According to sociologist C. Wright Mills, people often believe that their private lives can only be explained in terms of their personal successes and failures. Individuals fail to see the links between their own lives and the larger society around them. The process of interpreting your individual life in the context of your community or the society in which you live is called sociological imagination.
- Choose 1 of the following social problems:
- Being unemployed and the impact of unemployment on the individual and society
- Being an alcoholic and the broader impact of alcoholism on the individual and society
- Being a drug addict and the broader impact of drug addiction on the individual and society
- Being an unmarried pregnant teenager and the impact that unmarried teen pregnancy has on the individual and society
- Being a homeless person and the broader issue of poverty in society
- Using your sociological imagination, discuss the connection between the individual experience and the social impact of the social problem that you chose.
