of the sociological imagination. In 1959, C. Write Mills stated in his seminal work, The Sociological Imagination, “The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise.” The concept is to understand the distinction between a person’s troubles and public issues.

The Sociological Imagination Lens: Personal vs. Public

At what point does something such as trouble finding a job shift from being a personal problem to a public issue? If one person is unemployed, that is a personal problem; however, if 1 million out of 10 million people cannot find employment, that is a public issue. According to Mills, there is an intricate relationship between the individual and society. Whatever a person does is not just because of their own choice or personal preference because there is context and circumstances for every action. When approaching a problem from an individual perspective, the problem is only being looked at with one lens from one side. The sociological imagination views problems from many lenses from many angles.

Obesity Through the Sociological Imagination: Beyond Personal Choices

Practically, any personal behavior can be looked at with the sociological imagination. Take, for example, the public issue of obesity, which is often met with the stigma of being a personal problem. From a personal perspective, everyone needs to eat to live, but there are many reasons other than necessities that people gather around food. Celebrations such as birthdays, funerals, holidays, or just socializing with friends often involve food.

Superficially, what a person eats and how much they eat are within their control. Suppose a person belongs to a family that often gets together for large gatherings. At these gatherings, there are often lots of carb and fat-heavy choices with lots of sugary desserts. Low-fat or healthy options are not the focus. After the family eats, they gather around a TV or a fire, and not much is done in the way of activities such as walking and running or even a game of family football. Over time, one realizes that these gatherings are contributing to growing waistlines.

It could be said that this is a personal trouble in which the person is making a conscious choice on what they are putting in their body. This may be true to some extent, but it does not provide the full picture. Human behavior is influenced by others, and in cases such as family gatherings, how might the family react if one chooses not to eat what others are? Social acceptance is a driving force for behavior, even among family, and people tend to like similar foods to the people around us. So, actions may ultimately be personal choices, but they do not occur in a vacuum.

Societal Structures and The Sociological Imagination: Addressing Obesity

What else may influence a person to become obese, and when does a personal problem become a larger societal issue? According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 35% of the United States adult population is considered obese. That percentage bumps up to 69% when we consider all adults who are also overweight. Social structures that contribute to obesity include food deserts, which are areas of the United States that do not have access to healthy and fresh foods and can be found in both urban and rural areas. These are places where it is difficult to grow healthy food locally, and there is little to no access to local markets where we carry such items.

Then, there are the government subsidies. Research shows that less than 1% of subsidies by the United States government go toward the production of fresh fruits and vegetables, while the majority of the subsidies are given to meat, dairy, and grain production. This means that the prices of healthy foods are significantly more expensive than the prices of unhealthy foods. We are also biologically driven to get the biggest energy bang for our buck, so if we have five dollars in our pockets and are hungry, we are likely going to purchase five dollars in fast food rather than five dollars for a bag of apples. Another major contributor to this epidemic is the food industry and its marketing. When constantly surrounded by ads for candy, chips, and fast food places, people’s sub-consciences are wired to seek those out. These low nutritional value snacks are also what always surround the customer at any convenience store. The ads are also often marketed to children who are much easier to influence, which also creates generations that have to deal with breaking junk food habits.

These are by no means the only social structures that contribute to obesity as a social problem, and by no means is obesity the only issue these structures contribute to. Currently, America spends approximately $147 billion on illnesses and diseases related to obesity. This creates even more issues as the cost of healthcare and health insurance increases because society cannot afford to treat the expanding obese population. The major benefit of the sociological imagination is that it reveals the weaknesses in these systems as points to be fixed in order to address the issue.

In the war against obesity, attacking the aforementioned contributing social structures is the most apparent way to combat the epidemic. If farming subsidies begin to shift, then these food deserts will start to become scarcer. The government would also need to start placing regulations on food marketing, especially for children. Taxes on junk foods and fast foods while incentivizing healthier food with lower prices due to changing farm subsidies would truly alter the direction of this public health crisis. The sociological imagination shows that society influences a person’s behavior, and that person’s behavior contributes to a social issue.

