Mill's Sociological Imagination

A society has the power to shape one’s life, and has importance of connecting one’s life to history and society (Mills, 1959). In this essay, I will be explaining the idea of C. Wright Mill’s Sociological Imagination, and how sociological imagination allows us to see a wider idea of society. I will also discuss the social forces which cause suicide, the different types of suicide and how sociological imagination is involved in the understanding of suicide. This essay will be supported by numerous readings which have supported and elaborated on Mill’s Sociological Imagination, included will be an explanation as to why suicide is not looked at in a psychological perspective.

Mill states that sociological imagination is having the potential

Mills (1959) Theorised that every individual was shaped by the society they lived in, and vice versa, to a certain extent so did people help shape their society to suit them, “By the fact of this living, he contributes, however minutely, to the shaping of society and to the course of its history, even as he is made by society and by its historical push and shove.” (Mills, 1959: 12). With saying that, sociological imagination allowed people to receive necessary expertise and skills of comprehension to engage in political issues. Mills’ ‘Personal troubles of Milieu’ is all troubles and issues that individuals experience, however sociological imagination enables people to see that it is actually the structure and arrangements of societies, as well as failure of institutions in a society that cause an individual to experience troubles and issues (Mills, 1959). In a society, privileged people believe in individual responsibilities and controlling their own lives, however the less privileged see aspects such as race, culture, class and gender as fundamental factors in shaping their lives. Troubles are defined as problems which are privately felt from an individual and would come from events, situations or feelings in one’s own life, however, issues affect a larger number of people, and would originate in societal arrangements and

Protestants were more likely to commit suicide, as a religious and biblical view, Catholics believe to take one’s own life is a sin and will prevent them from entering heaven. In Catholism, there is a strong social and community connecting, whereas Protestants are seen as having individualistic personalities. If a catholic person hits a difficult time in his/her life, he/she is able to turn to a number of people for help or advice, therefore having a great support system, whereas a protestant is not able to do so, nor have a support system. Men are generally more impulsive than women, and tend to do without thinking when emotions take control, this is one of the reasons, although not very validated, why men are more likely to commit suicide than women. Studies from the World Health Organisation found that men who had committed suicide had assumed alcohol, which puts them in a different thinking