Personal Problems In C. Wright Mills

Introduction

As Swart and Zaaiman (2015: xv) defined “Sociology is about the scientific study of human social interaction and the social forces which shape much of human behavior”. Many individuals experience one or a collection of social problems, For example, many people are unemployed and have family problems as a result of these, they drink too much alcohol to suppress the problems, or commit crime to make a living. When we hear and think individuals like these, it is easy to assume that their problems are theirs alone, and that others suffering as well from the same or different problems are entirely to blame for their difficulties. In this essay, C.W. Mills’ sociological imagination will be discussed, in relation to the controversial

This main idea formed C. Wright Mills’ Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. London, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. basic distinction between C. Wright Mills term for the personal problems that many individuals experience and C. Wright Mills term for problems in society that are underpinned by personal troubles. “Personal troubles” refer to a problem affecting individuals, as well as other members of society, “personal troubles” are typically blamed on the individual’s own particular personal and moral failings. An example includes problems such as unemployment. Public issues, are ingrained in the social structure and culture of a society, they refer to various social problems affecting many individuals. Problems in society therefore help to explain various problems that individuals experience. Hagemeier, L. (2006). X-kit undergrad Sociology. 1st ed. Cape Town: Lynn Koch and Rolene Liebenberg,

Conclusion

Gathering up on Mills insights of the sociological imagination, pointing out that South Africans typically think that social problems such as poverty, crime and unemployment branch from personal failings of the people experiencing or performing these problems, not from structural problems in the broader society. Using Mills terms, South Africans have a tendency to think of social problems as personal troubles rather than public issues.

From a personal point of view, I have heard many groups of people blame the system for these kinds of injustices. However I believe that a majority group blame the victim of these social injustices, because it is sometimes easier to look down on them and not look at them apathetically. Perhaps putting the blame on a physical body is easier to understand than putting the blame on a larger system that small groups of people could never