Sociological imagination

Sociological imagination

The sociological imagination is the ability to see personal troubles within an informed concept of society. It defines itself in various concepts intertwined, such as integrating biographically, social, and historical elements to expand an issue or an issue being addressed. Using the three elements, a person can move outside their self-centered and restricted perception of personal troubles (Treviño, 2017). He or she could understand how socially their problems connect to others in the society, historically how the experiences could have caused or contributed to the current situation, and biographically how individual experiences could lead to the situation being addressed.

COVID-19 pandemic left me unemployed. I started feeling defeated, discouraged, and depleted. I could look into the mirror and blame myself for my job loss. Sociological imagination explains that my joblessness stems from the aspect of society. The high unemployment rate in 2020 stems from the severe economic crisis caused by the pandemic. Millions of people lost their job, which is not their fault. Although some people are unemployed because they are lazy or do not have good work habits, a structural explanation that emphasizes the lack of opportunity is required to understand how so many people are out of work in 2020.

Sociological imagination states that unemployment is a public issue rather than a personal challenge. Research indicates that 1 in 6 young people stopped working since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who remained working had their shift hours cut by twenty-three percent. Young people faced many hardships such as training and education disruptions, income and employment losses, and greater difficulty getting a job. Based on the study, it is possible to relate my employment loss to society’s broader issues due to the pandemic.