Sociology & the

Sociological Imagination
SOCIOLOGY 110 - INSTRUCTOR: ALLYSSA BAUMBACH
What is Sociology?
Not the study of socializing
Not the study of socialism
Sociologists are not socialists
What is Sociology?
Sociology: Systematic study of the relationship between the individual
and society and of the consequences of difference.
o Human behavior
o Social structures
o Social life
o Explanations for social patterns

Focus on:
◦ How relationships influence people’s attitudes and behavior
◦ How societies, communities, groups, develop and change
How is Sociology Different?
Psychology = individual human mind and behavioral tendencies
Anthropology = development of past and present cultures and societies
Sociology = relationships between groups of people and between the
individual and society
The Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills (1959)
Our recognition of the
interdependent relationship
between who we are as
individuals and the social
forces that shape our lives.
The Sociological Imagination
The ability to see that outside forces influence individuals,
that individuals influence the society around them, and that
history and personal biography play important roles.
The Sociological Imagination
History: not just the times in which we live but also our positions in
society and the resources to which we have access.
Biography: encompasses our personal experience, our actions and
thoughts, and the choices we make.
The Sociological Imagination
The Sociological Imagination
Looks beyond a limited understanding of human behavior
◦ Example: Unemployment
◦ Personal Trouble: If one person gets fired because of personal defects such
as:
◦ He shows up late
◦ He doesn’t shower and stinks and no one wants to be around him
◦ He tells his boss to shove it
◦ He is terrible at his job
◦ Public Issue: If something in the social structure affects the individual’s ability
to be employed
◦ If a person loses his job because of a huge corporate lay-off, along with 1500 other employees.
 The Sociological Imagination
◦ Example: Divorce
◦ Personal Trouble: A person gets divorced because of personal defects such as:
◦ She cheats on her husband
◦ She stops showering and her partner doesn’t want to be around her because she stinks
◦ She converts to a new religion and no longer wants to stay married to her partner due to religious
reasons
◦ Public Issue: Something in the social structure affects people’s marriages such as:
◦ Society encourages ideals such as independence, personal success, individualism, etc., all of which
encourage single-hood instead of marriage & partnership
Durkheim’s Contributions to
Sociology
In his book, Suicide (1897), Durkheim looked at suicide rates in England,
France, & Denmark.

He found that “suicide varies inversely with the degree of integration of

the social groups of which the individual forms a part.”

Essentially, he found that the more integrated someone is in social

groups, such as church, the less likely they are to kill themselves.
Other researchers have
continuously found similar
results:
Other patterns of suicide
◦ Unmarried persons are more likely than married people to commit suicide
◦ Childless people are more likely than those with children to commit suicide
◦ People commit suicide in times of economic insecurity more than in times of
prosperity

The suicide rate of a society reflects the extent to which people are or
are not integrated into the group life of the society.
As such, using your sociological imagination, you can see that although
suicide is a very personal act (no one else helps the person), it is
actually influenced by society.
Think about this:
The sociological imagination encourages you to think about everything
not only as a personal trouble, but as being influenced by society’s
norms (we will learn more about these in Chapter 4), belief systems,
laws, and values.
You should have a broader understanding of society if you use your
sociological imagination.
Sociological Perspective
• Is used by government agencies when
developing laws and regulations that
guide how people in communities live and
work

• Helps us understand the barriers and

opportunities in our lives

• Is an advantage in many fields of work

that involve working with people