Sociological Imagination
Tuesday, October 15, 2024 4:54 PM
The Sociological Imagination
One of the things that you will learn in this course is how to view society from a distinctive
point of view. C. Wright Mills called this special sociological perspective the sociological
imagination. The sociological imagination is the ability to see our private experiences and
personal difficulties as entwined with the structural arrangements of society. In other words,
the sociological imagination is the ability to take an apparently personal decision and place it
within a social and historical context.
A good example of this is the way Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist (1897) thought about
suicide. Because Durkheim used the sociological imagination to examine suicide, he understood
that even though suicide is a personal decision, it is influenced by larger social forces such as
social integration. The level of social integration, or community bonding influences suicide
rates. Individual act, (suicide) is linked to a larger social force (social integration). A community
with a high level of social bonding or unity is likely to have a low suicide rate, and a low level of
social integration is likely to have a high level of suicide. Durkheim further elaborated that even
suicide types vary with different social forces. For example, low integration is related to anomic
suicide, and high integration with altruistic suicide. Similarly, low regulation leads to egoistic
suicide and high regulation relates to fatalistic suicide.
To understand the power of social forces, we should consider our individual behaviors. We
would not act or behave in the same way if we were living alone in the middle of nowhere
without human contact as we would in a public place. We would not be wanting to drive a
fancy car, or dress up, or try to show off if we did not have an audience. We do things because
of the collective influence of other people (society).
In order to understand how much social forces affect you as an individual, try to imagine how
your life might be different if you belonged to a different group. Suppose you were different
sex, race, or born to a very wealthy family. Would people treat you differently if you were male
rather than female or female rather than a male? How might your opportunities in life be
different?
Lesson 1 Page 1
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