Sociological Imagination - A Concept by C. W. Mills
Marriage and family are social institutions that have a particularly large amount of individual involvement and emotion attached to them. As a result, the slightest change in these societal structures has a direct impact on the individuals involved. Divorce is practically the dissolution of these social structures and therefore, is a major personal trouble. Divorce is caused because of personal differences but also results in a number of personal consequences. In addition, marriage is a function of society that intends to maintain social stability. However, as divorce is becoming increasingly common, one cannot cease to question the viability of marriages in today’s society and the possible societal concerns encouraging divorce.
I have
experienced parental divorce. My parents separated in 2007 and were finally
divorced in 2015. It has been over ten years since my parents separated but I
don’t think I will ever get over their divorce. It changed me, my
relationships, my future, and above all, my destiny. My life took a major turn
and almost everything after that has been the consequence of that one event.
Separation forced my family to leave America and this was a big change in
itself. I had to adjust to social and academic life in India. I gave up sports
and stopped playing altogether. The event left its emotional dent on me and
while my academics did not suffer my social life declined. On the other hand,
my mother had suffered years of physical and mental torture and constant
threatening in her marriage, and separation was a good relief. However, divorce
still came with its own set of problems. The process was expensive, cumbersome,
and tiring. Having never worked in the past, she had to survive on the meager
monthly alimony my father gave and it became increasingly difficult to fulfill
her children’s growing needs. Our present and future were both at stake and
divorce completely changed our lives.
Divorce
was unquestionably a huge personal problem for me and my family. However, this
was not the world’s first divorce nor was it the last. Society has experienced
both marriage and divorce in the past and there have been a number of factors
that have contributed to such social phenomena. In order to explore how the
personal factors that contributed to my parents’ divorce are associated with
aspects and social institutions that cause divorce in society, I applied Mills’
concept of “Sociological Imagination” (Mills, 1959) to my situation to
understand how “personal troubles” are interconnected with “social issues”.
C. Wright
Mills was a revolutionary contemporary sociologist who coined the term
“Sociological Imagination” in 1959. Mills’ concept can be defined as the
“awareness of the relationship between individual and wider society, both today
and in the past” (Schaefer 2020:3). Sociological imagination is a critical way
of viewing personal problems in the context of larger societal concerns. In
order to apply this concept, one must look beyond individualistic experiences
and explore the role of social factors in a particular situation. According to
Mills, this concept “enables us to grasp history and biography and the
relations between the two within society” (Mills, 1959:3). This idea is based
on the principles of “finding the strange in the familiar” and the “general in
the particular” (Berger, 1963). This means that sociological imagination
involves seeing a private matter as a public issue and also seeing the known
regimes of society as an unbiased outsider.
Any
problem faced by an individual can be thought to have stemmed from the society
he/she lives in. Although societal origins are not an excuse for a personal
situation, sociological imagination can be used to understand the broader
causes and consequences of personal concerns. As Mills describes it, “neither
the life of an individual nor the history of society can be understood without
understanding both.” (Mills, 1959:1). Sociological Imagination recognizes the
essential relationship between person and society which is both intricate and
interdependent.
Sociological
Imagination is rooted in two key terms – “troubles” and “issues”. In order to
understand the concept of Sociological Imagination, one must be able to
“distinguish between personal "troubles" and greater social
"issues" ” (Wiley, 2015). Mills defines “troubles” as challenges that
“occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his or
her immediate relations with others” (Mills, 1959:4). Troubles are personal
conflicts encompassing individual experiences. They reflect choices made by the
individual in his/her immediate setting and signify private concerns that only
the individual has to deal with. On the other hand, Mills classifies “issues”
as “matters that transcend (the) local environments of the individual and the range
of her (/his) inner life” (Mills, 1959:4). These are larger public challenges
that are faced by society as a whole. These problems concern larger social
organizations such as legal authorities, nations, religion, educational
institutions, and so on.
Mills’
concepts of Sociological Imagination, Personal Troubles and Public Issues can
be adequately explained using the example of college choices after graduation.
Selecting a college after graduating from high school is an example of a
solitary judgment made by one student. The student must earn good grades,
undertake rewarding volunteering and career experiences in his chosen field,
ace his standardized tests, and write winning application essays. This seems
like a personal trouble that the student has to face. However, when viewed
through a larger lens, the student’s choice of college is influenced by the
expectations of his peers, family history of college education, branding of the
college, public versus private options, location, college’s access to resources
and funding and so on. In addition, a student’s college choice also impacts his
life after graduation, his employment rate, his income, his access to
healthcare, and education for his procreated family. Thus, all these larger
“public issues” are affecting the individual in a variety of ways, just as the
individual’s choices are affecting these issues. When all these factors are
analyzed, a conclusion may be drawn that although the selection of college is
an individual preference, yet it is not only influenced by but also affects,
societal problems and conditions at large. Through the lens of Sociological
Imagination, one may recognize how the economy of society, branding of
education, educational legislation, governmental funding to universities, geographical
region, availability of jobs, family and school background and other such
communal establishments play a role in establishing education as a social
institution for the access of individuals. Thus, sociological imagination plays
a vital role in imagining and understanding how relationships between
individuals and society work on both micro and macro levels.
