Growing up in Vancouver, to a middle-class Caucasian family there are many factors that caused me to be the way that I am, and to have lived the life that I have. Externally, society has influenced the directions that my life could follow. Internally, I chose to cross whichever path society threw at me. The only way to see how I made the choices I made, and crossed the paths I crossed is by looking through the lens of the sociological imagination. The concept of the sociological imagination was introduced by C. Wright Mills [1916-1962] in 1959 in his paper titled: The Sociological Imagination. Mills defined it as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society” (1959). The sociological imagination is the ability to construct one’s personal experiences with society at a large scale. It is the capacity to see how these interactions and situations affect and influence different individuals from an alternate angle. The sociological imagination is of the essence of sociology. One pathological dynamic that I believe has greatly impacted my life is ADHD. It’s hard to explain the full, true-effect that ADHD has had on my life experiences, but I think by looking through the sociological imagination, I will be able to explain growing up with ADHD, and compare it with the many other social factors that affect me. Being from the middle-class meant that I had to work my ass off to get to where I am today, playing varsity baseball for the University of
The issue I have chosen is the use of social networking websites and how the three sociological perspectives apply to them. The use of social networking website has become a social norm in the way our society communicates with each one another. I believe that there are benefits with using social networking websites in your private and public life. On the other hand, I do believe that with social networking websites, the boundary between our private and public life merge and become difficult to separate.
Sociology 101 has changed my view on human interaction and has opened my eyes to polar views on the world we live in. Over the course of the semester, we utilized advanced sociological methods to evaluate some of the most controversial topics facing our generation. This class has impacted my life in numerous positive lights through the teachings that Dr. Morlock has provided us.
After a careful study and a deeper research on an introduction to sociology, I have come to understand that no problem can be solved well enough if one does not have the sociological perspective which is defined as a way of looking at the world through a sociological lens. In fact, there is the need of the lens that will help one to view situations and have the eye to emerge through different views to solve that problem. This mirror has become a doorway that will help one to have a beginner’s mind to approach problems.
Growing up, almost every parent will tell you, “you can be anything you set your mind to!” or “the possibilities are endless”. But from an early childhood my parents were creating an opportunity structure for my life. Through my 20 years, how I was taught, the places I went to, the people I interacted with and the implications of society and societal norms followed me. As with many other families, my parents focused on setting me up for the best possible future. But little did they know, they were contributing to a society where some people are allotted more privileges and opportunities than others. I will attempt to deconstruct this complex social construction by looking at gender, social class, family influences, race, and socialization; which will be discussed in greater detail further along. When analyzing sociological concepts like gender, social class, and race sociologists use a “sociological lens”. Using a sociological lens will allow me to take the experiences I had and look at them on a broader cultural level. Ultimately sociologists use sociological lenses to better understand how personal experiences not only impact 1 person but how they can be applied in a broader context, allowing individuals to relate to others in society who may have had similar experiences.
After taking a Sociology class this semester, I learned a lot of about the different topics and concepts in this course and how they are related to our society, which has changed my perspective as well as how I view and see the meaning of my surroundings. I would also think about what would be going on inside a specific person's mind and how he or she was feeling. After learning about different concepts in Sociology and watching the videos presented in class, it became easier to just stop and think about a person, wonder who that person was, and be curious about that person's life story. We pass by people all the time every day, but we never really know what is going on with them and don't really think about it or care since it is so
For this final reflection for Intro to Sociology, I will cover several topics that I learned throughout the course of this class. I will cover topics that I can relate to as well as those that I can’t. Part of the reason this class is so important for students to take is so that we can take the outlook of others and allow it to possibly change the views that we have on certain topics. Topics such as culture, race and ethnicity, gender stratification, and education are a part of our daily life, but we get in such a rut of living day to day life without taking in the opinion and outlook of others that we don’t know what we truly feel because we are only one sided. By learning these different ideas and beliefs, we may not feel the way
Growing up, my life was somewhat sheltered compared to the lives of other people my age. I was raised by both my mom and dad in a Christian household, in which I was taught morals based upon our faith. As a result of this upbringing, my parents and I made the decision to enroll me in a private Christian school in sixth grade. In this setting I was protected from the influences of the outside world. All of the language, violence, and temptations were around me, which I began to recognize as I entered my freshman year of high school. Even the walls of the highly respected establishment could not keep the real world out.
