Sociological Imagination
Human life is, by definition, fraught with difficulty and challenge. Often, whatever difficulty an individual experiences feels so dire and unique that it is impossible to imagine that others could experience the same, or indeed, that it could be part of a wider sociological issue. Nevertheless, it is possible, with the "sociological imagination" (Mills, 1959) to create a more contextualized or collective vision of suffering and other social phenomena.
Using sociological imagination, an individual can posiion him- or herself within a certain context, period of time, and sociological environment. Doing this makes the individual awar of othr individuals within the same context or environment, which further enables the person to understand that his or her situation might be, after all, echoed in other households as well.
In doing this, the individual can also identify social and historical forces that has led to the conditions experienced by the individual and the collective within a particular environment. Indeed, "personal problems" do not occur in isolation. They occur within both a sociological and historical context.
Although Mills believes that it is very difficult, in general, for an individual to connect his or her personal situation witth a wider socio-cultural institution or context, my aim with this paper is to do just that. I will attempt to link my situation as single mother living with my parents, as well as the rest of my situation to the social and historical context of my environment.
Personal Explanation
Currently, I am a divorced mother of three. I have been twice divorced. My children are all girls, ranging from 6 to 16 in age. My youngest is in the first grade, my second in 4th grade, and my eldest in 11th grade.
My children and I live in my parents' house, but we have a private, independent living space in the downstairs area of their house. This situation has assisted me greatly to maintain a roof over...
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