Sociological Perspective & Social ImaginationJOSE CARRASCO, ALEXIS TERRAZAS, & MARINA VITALICH

Sociological Perspective

• Perspective on human behavior and its connection to society as a whole.

• Look for connections between the behavior of individual people and the structures of society in which they live.

FailDesk. (2013, January 24). Retrieved February 11, 2015 from

http://faildesk.net/2013/01/24/the-sad-truth-of-modern-human-behavior-comic/

Sociological Perspective

• Involves maintaining objectivity (not being influenced by personal feelings) without depriving ourselves of our values.

• Involves a conscious effort to go beyond the obvious and question what is accepted as true or common sense. Urban, Tim. (2015). Retrieved February 11, 2015

from http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/02/pick-life-partner.html

Theoretical Perspectives

Functionalism: oddly positive way to look at society Conflict Theory: more negative approach and view

of society Symbolic Interactionism: focuses on symbols found

in society, what they mean to us, and how they affect how we interact with others in our society.

Social Imagination

• Coined by the American Sociologist C Wright Mills in 1959. • Mills' definition:

"the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and wider socitey."

• Ability to perceive situations and circumstances in a wide social context.

Social Imagination

• Ability to observe how interactions and actions are influential upon other individuals and situations.

• Ability to "think yourself away from the familiar routines of everyday life" and look at them from an entirely new perspective.

Example of Social Imagination: "Tea Drinking"

In one case, it can be seen as a sign of good health.

It could be considered a tradition or ritual as many people chose to drink tea ritualistically each day at certain times.

It could be considered a type drug being that it contains caffeine and the drinker of the tea could have a caffeine addiction.

It can also be seen as a social activity; "meeting for tea" focuses less on the drinking of the beverage and more on the action

of meeting with another person.

Other Behaviors That Involve Social Imagination

exercising

drinking coffee

cooking

bike riding

running

writing

reading

public speaking

going to college

dropping out of school

working

owning a pet

volunteering

competing in athletic competition

traveling

painting

driving a car

religious practice

giving to charity

*In any case where you think about these issues or activities from

different perspectives from your customary approach is an

example of Social Imagination

Example of Sociological Perspective: Then & Now

Then Now

Works Consulted Writing Assignments. (2013, January 22). Retrieved February 10, 2015, from

https://justmysociologicalimagination.wordpress.com/writing-assignments/ Examples of Sociological Imagination. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9th, 2015, from

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-sociological-imagination.html C. Wright Mills' Sociology. (2005, March 1). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from

http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Mills3.htm Mills, C. Wright. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from

http://legacy.lclark.edu/~goldman Enotes. (2012, March 19). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from

http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-sociology-perspective-324286 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (2014) Retrieved February 9, 2015, from

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/the-sociological-perspective/three-major-perspectives-in-sociology

Your Dictionary. (1996-2015). Retrieved February 10, 2015, from http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-sociological-imagination.html