Sociological Imagination

While a person is able to control some of his life chances and opportunities, some things are given, or ascribed, to them that are beyond their control. For example, if a person is not born into the upper elite class, there is very little chance that he will ever make it there, regardless of his income or wealth. There are many factors that combine to shape a person’s life chances and lifestyle. The two main factors include the sociological imagination and social stratification.
The sociological imagination can be explained in different ways. Quite simply, it tries to connect one’s individual biography with his or her history and structure. What people need, according to Mills, “is a quality of mind that will help them use information and to develop reason� to better understand the world and “what may be happening within themselves� (Mills 2002, 8). In order to fully possess the sociological imagination, one must be aware of his position within social structure and the opportunities and/or limitations that a specific position creates.
Social structure is the framework that shapes but doesn’t necessarily determine our lives. Charon states, “our position in each social structure influences much of what we d

Our society is structured in a very status-oriented manner, placing a great deal of importance on the position one holds in society. So, to make it easier to identify and recognize others, we developed “classes”. Traditionally, there were three principle classes consisting of the upper, middle, and lower. More recently, however, Purrucci and Wysong (2002) devised a “double diamond” illustration of American social class which consists of two classes rather than the traditional three. It divides people between the privileged class and those lacking privilege. The significance of this new class structure is the evidence of a rise in a new class position known as the contingent class. According to Purrucci and Wysong, “the contingent class makes up about 80% of all Americans. These are people who work for wages in clerical and sales jobs, personal services, and transportation and as skilled craft workers, machine operators, and assemblers. Members of this group are often college graduates” (Purrucci and Wysong 2002, 150).

When a child is born, there are certain things he is born with that he cannot change. For example, I was born a white male in the middle class. On top of that, I am the oldest of five children. While my race, gender, and class have all played a role in my life chances, the number of children in our family has played the biggest role in the opportunities and chances that we have received. To show this, I will use my mother. She graduated from Northeastern University in Massachusetts with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in psychology. She then went on to get her Master’s of Clinical Social Work (MSW) from Michigan State University, graduating in 1979 with a 4.0 GPA. Obviously, she was well on her way to having a very well-paying career. However, in 1983, she became pregnant with me and decided to quit her full-time job to be a stay-at-home mom. After having me, she proceeded to have four more children all within seven years. With five children to