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  • Essay / The Importance of Sociological Imagination in Our Personal Problems

    A sociological imagination “is the ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and society as a whole.” (Goode, E, 2008) The sociological imagination helps us think about how we experience our personal problems. Some of these personal issues include homelessness, domestic violence, addiction, unemployment, obesity, and more. These are all common examples of social problems that we all share and experience. As sociologist C. Wright Mills explains in Sociology: “Nowadays, people are constantly comparing their daily lives to others through social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. These websites reflect how we seem very interested in what or what other people are doing. think about their personal lives and what is happening in the larger social world. (Kendall, 2018, p.7) Mills goes on to explain how we, as people, help shape society and its history during our lifetime. Where we can move on to figuring out our personal issues, all the way to societal (social) issues. Sociological imagination is the key to helping us as people understand the social problems we encounter and use them to help us improve society instead of misjudging them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayStudent debt is a huge social problem in today's society and many people are increasingly speaking out more about the scale of the problem. Let's narrow it down to a more personal issue first. A student wants to continue his studies and continue his studies at a university. Due to financial problems, this student cannot afford to go to college and is now faced with student loans. After graduating, they are now faced with student debt due to the student loans they borrowed to help finance their education and not only that, but they are also stressed by this debt because they don't know how they will pay off the large educational debt they have incurred. Looking at the situation on a larger scale, or as Mills describes it as a “public problem,” it now affects more people and often requires a solution on a more societal level. (Kendall, 2018, p.8) If we take today's society, many students face the problem of going to college without being able to afford it and find themselves drowning in student debt after graduating. According to Copeland, the percentage of those with student debt has more than doubled, from 10.5% in 1992 to 22.3% in 2016. More than half of students with student debt are under the age of thirty-five. (EBRI, 2018, p. 4-23) According to Kendall, Sociology: In this day and age, the bottom line, most problems that begin as a personal problem and later develop into a more public problem often lead to suicide . Although suicide is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, not all personal problems necessarily lead to suicide. This is where sociological imagination comes in and we as a society/people of this world can bring a change and come up with a new idea on what we can do to have more preventive measures and offer our help to those who need it. Where we think away from what we would normally think and look at it from a whole new perspective. Sociology can be seen as the new awareness we need in this world about the relationship, 28(3), 237-253./10.1080/02732170801898265