References

1. Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Adult Obesity Facts. Retrieved from CDC website.
3. Popkin, B. M., Adair, L. S., & Ng, S. W. (2012). Global nutrition transition and the pandemic of obesity in developing countries. Nutrition reviews.
4. Pollan, M. (2008). In defense of food: An eater’s manifesto. Penguin.
5. Walker, R. E., Keane, C. R., & Burke, J. G. (2010). Disparities and access to healthy food in the United States: A review of food deserts literature. Health & place.
6. Swinburn, B. A., Sacks, G., Hall, K. D., McPherson, K., Finegood, D. T., Moodie, M. L., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2011). The global obesity pandemic: shaped by global drivers and local environments.

Defining Sociological Imagination and its Relevance

“Sociological imagination is the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces.” As a result, a person will not successfully solve their own individual personal obstacles and struggles until they are addressed on a social level. Social imagination, which is written by C. Wright Mills, is “the ability to analyze and interpret social norms and how they influence people’s behaviors and actions.” Therefore, using critical thinking to observe outcomes from multiple different perspectives allows us to view the “socio-cultural system.”

My Journey Through the Lens of Sociological Imagination

The environment that one grows up in is going to play a role in the way that person goes about things in life. I come from a working-class family. There is automatically an assumption that you have to go to college and get a degree when you have finished high school. I attended a private Lutheran school from preschool to eighth grade. I then went on and attended public high school. I quickly realized how different I was compared to my other friends and the other students who attended my high school.

I quickly grew confident in myself, and I knew that I was capable of doing and becoming more because not only had I believed in myself, but my parents and siblings believed in me. I was heavily involved in competitive sports throughout my high school career, which cost a lot of money and traveling that consumed my time. Student-athletes spend a lot of money on playing a sport while also getting an education rather than having the fanciest car or the newest iPhone. My parents did not want me to settle for a career that did not make me a substantial amount of money or that I didn’t enjoy.

College Life and Beyond: Insights from Sociological Imagination

As a new freshman in college, I have learned that you people no longer have to settle because of what social class you come from. When I hang out with my friends from UW-Milwaukee, which is the college I am going to be attending in the spring, it is easy to observe the amount of cultural differences in college life. I also learned that people in college judge less. No matter how bad you are academically, you won’t be looked down on or treated differently by other students.

A good example of sociological imagination within a college student’s life is if a student is late to class, there could be many reasons behind the tardiness: traffic on the way or an accident that made the student late. Racial/ethnic identity can also impact one’s sociological imagination. According to the website Dismantlingracism.org, under the article Racism Defined, “Racism happens when some social groups have more power over another social group.” A sociological imagination perspective could look at the advantages and disadvantages of having darker skin.

Education is the key to overcoming a social class. Being successful in academics allows countless opportunities in which a person can further utilize and expand experiences. A college student today can get endless different types of scholarships, whereas decades ago, there may have been fewer options for scholarship opportunities. “Social perspective is a major part in a person’s decision to attend college” because people who go to college usually pursue a career to get more in life than what they were given. They want to be more, and a college education will successfully get them there. I strongly believe people’s lives are shaped by society. People become accustomed to different trends and statements.

In conclusion, my sociological imagination has gotten me to where I am today. I withheld from allowing stereotypes about my social class to play a part in how I act, how I treat people, or what I choose to do as a career for my life. I decided to go to college not only to give myself a higher-level quality of life but also because I want to become an Emergency Room Trauma Nurse. I have a passion for helping people when they need it the most. “The sociological imagination is awareness of the relationship between an individual and wider society.” People should not live their lives as ordinary people, setting themselves up for limited expectations. We should all try to be different and exceed people’s ordinary expectations.

References

1. Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.
2. Dismantlingracism.org. (n.d.). Racism Defined.

Sociological imagination is the context that shapes the decision-making of an individual person and others. This can be transformative as it shows the effects of individuals’ decisions on society due to the problems they have faced. Both Mills (1959) and Plummer (2012) talk about sociological imagination in their work while others also mention this concept to develop their ideas further.

