Introduction
The sociological imagination is among the key concerns that human beings must consider to realize their respective objectives. It entails an individual’s capacity to view the relationship between personal experiences and other historical forces. More specifically, the sociological imagination is critical for understanding how macro social issues affect another person’s personal experiences.
As a result, Mills uses his proposition to help people realize their potential and view more complex issues rather than blame themselves when facing challenges (Mills, 2009). The idea is that personal problems are common and should not deter people from succeeding in their endeavors. A closer look at people’s lives shows they may end up blaming themselves for the issues they face; nonetheless, the primary concern is the actions of others in their communities. The idea inspires the concept of unemployment, which this paper addresses as a collective concern.
Personal Situation
Most societies often consider being born and raised in the U.S. to be easy for everyone. However, this was not the case with me when growing up. As children grow up, several concerns are often more complex for them to understand. As time goes by, they come to understand the realities of life.
I grew up in a relatively low-class family, a fact that several people could not understand because of their expectations of my family and me. While I may not describe the situation as worse than others in my society, some issues, including insufficient funds, have made life challenging for my family.
Unequal Treatment
The issue developed negatively when I realized that societies often treat youths differently. When caught by police, it becomes worse since there is the extra pressure that law enforcement puts on the youth compared to other ages. In several instances, I ended up blaming myself because I was born into a low-income family.
I viewed myself as a problem to my parents and the community, just as the sociological imagination suggests people blame themselves rather than the issues they face (Roca et al., 2020). It was the same blame approach I adopted, rather than gaining motivation to fix my problems. At this point, I considered myself unable to address my problems. However, learning about sociological imagination issues helped me to understand that finding solutions to specific problems is more important than blaming yourself.
Unemployment
While growing up, another significant problem my family faced was my parents’ overall unemployment. My parents’ being unemployed was a significant problem, and it affected my studies significantly because of their inability to pay my school fees. This problem became more adverse when my family could not acquire the necessities to live a comfortable life.
As a young American, I failed to understand that the combination of several social concerns often plays a leading role in making life unbearable. Nonetheless, my parents tried to address this problem by relocating me to an affordable school. The new school made me understand that I was better off than other students. The realization was essential in making me appreciate the little that my family had.
The unemployment problem has always been a significant concern in my family because, whenever my parents got a good job, they were either retrenched or had their contracts terminated. Although I have never been directly affected by unemployment, it has affected me since I depend on my parents for most things. Most of the spiteful incidents that happened to my family led me to believe that we may not necessarily be aggressive as a family. However, I do not believe this is the case, as it is not my parents’ fault that we are unemployed.
Several external factors often cause people to become unemployed, and overcoming this problem requires understanding the issues and making plans to address them head-on. Staubmann (2021) supports this intuition and further posits that most people’s behaviors make them susceptible to suffering and lead to their failure. Therefore, this implies that people should cultivate positive behaviors that inspire them to realize their best selves.
Mill’s Sociological Imagination
Mill’s Sociological Imagination encompasses crucial chapters that attempt to provide an in-depth understanding of the leading sociological concerns in most communities. Three chapters from Mills’ book will be utilized to evaluate this concern in detail. Chapter one will be used specifically because the discussion evaluates the primary issues, such as fear, that keep individuals trapped in their minds. The existing balance between failure and success lies in the fear of individuals being stuck on the side of loss. As a result, this is the leading concern that inspires the selection of the first chapter.
The second chapter will also be used since it underscores society’s social structures. The author demonstrates this by drawing on abstract concepts prevalent across many communities. The final chapter is chapter three because it critiques concerns that are observable in communities.
The conflict theory will be used as the primary socialization theory. The theory will be crucial to this analysis, as it offers critical insights into the conflict within an individual that leads to unemployment. The tendency of unemployed people to blame themselves in challenging situations suggests that conflict is psychological in nature.
Several aspects of self-promise assume the role of dreams and objects, and when they are not realized, self-conflict arises. Therefore, it calls for people to consider the primary insights presented by Mill, as demonstrated in the personal reflection above. As pointed out earlier, I reached a point where I found it challenging to face my problem, and instead, I kept on blaming myself for the problems my parents were facing. The theory and the chapters inspire one to look at the causes of problems rather than blame oneself.
Conclusion
My personal situation accounts for a broad phenomenon that most individuals face, such as income and social inequality in contemporary societies. Nonetheless, I still consider that the struggles my family and I have encountered were psychological, which tied us to reaching our respective potential. I believe that my parents could have tried better to address the unemployment problems that they faced. Understanding the author’s chapters helped me understand how to address the mentality of unemployment. I recognize individuals’ social concepts and struggles when dealing with their issues. Adopting the insights from chapters one, two, and three will help them understand and assimilate, becoming their best versions.
References
Mills, C. Wright (2009). The Sociological Imagination. The American Catholic Sociological Review. 20 (3): 249.
Roca, B., Bermúdez-Figueroa, E., & Estepa-Maestre, F. (2020). Life story as a tool for teaching sociological imagination. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 12(5), 829-839.
Staubmann, H. (2021). C. Wright Mills’ The sociological imagination and the construction of Talcott Parsons as a conservative grand theorist. The American Sociologist, 52(1), 178-193.