Significance of the Sociological Imagination

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Having knowledge f the sociological imagination allows for a more conclusive analysis of the causes of personal problems being due to society playing a pivotal role. In the duration of my life, I am able to attribute some of my personal problems through the use of the sociological imagination being related to a larger scale societal issue. My personal ongoing problem is my anxiety and stress revolving around the uncertainty of my career and future. When try and assess the main root of my issues, I have often taken the path of looking at how these problems are a result of my misdoings rather than attributing it to something much larger.

Using the ens of the sociological imagination allows me to further relate my personal case to many other individuals enduring similar problems as a result of society in this day and age. In this essay I will distinctly explore Mill’s The Sociological Imagination specifically looking at key terms such as personal troubles and public issues, while employing the notion of sociological imagination to analyze my stress and society concerning the future sociologically.

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The Sociological Imagination (Mills, 1959) outlines that social problems should be addressed by linking an individual’s personal troubles along with understanding how this ties n with the structure and organization of society. It seeks to further investigate an individual’s problem being deeply rooted in society. Mills (1959) states that individuals do not have the capacity to truly grasp the relationships between individuals and society as a whole.

Thus, the aim of his paper is to shed light on personal issues playing a minor role amongst public issues in a society. If individuals were able to comprehend their experiences relative to an entire society, this would allow for the capacity to accessibly shift from one perspective to another. Mills (1959) proposes that there are distinctions to be made between personal troubles and public issues. Personal troubles (1959) occur within the character of the individual and within immediate relations that is of private nature.

Whereas, public issues (1959) transcend to local environments of the individual. It is the organization of numerous issues into institutions of a historical society as a whole. These are interconnected and Mills (1959) explains how being conscious of the social structure and the effects it imposes on an individual bodes well to trace these links relative to one’s personal environment. Delving into my own personal biography allows me to truly analyze the implications of society in my life.

By taking this new approach of the sociological imagination (Mills, 1959), I am able to dissect my personal troubles appropriately looking at the how society plays a closer role to our personal troubles than one may suspect. My parents had always pressured and encouraged me to do well in school in order to get a well-paying job to sustain my life for the future. This further pressure has always stuck with me since grade school, and by the time was completing my senior year I developed anxiety and stress issues related o my future.

By not knowing exactly what path needed to take for my future, felt all of the pressure on me cave in and this amounted in constant anxiety regarding the uncertainty of the future. My mild anxiety is still with me today, but I have discovered that this uncertainty is common for individuals around my age. Utilizing a sociological lens, I am able to attribute my personal issue of anxiety towards the future regarding a much broader picture of a public problem, relating to many individuals. With education becoming increasingly imperative in this generation, jobs are becoming sparse.

Many individuals attend a college or university and get a degree in order to pursue a career that bodes to be on the more lucrative side. Now that various degrees, such as psychology are becoming common, and many other areas of study are becoming progressively competitive, it is difficult to begin education with a free mind. With every given career, there are criticisms that may dissuade one from further pursuing it. The way in which society has progressed historically in terms of education has put a detriment for what is readily available after the completion of a degree.

The stagnation in the quality of jobs applies to many fields of study, and this is how I can relate my personal issue being geared towards a societal one. This uncertainty is what initially sparked my anxiety, as had started school without a specific career in mind. As I began university, I discovered many of my fellow colleagues were undergoing the same sort of stresses regarding the future. Many of these stresses involved the limitations of the job market after a degree.

This grave concern over the unpredictability of the future made me anxious as felt my freedom being swept away from me. Entering the faculty of arts, which rguably has a bad reputation for availability and quality of jobs, put even more pressure on me as my parents discouraged me from taking that route. All of this weight accumulating over time put me in a rough spot, which made me to consider law school. However, soon after I discovered that many other students in the faculty of arts were also aspiring to go to law school from a scarcity of jobs available with a bachelors of arts alone.

As I shift perspective to relate my personal problem, as a public issue, I have disclosed that many students enter university, as they must compete with other individuals to have careers. This means that many individuals begin not being entirely sure of what they wish to major in, resulting in many applying to the Bachelor of Arts program. The insecurity for the future is a common feeling amongst students who are still uncovering where their talents and passions lie.

The society that exists now heavily lies on education, and given the uncertain economic climate this spurs anxiety and stress for what field an individual should pursue. These feelings of disarray relate to a much broader problem of university and college students across the globe determining what their future holds, and I am one of the many. After uncovering the origins of my personal trouble being more closely associated with a societal issue rather than reflective of my own character, it became crucial to grasp the vital lesson of the sociological imagination (Mills, 1959).

The relationship between personal troubles and public issues is a substantial one as many individuals are affected through societal constraints that are imposed on the individual. Societies rise together and fall together, and through every high and low, each individual is faced with similar complications that may hinder or assist them. It is simpler for most to diagnose the root of their roblems being directly related to them, as it is not accessible to recognize how many people in a society may be suffering similar impediments.

Most individuals do not possess the capability of comprehending the geographic and historic effects society enforces on people. Mills (1959) give rise to these ideas of developing and shifting mindsets in order to come to the true terms of our problems. The significance of the sociological imagination (Mills, 1959) has never been more apparent with society becoming progressively individualistic. It prepares individuals for realizing that an individual cannot control their life completely, as eople have to adjust accordingly to society.