Sociological Imagination Human Life Is, by Definition,

Sociological Imagination

Human life is, by definition, fraught with difficulty and challenge. Often, whatever difficulty an individual experiences feels so dire and unique that it is impossible to imagine that others could experience the same, or indeed, that it could be part of a wider sociological issue. Nevertheless, it is possible, with the "sociological imagination" (Mills, 1959) to create a more contextualized or collective vision of suffering and other social phenomena.

Using sociological imagination, an individual can posiion him- or herself within a certain context, period of time, and sociological environment. Doing this makes the individual awar of othr individuals within the same context or environment, which further enables the person to understand that his or her situation might be, after all, echoed in other households as well.

In doing this, the individual can also identify social and historical forces that has led to the conditions experienced by the individual and the collective within a particular environment. Indeed, "personal problems" do not occur in isolation. They occur within both a sociological and historical context.

Although Mills believes that it is very difficult, in general, for an individual to connect his or her personal situation witth a wider socio-cultural institution or context, my aim with this paper is to do just that. I will attempt to link my situation as single mother living with my parents, as well as the rest of my situation to the social and historical context of my environment.

Personal Explanation

Currently, I am a divorced mother of three. I have been twice divorced. My children are all girls, ranging from 6 to 16 in age. My youngest is in the first grade, my second in 4th grade, and my eldest in 11th grade.

My children and I live in my parents' house, but we have a private, independent living space in the downstairs area of their house. This situation has assisted me greatly to maintain a roof over our heads, even while being unemployed and receiving Food Stamps and receiving child support. The child support I receive amounts tot $1,400 per month.

I am also currently attending a nursing school in our area, where I have at laest 6 or more credit hours. Although this is with the aim to improve our lives at some point in the future, I have little prospects in terms of helping us escape our current situation. The current welfare system means that, even if I get a temporary job, the income would be offset by losing an equivalent amount from my grant. This would increase the hours that would take me away from caring for my children, while not offering any benefits in return. Hence, I am in no way inspired to search for employment or escape the system that is essentially keeping me in poverty.

From an individual viewpoint, this situation feels as if it causes for me a very personal sense of shame. I am unemployed, receiving grants, and cannot provide a home of our own for my children and myself. On the other hand, by using my sociological imagination, I can widen the context of our experience and connect it to institutions and historical movements that created this situation to begin with.

Sociological Imagination

Conley (2013) mentions feminist movements and how this influences social issues and financial concerns that people are faced with. In my life, I can understand how feminism has influenced my situation. The fact that I was able to extract myself from two successive unhealthy marriages at all is directly related to a social awareness of the ability and right of women to seek happiness and self-fulfilment in their own right. As such, I am not dependent upon a man to help me create a life and future for myself and my children.

Being women themselves, I have no fear that my children will have all the rights and freedoms that they can expect as human beings. I have passports for each of my children. I can also ensure that each of them receives an education so that they can use this to break the chain of poverty that we are currently forced to live with.

As such, feminism is the on positive influence in our lives today. It has given us a society that provides ways for both me and my children to rise above the bonds of poverty, even if this is not as possibility right now.

Having said this, however, my gender (Conley, 2013) tends to play a role in the choices that I have made. Nursing, for example is a relatively typical profession for a woman. It is also not the highest paying profession in the world. Had I been a single father, I may have already had a profession to help me and my daughters survive in a harsh financial environment. Today, gender-related prejudice tends to keep many married women within the home, where their generally accepted role is to care for the home and children.

Hence, although it is a woman's right to divorce her husband, the fact that gender still plays such a major role in the work environment and in terms of salary makes it difficult to do so with great economic power. This is particularly so when children are also involved. Until I have finished my nursing degree, I will not be able to supplement what I receive via grants, because of the system currently in place.

Divorce itself also contributes to the problem. Today, about 40% to 50% of all marriages end in divorce (APA, 2013). The welfare system is currently set up in such a way that many critics have referred to it as a "poverty trap" or a "welfare trap." As mentioned above, my specific situation is that my welfare grant does not remain in place when I get a temporary job. Whatever I am able to bring home in this way will be deducted from my social grant amount. This effectively keeps me in poverty, while also effectively disabling me from rising from poverty while I complete my studies. As such, the social welfare system currently in place forces me to complete my degree before I can offer my family a way out of having to live with my parents.