Both Mills and Plummer talk about being stuck in the world. Mills claims that people’s ‘private lives are a series of traps’ (Mills,1959,p3) as they have limited actions that can change their lives such as job and location which suggests people’s individual lives cause little change in society. However, he also argues that ‘neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both’ (Mills,1959,p3) this suggests that sociological imagination has an importance as individuals’ reactions to events in their lives affects the history of society. This implies that social change influences people’s lives but at the same time their reactions to this change also have influence such as the effect of revolutions, however, Mills also claims that people are unaware of the ‘connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history’ (Mills,1959,p4). Plummer claims that people are ‘born into a world we never ever made, the past becomes our prison from the moment we are born, even as we struggle to change it for ourselves and the next generation’ (Plummer,2012,p3). This implies that people are trapped in the world created by people who came before them, trying to change it for the people who follow, suggesting that people do not know the effect they have on the future due to everyone having their own struggles and the ‘complexities of our lives’ (Plummer,2012,p4).

Sociological imagination can possess many outcomes in people’s lives depending on their values. It can help people understand their own lives, understand how wider historic factors affect their individual lives, or can make people aware of their social position and the inequalities they face due to factors such as class and gender. The idea that sociological imagination reveals people’s social position makes them more conscious of the misfortunes they face therefore, this makes sociological imagination transformative as it may drive people to change their situation for the better. This links to the ideas of Mills as he claims ‘the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of the public is transformed into involvement with public issues’ (Mills,1959,p5). This is transformative as it can be linked to events in history, such as the revolutions in Russia and China due to social class which lead to the rise of communism or civil rights movements resulting in a higher level of equality, as sociological imagination has resulted in people realizing that their problems are actually a public issue in society, therefore, try to change them to improve their lives as they see it as a big enough problem to act against so the future generations are not trapped in the same social position.

Plummer argues that the world has become more complex which makes it harder to possess sociological imagination, however; the effect of it is still strong as it needs to be as the social issues get bigger claiming that as technology has improved ‘we have to worry that we have degraded our environment catastrophically’ (Plummer,2012,p3). This shows that the effect of sociological imagination does not always lead to positive changes such as environmental damage, exploitation, and genocides. This shows how sociological imagination is transformative and impacts history but does not always lead to positive changes in society.

In conclusion, if people possess sociological imagination it can lead to great social change, affecting and changing our history. However, not everyone possesses this sociological imagination in strong another way to do this as most people are trapped in ‘the private orbits in which they live’ (Mills,1959,p3) therefore having little impact on society as they are trapped in their personal lives such as their family, friends, and career. However, if people look beyond their personal troubles due to self-consciousness, allowing a change in their way of thinking, therefore, they can see the bigger issues and therefore cause a change in the world. This shows that if the right people possess sociological imagination that change could happen within the world either positively or negatively depending on who possesses it.

References:

1. Book: Mills. C. W (1959), The sociological imagination, Chapter one: the promise
2. Plummer. K, (2012), a manifesto for a critical humanism in sociology.

In this essay, I will outline the concept of sociology and discuss how sociologists understand social phenomena. I will then identify and apply the key features and concepts of sociology such as social imagination, public issues and personal troubles, historical contextualization, structure, and agency, amongst others, in order to discuss how these help us to understand the challenges of accessing higher education as well as how these challenges can be overcome.

Sociology is about the scientific relationship between human interaction and the social forces that shape human behavior (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). Sociology studies the patterns, tendencies, and practices of social interactions as well as the social processes and structures in society (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). When humans interact with one another, they start to form social relations which sociologists can study.

Sociologists understand phenomena as a social interaction that has happened between two or more people. Sociologists are able to understand social phenomena due to the fact that they are able to explain how humans interact with one another in certain social contexts. Sociology develops based on the advancing context of the modern world (Giddens, 1986). The way in which groups of people communicate has changed and developed over time and so when looking at sociology, sociologists have to take into consideration the way and events in which individuals communicate and interact with one another in a specific society.

