Sociological Imagination and Social Issues

Sociological Imagination and Social Issues People are more likely to use psychological arguments to explain why things are they way they are rather than look at the sociological aspect of them. They think that problems happening in their lives are personal and overlook that they may be caused by society (Ferris & Stein 13). Sociological imagination challenges people to look at the “intersection between biography and history” and see the role we each play in society (Mills 1959 and Ferris & Stein 13). We must look at how larger social issues are intertwined in with each individual’s life and how society shapes a person. There are many benefits with using the sociological perspective on life and one of the most important ones is obtaining a “world beyond our own immediate sphere” (Ferris & Stein 13). By doing this, we can seek radically different ways to experience life and look at our reality differently then we ever thought possible. It forces us to see how we created our values, morals, beliefs, and at some point we may need to reevaluate why we had them to begin with. Thinking with a sociological imagination makes us see the errors of our thinking and how we can change that. Macrosociology looks at how society and its social structure determine individual’s lives and sometimes even beliefs and opinions. I believe that I view myself differently because of how society told me I must be. It is instilled in us to be successful and I push my own limits in order to achieve that and my thoughts constantly revolve around how successful I can be and the consequences if I am not (Jenkins. My “Me and Society” Journal. 10/05/12). Society tends to set up rules or general guidelines for how everyone should live their lives and how to act socially. When a person departs from the “norm” in any way they are considered deviant and when the violations of rules have been written into law they are considered crimes (Dreiling. 10/23/2012. Lecture). How deviance

Bibliography: 1. Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. The real world: an introduction to sociology. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010. Print. 2. Katherine Jenkins. October 05, 2012. “I-Me-Society Journal 1”. 3. Dreiling, Michael. October 23, 2012. Lecture. 4. Dreiling, Michael. October 25, 2012. Lecture.