C.

Wright Mills (1916 - 1962)

The sociological imagination

lecture outline

C. Wright Mills
Personal causes and social causes
Personal solutions and social solutions

The sociological imagination

lecture outline

C. Wright Mills
Personal causes and social causes
Personal solutions and social solutions

C. Wright Mills

Following C. Wright Mills, sociologists refer to

breaking free from the immediacy of personal
circumstances and putting things in a wider social
context as the sociological imagination.
Mills talks about unemployment and divorce to show
that what happens to individuals and what they do
are conditioned by their social surroundings.

Discussion: How has romantic love has been shaped

by social and historical forces

Personal troubles and public issues

Sociologists recognize that personal troubles, if

occurring in patterned ways, to large numbers of
individuals, reflect important public issues
consequences of social structures.
Example of a public issue: In the midst of an economic
crisis, when foreclosures have become a common
feature in the country in response, Jenna and her
family lose their home because her parents can no
longer pay the mortgage.

The sociological imagination

lecture outline

C. Wright Mills
Personal causes and social causes
Personal solutions and social solutions

Personal causes and social causes

Personal causes and social causes

Personal causes are those causes related the individual
Social causes are those causes external to the individual

Americans tend to prefer personal explanations and

personal solutions (see next slide)
The sociological imagination requires us to see that our
problems have personal as well as social causes
If we were to apply the sociological imagination to the
problems that you or I have, we could not say that we are
completely to blame for our problems

Why are there people in this

country who live in need?

World
values
survey
(1994)

Personal causes and social causes

-- Discussion

Think about divorce.

What are the personal causes of divorce?
What are the social causes of divorce?
Think about poverty and unemployment.
What are the personal causes of poverty?
What are the social causes of poverty?

The sociological imagination

lecture outline

C. Wright Mills
Personal causes and social causes
Personal solutions and social solutions

Personal solutions and social solutions

Personal solutions and social solutions

Personal solutions attempt to fix the individual
E.g., welfare reform

Social solutions attempt to fix society

E.g., changing divorce laws

State Waiting Periods and Divorce Rates, 2008

Personal causes and social causes

-- Discussion

Think about divorce.

What are some personal solutions?
What are some social solutions?
Think about poverty and unemployment.
What are some personal solutions?
What are some social solutions?

The sociological imagination

lecture outline

C. Wright Mills
Personal causes and social causes
Personal solutions and social solutions

Check for understanding practice question

In the midst of an economic crisis, when foreclosures have

become a common feature in the country in response, Jenna and
her family lose their home because her parents can no longer
pay the mortgage. Jenna would be using a sociological
imagination to think about this if she were to:
blame her mother for not working hard enough
wonder why her father does not just find a new job
consider how it might be strange that we live in a world
that allows people to be thrown out of their homes
think about ways she can contribute financially to buying
their house back
ponder how she might find employment to avoid having
the same problems her parents are having in a bad economy

The Sociological Imagination -Activity

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