Sociological imagination is the ability of humans to understand their own situation in relation to broader societal problems (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). The notion of sociological imagination was used to outline the method by which people could distinguish what affects them unfavorably in the individual’s life (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). Sociological imagination allows people to begin to understand the fundamental issues that are ultimately affecting their lives (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). For example, when people say that they should go and get a cup of tea or coffee, it is a normal, everyday thing for many to enjoy, however, many people are unaware of the process that goes on behind the development and creation of coffee and tea. The people who are working to make the coffee and tea cannot even afford to make use of it while other people who buy it see it as a normal, easy-to-acquire product. Sociological imagination also links to personal troubles.

Personal troubles transpire within the personality of the individual as well as within the scope of his direct relations with others (Mills, 2000). Personal troubles have to do with himself and with those limited areas of social life of which he is personally aware and impacted (Mills, 2000). In South Africa, some learners or students may not have the same home language as other individuals and so it is that individual’s personal trouble to not be able to understand another individual. However, personal troubles can become public issues.

Public issues have to do with matters that exceed these local surroundings of the individual as well as the range of his internal life (Mills, 2000). Public issues have to do with the organization of such environments into the institutions of a historical society as a whole (Mills, 2000). In South African universities, when many individuals are experiencing personal troubles such as language barriers, it starts to develop into a public issue where many individuals are experiencing the same personal trouble.

Historical contextualization refers to the religious, economic, political as well and social conditions that had once existed during a specific time and place (Salemink, 1990). Historical contextualization allows and helps sociologists to understand the social aspects that had occurred in the past as well as be able to compare them to the social norms that we experience today in South Africa.

Social structure refers to the design within a culture and organization through which social action can transpire (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Social structure is both an enabler as well as a constraint in regard to what is possible in social life (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Social structures such as educational backgrounds can be an enabler for students if they have been exposed to a higher grade of education throughout their lives putting those learners at an advantage in regards to accessing higher education, however, some students may fall victim to social stratification and experience social constraints.

Social Stratification refers to the unequal and biased positions that occupy individuals in a society (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). If a student has had a lower grade in education for their schooling career, it puts those learners at a disadvantage, as it is a constraint for the students who had a lack of schooling, which then jeopardizes their chances of accessing higher education due to their lack of sufficient education.

Agency is the comprehended ability of people to act upon their world and not only to know about or to give personal or intersubjective significance to it (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Agency is the power of the individual to act purposively and reflectively and to control their own activities as well as redefine the world in which they live. (Giddens & Sutton, 2017).

Individuals who have the capability to make decisions, plans as well and choices regarding their own lives as well as to act on those decisions exercise agency (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). These are individuals who are able to identify aspects in their own lives that may disadvantage them such as a poor educational background, and make decisions and choices based on those particular aspects and determine how they are going to act upon those choices and plans to make a better life for themselves.

Grit can be defined as the individuals’ internal morals and perseverance as well as a passion for long-term goals (Wilson-Strydom, 2017). Grit also entails the capacity to withstand both effort and interest in tasks that may take extended periods of time to complete (Wilson-Strydom, 2017). When a student in a higher-education facility shows an interest in the work that they are doing as well as continuous passion and perseverance for the task at hand, this shows that the students have grit and will not just simply give up or show less effort in the task when facing a challenge.

Resilience is the understanding that individuals can reevaluate themselves, set goals to accomplish, and are able to create and maintain their own well-being and quality of life as desired, regardless of their current circumstances or their sociological history of misfortunes (Wilson-Strydom, 2017). Instead of assuming our goals of the standard norms, in order to achieve higher education, we need to consider the opportunities that all people have to live the lives that they have reason to value (Wilson-Strydom, 2017).

Resilience is the ability to accomplish a specific goal regardless of your circumstances or disadvantages. Students who come to higher education institutes who have a home language other than English have difficulty being able to understanding and interpreting lectures and readings that are given in English, however, students with resilience will try to overcome this difficulty by demonstrating agency and the control that they have over their decisions to find a way to succeed (Wilson-Strydom, 2017).