Sociological
imagination is a potent instrument to understand “how individuals mold society
but also how society molds the individual” (Siegfriedt, 2011:14). In order to
understand the role of my parent’s divorce in my personal life as well as in my
society, sociological imagination is a powerful tool to recognize the personal
and societal forces that were involved in the divorce. While divorce is
regarded as personal strife between a couple since its effects directly extend
to the husband, wife and children; it can also be viewed as a larger societal
concern since “an increase in divorce rates actually redefines a major social
institution – family” (Schaefer, 2020:3). Divorce is truly much more than a
personal strife. It is a major public problem. The rising rates of divorce are
proof enough of how this norm is ravaging society. According to Mills, “Inside
a marriage, a man and a woman may experience personal troubles, but when the
divorce rate during the first four years of marriage is 250 out of every 1,000
attempts, this is an indication of a structural issue having to do with the
institutions of marriage and the family and other institutions that bear upon
them.” (Mills, 1959:5). Such a common occurrence clearly indicates that divorce
is undoubtedly a public issue.
Society is a kaleidoscope of multiple
social institutions, many of which have significantly contributed to the
existence of divorce. One such social institution is Law. Divorce, in
particular, raises concerns about matrimonial legislation and laws concerning
justice in marital issues. In several countries the process is simply a matter
of signing a sheet of paper and a marital relationship will cease to exist.
This promotes the fragility of marriage since people believe that they are not
actually committing to continue the relationship. Laws facilitating ending
relationships encourage the existence of divorce in the community. In contrast,
some nations require a cumbersome process involving expensive legal fees,
multiple attorneys and judges, appeals, and tonnes of patience. In such a
situation, it questions the effectiveness of judicial systems and the social
institution of justice as a whole. An incompetent judicial environment is also
equally a reason that may contribute to a growing rate of divorce in society.
Divergent
gender roles could be another possible risk factor causing divorce. Society has
prescribed certain duties for women and certain responsibilities for men. Women
nourish and take care of the household while men go out and earn their
livelihood for the family. Although this distribution appears equal and
appropriately delegated, in reality, this designation of duties has led to
amplified inequality and oppression. These roles have been described by society
but do not inherently administer authority or power to any one gender. Yet the
emphasis on money in today’s society has promoted male dominance since it is the
man who earns in the household. This is also an example of inequality and
supports the feminist view of the conflict theoretical perspective of
sociology. The subjugation of female spouses is a common social evil and was
also reflected in my parents’ relationship. My father’s lack of emotional
connection with the family and constant authoritative control over everything
in my mother’s life – where she went, who she talked to, what she talked about
– became intolerably oppressive as the days passed by and led to the eventual
split. Unequal division of authority disturbs the balance of marital life and
eventually leads to greater abuse, patriarchal dominance, and even domestic
violence, which further supports the presence of divorce in society.
Over the
years, society has experienced several changes. One of them is the increase in
the number of women entering the workforce, which is counteracting the
prevalent gender inequality. Women have increasingly started to not just manage
households, but also be independent and earn just like their husbands. However,
“if this power (or income) falls below or exceeds that of the husband’s, then
this balance is thrown off and the risk of divorce increases.” (Homer, 2015:11)
In addition, independence has instilled a certain confidence in women who
believe that they no longer need to be bonded in marriage to sustain and
succeed in life. In such situations, the woman no longer needs the man and
therefore marriage has been reduced to a provision only to legitimately produce
progeny. Cohabitation and live-in relationships are also becoming more popular.
Marriage is becoming uncommon and such a couple dynamic further emphasizes the
instability of marriage and the occurrence of divorce.
Over the
centuries, religion has been one of the major reasons people have bonded in
wedlock and obeyed certain rules of marriage. Weddings happen through different
rituals in different religious communities but collectively aim to emphasize
commitment and life-long companionship. However, as the taboo of divorce is
slowly disappearing with the advancement of humans and embracement of modern
culture, people are no longer ashamed to quit a relationship as easily as they
created it. Therefore shame no longer prevents possible divorce. In fact, people
are becoming more accepting of divorced individuals and this is promoting
widespread acknowledgment of divorce as a solution to all marital problems.
Acceptance of divorce by society is also a possible cause for the existence of
this social dilemma.
Marriages maintain social stability and integrity. The dissolution of
marriage through divorce is progressively disrupting this function of society.
While divorce is a highly personal experience, like I experienced when my
parents separated, it is also very much a part of society as a whole. Divorce
is integrated and interconnected with both personal and societal spheres.
Mills’ concepts of “Sociological Imagination”, personal “troubles” and public
“issues” are key sociological concepts that help to explain how personal
problems are not just the person’s issues to deal with but also concerns of the
society at large. An individual’s sorrows and complaints are not just his own –
society also plays a role in causing and bearing the consequences.
Works
Cited:
Berger,
Peter. 1963. Invitation to Sociology: The Humanistic Perspective,
Homer,
Arielle, "The Divorce Revolution: The Macro and Micro-Level Factors in the
Risk of Divorce" (2015). Honors Theses. 331.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/331
Mills, C. W.: 1959, The Sociological Imagination, Oxford
University Press, London
Schaefer, Richard T.
2020. Sociology in Modules. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.
Siegfriedt, Julieanne M. 2011. "Congratulating Conscious
Choice: Exploring Society and the
Self through Marriage and Divorce," Human Architecture:
Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Wiley, Jeanette. (2015) Sociological
Imagination: A Critical Way to the World
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