The sociological imagination, developed by C. Wright Mills, is the knowledge and awareness someone has about the relationship between individual experiences and the surrounding society and world. It explains behaviors by the intersection of biology and history. For example, it explains why public policies have been created. A benefit of this sociological perspective is that it highlights the concept that much of what is a personal problem is a public problem. Some of the examples that were used in the text, “The Promise” were unemployment and divorce. It said that when there is a small population of people and only a few people are unemployed then it is more of a personal problem, but if there is a large population and a huge percentage of them are unemployed then there is a problem within that society and everyone’s personal problems are public problems, this is the dame for divorce. Something that I previously believed to be a personal problem was being overweight, I believed that if someone was overweight it was their problem and that they should just be able …show more content…
The amount of education someone has and or receive, has to do with the area that they grow up in. Are girls allowed to go to school? Do they have to work instead of going to school? Is education valued in the area? All these questions must be looked at when examining the literacy rates within a given area or country. The amount of education that someone has is not a personal problem it is a public issue that lots of people face. My understanding of this issue has expanded my sociological imagination by showing me that sometimes it is not a person’s fault if they were educated or not, it is an issue that has to do with the environment that they live in. While education is a global issue, the amount of education one receives has a lot to do with the area in which they live