There is a large amount of diversity in higher education institutes. This diversity is evident in the students’ backgrounds in regard to their socio-economic status, the language that they speak, as well as cultural and educational backgrounds (Smit, 2012). Diversity in the educational background that is essentially rooted in socioeconomic inequalities is becoming a limitation to development in higher education institutions (Smit, 2012). Higher education institutes are currently implementing the integrative model for their students (Smit, 2012).

The integrative model can be seen as the conforming of various students from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and religions into the dominant culture of the higher education institute (Smit, 2012). Students who come from different backgrounds and have different diversities are expected to adapt to fit into the integrative model. Learners who do not have English as their home language or have a very vague conceptualization of English will struggle when having to learn in English due to the institute implementing a model that does not cater to these different diversities.

The adaptive model prompts the university to change from the integrative model to accommodate the diversity of the students in the higher education institutes (Smit, 2012). This adaptive model provides a more fair opportunity for students to be able to access higher education regardless of their diversity such as educational background or socio-economic status (Smit, 2012). This model will also be more beneficial for students in succeeding at higher education as it takes the student’s diversities and allows them to use these diversities to their advantage when attending lectures and when using the material that is given that is suited to particular diversities of the students.

All of the above-mentioned factors play a major role in the access as well as the success that is experienced by students in higher education institutes. Things such as sociological imagination, personal troubles, and public issues influence whether individuals have the opportunity to have access to higher education based on aspects such as their socioeconomic status and their educational background. Those students who have an unfavorable background, or a background that doesn’t fit the social norm have a social constraint when accessing higher education due to the inequalities they are faced with

Aspects such as structure, agency, grit, and resilience are all influencers when it comes to the student’s capability to succeed in these higher education institutions. Students are faced with certain social constraints, which are things that put individuals at a disadvantage. Social constraints can be things such as financial issues, which may influence a student not being able to stay in the institute, language barriers as well and socio-economic status. Students also encounter social enablers, which are things that put certain individuals at an advantage in their time at higher education institutes. Social enablers can be things such as a stable financial background, sufficient educational background as well as language exposure or knowledge of the language that is being taught.

There are many aspects that influence access to higher education institutes as well as the ability to succeed in these higher education institutes as outlined above. Students in South Africa have to overcome the features mentioned above in order to fully succeed in these higher education institutes. As outlined above, both structural factors and agency need to be considered when addressing the challenges that students face in accessing and succeeding in higher education institutes.

References

1. Giddens, A. (1986). Sociology: Issues and Problems, In Sociology: A brief but critical introduction (2nd edition). London: Macmillan, 1-22.
2. Giddens, A., & Sutton, P. W. (2017). What is Sociology? In Sociology (8th edition). Polity, 3-30.
3. Mills, C. W. (2000). The Sociological Imagination (40th-anniversary ed). New York: Oxford University Press, 3-24.
4. Salemink, O. (1990). The Ethnography of Vietnam’s Central Highlanders. University of Hawai’i press Honululu, 3-7.
5. Smit, R. (2012). Towards a clearer understanding of student disadvantage in higher education: problematizing deficit thinking. Higher Education Research & Development, 31 (3), 369-380.
6. Stewart, P., & Zaaiman, J. (2014). Sociology: A South African Introduction. Juta, xiii-xix.
7. Wilson-Strydom, M. (2017). Disrupting Structural Inequalities of Higher Education Opportunity: ‘Grit’, Resilience and Capabilities at a South African University. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 18 (3), 384-398.      

In this essay, I will outline the concept of sociology and discuss how sociologists understand social phenomena. I will then identify and apply the key features and concepts of sociology such as social imagination, public issues and personal troubles, historical contextualization, structure, and agency, amongst others, in order to discuss how these help us to understand the challenges of accessing higher education as well as how these challenges can be overcome.

Sociology is about the scientific relationship between human interaction and the social forces that shape human behavior (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). Sociology studies the patterns, tendencies, and practices of social interactions as well as the social processes and structures in society (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). When humans interact with one another, they start to form social relations which sociologists can study.

