Trust

C. Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination

Works Cited Not Included

In 1959, C. Wright Mills released a book entitled 'The sociological

Imagination'.

It was in this book that he laid out a set of guidelines of how to

carry out social analysis.

But for a layman, what does the term 'sociological imagination'

actually mean?

In his own words, Mills claimed "it is the capacity to shift from one

perspective to another...the capacity to range from the most impersonal

and remote transformations to the most intimate features of the human

self - and to see the relations between the two of them."

. Mills believed that being able to see the relationship between the

ordinary lives of people and the wider social forces was the key to

the sociological imagination.

Fundamental to Mills' theory is the idea of 'public issues' and

'private troubles'.

An individual's troubles are personal when they occur because of the

person's character.

Public issues, however, are a direct result of the problems within

society, they affect people hugely but often the individual will

assign the problem as their own personal downfall rather than as a

societal problem.

An ordinary man may get depressed about being unemployed and

automatically accept it as his own personal trouble. He will be

condemned as being 'lazy' or 'work-shy' and labelled simply as a

'scrounger'. However, if there are thousands of other individuals also

unemployed, Mills argues it should then be treated as a 'public

issue'.

Another good example of this is divorce. If only a few divorces occur

within a society than it can be seen as person troubles of the people

involved. If, however, masses of people are getting divorced every

year than it can be seen as a public issue where institutions like

marriage, law and media need to be looked at.

Mills suggested was that these sorts of problems are interwoven with

the large-scale problems of society where government policy may be

involved and therefore are a 'public issue'.

It is clear from this that what sociology focuses on is the influence

of social forces on behaviour and how individuals and groups respond

to these forces.

In order to analyse the effects it is important to see the world with

a sociological state of mind and "..to see it whole." (Mills. 1959.

170).

It is using this ability to see the bigger picture that sociological

explanations can be developed.

Some explanations are that of Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist who

came up with a theory for suicide.

Durkheim suggested that social forces are responsible for suicides,

underlying 4 main causes of suicide to do with social integration and

moral regulation.

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The first is Egoistic suicide in which the individual experiences low

levels of social integration and becomes detached from social groups.

Durkheim's example of this was of unmarried people, especially males,

who had little social support or guidance.

The second is Altruistic suicide, which is a result of too much social

integration. This involved the individual becoming so immersed in

their social group that they lost sight of their individuality,

resulting in sacrifice of their own lives. Durkheim's example of this

was members of the military. A modern example would be suicide bombers

who surround terrorism today.

The third is Anomic suicide associated with moral regulation. Durkheim

suggested this type was due to a sudden breakdown of social order or a

disruption in norms, for example the French revolution and the

emergence of a new industrial society.

The final type of suicide put forward by Durkheim is fatalistic

suicide. This would occur when the individual was forced to live in

unbearable circumstances or lived a very unrewarding life such as a

slave.

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Durkheim's work on suicide demonstrates sociological imagination.

In the first chapter of his book, Mills writes that "The sociological

imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical

scene