Sociological imagination by C.Wright Mills can be defined as addressing social problems by relating the individuals personal trouble with the way society is organized and structured” (Tepperman & Albanese, 2014,p. 2). Sociological imagination is the ability to see things socially and how they interact and influence our daily lives and each other. To have a sociological imagination, we need to be able to pull ourselves away from the situation and to be able to
My family is in the middle class, along with an estimated 33.9% of the population of St. Cloud (US Census Bureau). My social class has altered over the years as the situation in my household, such as children moving out and parents switching jobs, has changed. Eleven children in one household has played a significant role in whether my parents’ income was actually substantial. The average household in America has 2.63 people living in it (US Census Bureau).
Sociology is the research and analysis of the human society; meaning sociologist examine why we behave the way we behave, what affects our behavior, and if ordinary things are more complex than they seem. When developing a sociological perspective it makes the “familiar strange” (Conley, 3). When someone is trying to think as a sociologist it is encouraged to question aspects in your life that you thought were normal, which conveniently can make you feel unsure about what lifestyle you are comfortable living in. A sociological perspective is gained when you learn to think through a “sociological lense” that challenges your mind to new levels of thought (Godwin, Lecture). When in rhythm with your sociological mind you reflect on new personal
Throughout the course of this semester, I have learned there are many different terms and theories about society that I feel like I can relate to and have a much better understanding about the concept of sociology. For the last paper of this class I would like to talk about the last three sociological concepts that I feel have helped me improve my understanding of the relationship between society and myself. The three concepts that I will talk about are: fictive kin, agenda setting theory, and lastly, bystander effect or diffusion of responsibility.
An employer is an individual or organization who employs one or more person (employee) for wages or salary, while an employee works for an individual or organization (employer) for wage or salary. The wage that is earn is used to cover expenses by the employee, in the form of bills, to cover health, housing, food, utilities, all seen as a necessity.
At the beginning of the semester, I knew very little about sociology or even what it was about. I just knew I needed to take the class for my degree plan to transfer to a four-year university and that I would be doing a lot of reading about different terms and theories of society. However, this first month of class has helped me improve my understanding of what sociology is about and shown me how my personal society has impacted the way I view society. Not only did I learn about the relationships between society and myself, but I have also learned different concepts that have helped me gain a better understanding of how society works. There are three specific sociological concepts that has helped me improve my understanding of the relation
As I reflect on sociology 100, I realized that this is truly a course that opens up one 's mind. I admire the fact that this course really going to teach me a lot. I was really scared to take this class because honestly I had no idea what Sociology is? I never took this class but my professor made it easy and he made very clear that how we can keep an A in the class and what he expects from us. The first week of the class was just about the syllabus and what chapter we gonna cover throughout the semester. In total we studied nine chapter. They all helped me a lot to understand the true meaning of sociology and why it is useful. The first chapter was The Social Imagination, The second chapter was Studying the Social World, The third chapter was Social Interaction, The fourth chapter was Social Structure, The Fifth chapter was Culture, Media and Communication, The sixth chapter was Power and Politics, The seventh chapter was Social Stratification, Inequality and Poverty, The eight chapter was Race and Ethnicity and last but not least was Gender and Sexuality. I will just discuss the what I found most interesting, why they are important. First of all What is sociology? Really? I never asked this question to myself until the first day of class. Sociology is the study of "social behavior or society, including its origins, development, organization, networks and institutions." It allows you to go to different paths, it affects how we talk, it helps us to understand what 's going
The sociological imagination can be related to experiences of individuals along with life in society. There are three main characteristics that come along with the sociological imagination, those being; history, social structure, as well as biography. In addition, to C.Wright Mills concepts of the sociological imagination, we enable ourselves in society to now have a better understanding of not only ourselves but also others through a sense of linking personal experiences. Due to some of the circumstances in my life, the key sociological factors that have occurred are education, gender, and inequality. These factors have allowed me to fully understand what the sociological imagination is and how it plays a part in my everyday life experiences.