Sociologists understand phenomena as a social interaction that has happened between two or more people. Sociologists are able to understand social phenomena due to the fact that they are able to explain how humans interact with one another in certain social contexts. Sociology develops based on the advancing context of the modern world (Giddens, 1986). The way in which groups of people communicate has changed and developed over time and so when looking at sociology, sociologists have to take into consideration the way and events in which individuals communicate and interact with one another in a specific society.

Sociological imagination is the ability of humans to understand their own situation in relation to broader societal problems (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). The notion of sociological imagination was used to outline the method by which people could distinguish what affects them unfavorably in the individual’s life (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). Sociological imagination allows people to begin to understand the fundamental issues that are ultimately affecting their lives (Stewart & Zaaiman, 2014). For example, when people say that they should go and get a cup of tea or coffee, it is a normal, everyday thing for many to enjoy, however, many people are unaware of the process that goes on behind the development and creation of coffee and tea. The people who are working to make the coffee and tea cannot even afford to make use of it while other people who buy it see it as a normal, easy-to-acquire product. Sociological imagination also links to personal troubles.

Personal troubles transpire within the personality of the individual as well as within the scope of his direct relations with others (Mills, 2000). Personal troubles have to do with himself and with those limited areas of social life of which he is personally aware and impacted (Mills, 2000). In South Africa, some learners or students may not have the same home language as other individuals and so it is that individual’s personal trouble to not be able to understand another individual. However, personal troubles can become public issues.

Public issues have to do with matters that exceed these local surroundings of the individual as well as the range of his internal life (Mills, 2000). Public issues have to do with the organization of such environments into the institutions of a historical society as a whole (Mills, 2000). In South African universities, when many individuals are experiencing personal troubles such as language barriers, it starts to develop into a public issue where many individuals are experiencing the same personal trouble.

Historical contextualization refers to the religious, economic, political as well and social conditions that had once existed during a specific time and place (Salemink, 1990). Historical contextualization allows and helps sociologists to understand the social aspects that had occurred in the past as well as be able to compare them to the social norms that we experience today in South Africa.

Social structure refers to the design within a culture and organization through which social action can transpire (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Social structure is both an enabler as well as a constraint in regard to what is possible in social life (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Social structures such as educational backgrounds can be an enabler for students if they have been exposed to a higher grade of education throughout their lives putting those learners at an advantage in regards to accessing higher education, however, some students may fall victim to social stratification and experience social constraints.

Social Stratification refers to the unequal and biased positions that occupy individuals in a society (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). If a student has had a lower grade in education for their schooling career, it puts those learners at a disadvantage, as it is a constraint for the students who had a lack of schooling, which then jeopardizes their chances of accessing higher education due to their lack of sufficient education.

Agency is the comprehended ability of people to act upon their world and not only to know about or to give personal or intersubjective significance to it (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). Agency is the power of the individual to act purposively and reflectively and to control their own activities as well as redefine the world in which they live. (Giddens & Sutton, 2017).

Individuals who have the capability to make decisions, plans as well and choices regarding their own lives as well as to act on those decisions exercise agency (Giddens & Sutton, 2017). These are individuals who are able to identify aspects in their own lives that may disadvantage them such as a poor educational background, and make decisions and choices based on those particular aspects and determine how they are going to act upon those choices and plans to make a better life for themselves.

Grit can be defined as the individuals’ internal morals and perseverance as well as a passion for long-term goals (Wilson-Strydom, 2017). Grit also entails the capacity to withstand both effort and interest in tasks that may take extended periods of time to complete (Wilson-Strydom, 2017). When a student in a higher-education facility shows an interest in the work that they are doing as well as continuous passion and perseverance for the task at hand, this shows that the students have grit and will not just simply give up or show less effort in the task when facing a challenge.

Resilience is the understanding that individuals can reevaluate themselves, set goals to accomplish, and are able to create and maintain their own well-being and quality of life as desired, regardless of their current circumstances or their sociological history of misfortunes (Wilson-Strydom, 2017). Instead of assuming our goals of the standard norms, in order to achieve higher education, we need to consider the opportunities that all people have to live the lives that they have reason to value (Wilson-Strydom, 2017).

