The Sociological Imagination

 

The sociological imagination refers to the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society (Kendall, 1998:7). 

As opposed to looking at isolated events (like slavery or drug abuse) by themselves, the student of social problems is encouraged to look at social problems in relation to other aspects of society like the economy, culture or religion . 

According to Mills (in Eitzen et al, 2009:14) "the task of sociology is to realize that individual circumstances are inextricably linked to the structure of society." 

To paraphrase C. Wright Mills (1959), people do not usually define their personal problems in terms of historical change and institutional contradictions. People do not usually think of the connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history.

People live out biographies in the context of world events that are in turn determined by historically specified conditions. Both the lives of individuals and the course of world history is understood simultaneously.

• The sociological imagination is stimulated by a willingness to view the social world from the perspective of others.
• It involves moving from thinking about the individual and his problems and focusing on social, economic, and historical circumstances that produce the problem
  

The Cause of Homelessness: Individual pathology or public policy

 

• The sociological imagination requires a detachment from the taken-for-granted assumptions about social life.