Resilience is the ability to accomplish a specific goal regardless of your circumstances or disadvantages. Students who come to higher education institutes who have a home language other than English have difficulty being able to understanding and interpreting lectures and readings that are given in English, however, students with resilience will try to overcome this difficulty by demonstrating agency and the control that they have over their decisions to find a way to succeed (Wilson-Strydom, 2017).

There is a large amount of diversity in higher education institutes. This diversity is evident in the students’ backgrounds in regard to their socio-economic status, the language that they speak, as well as cultural and educational backgrounds (Smit, 2012). Diversity in the educational background that is essentially rooted in socioeconomic inequalities is becoming a limitation to development in higher education institutions (Smit, 2012). Higher education institutes are currently implementing the integrative model for their students (Smit, 2012).

The integrative model can be seen as the conforming of various students from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and religions into the dominant culture of the higher education institute (Smit, 2012). Students who come from different backgrounds and have different diversities are expected to adapt to fit into the integrative model. Learners who do not have English as their home language or have a very vague conceptualization of English will struggle when having to learn in English due to the institute implementing a model that does not cater to these different diversities.

The adaptive model prompts the university to change from the integrative model to accommodate the diversity of the students in the higher education institutes (Smit, 2012). This adaptive model provides a more fair opportunity for students to be able to access higher education regardless of their diversity such as educational background or socio-economic status (Smit, 2012). This model will also be more beneficial for students in succeeding at higher education as it takes the student’s diversities and allows them to use these diversities to their advantage when attending lectures and when using the material that is given that is suited to particular diversities of the students.

All of the above-mentioned factors play a major role in the access as well as the success that is experienced by students in higher education institutes. Things such as sociological imagination, personal troubles, and public issues influence whether individuals have the opportunity to have access to higher education based on aspects such as their socioeconomic status and their educational background. Those students who have an unfavorable background, or a background that doesn’t fit the social norm have a social constraint when accessing higher education due to the inequalities they are faced with

Aspects such as structure, agency, grit, and resilience are all influencers when it comes to the student’s capability to succeed in these higher education institutions. Students are faced with certain social constraints, which are things that put individuals at a disadvantage. Social constraints can be things such as financial issues, which may influence a student not being able to stay in the institute, language barriers as well and socio-economic status. Students also encounter social enablers, which are things that put certain individuals at an advantage in their time at higher education institutes. Social enablers can be things such as a stable financial background, sufficient educational background as well as language exposure or knowledge of the language that is being taught.

There are many aspects that influence access to higher education institutes as well as the ability to succeed in these higher education institutes as outlined above. Students in South Africa have to overcome the features mentioned above in order to fully succeed in these higher education institutes. As outlined above, both structural factors and agency need to be considered when addressing the challenges that students face in accessing and succeeding in higher education institutes.

References

1. Giddens, A. (1986). Sociology: Issues and Problems, In Sociology: A brief but critical introduction (2nd edition). London: Macmillan, 1-22.
2. Giddens, A., & Sutton, P. W. (2017). What is Sociology? In Sociology (8th edition). Polity, 3-30.
3. Mills, C. W. (2000). The Sociological Imagination (40th-anniversary ed). New York: Oxford University Press, 3-24.
4. Salemink, O. (1990). The Ethnography of Vietnam’s Central Highlanders. University of Hawai’i press Honululu, 3-7.
5. Smit, R. (2012). Towards a clearer understanding of student disadvantage in higher education: problematizing deficit thinking. Higher Education Research & Development, 31 (3), 369-380.
6. Stewart, P., & Zaaiman, J. (2014). Sociology: A South African Introduction. Juta, xiii-xix.
7. Wilson-Strydom, M. (2017). Disrupting Structural Inequalities of Higher Education Opportunity: ‘Grit’, Resilience and Capabilities at a South African University. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 18 (3), 384-398.