Social Imagination - Assignment Example

But on the macro-level, the high rate of unemployment in general is affected by the economy, like in the case of the Great Depression. Another example is the very recent resurgence of anti-nuclear protests caused by the nuclear reactors that leaked in Japan, a result of the recent earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan. That particular issue has caused the people to question the moral basis of the nuclear energy advanced by the Japanese government. This situation created a condition for development of the sociological imagination within the masses that led them to oppose nuclear energy.

However, without social imagination, the individual won’t be able to recognize that these troubles are caused by the structure of society or the failure of one or more society’s institutions. For example, the parents of a homosexual boy are having a hard time to understand the sexual orientation of their son. So the boy left their house to end his agony over his parents. Now the parents enshrouded their minds with pride and acted they do not regret what had happened. The parents failed to understand the sexual orientation of their son and the reasons why he had grown in that kind of preference.

The media, society, and even the parents are the contributing factors to the boy’s sexual orientation. This theory had helped the society link the individual to the social structure. Through this sociological practice, we have a wider perspective on the occurrence of such personal troubles. Answer to Question 2 Emile Durkheim recognizes deviance as an important element in the well-being of the society. He views crime as a challenge and is essential in establishing moral and legal laws. Crime produces social solidarity instead of weakening it.

The lack of crime and deviance would create anomies, a state where norms are confused, unclear or not present at all. Max Weber would agree with Durkheim. According to Deflem (2004), Weber argues that the commission of crime requires a “coercive apparatus does not have to be a political agency; there must simply be a body that applies sanctions, whether bound to the state or not.” Weber’s view about crime can be somewhat similar to Durkheim’s stand. “Crime is normal because it is observed, in some form or another, in all societies.

It is not a demonstration of the wicked nature of man, but, on the contrary, a factor that shows the necessary integrative element in society” (Deflem, 2004). On the other hand, Karl Marx would blame crime on the capitalist system where there is a wide gap between the very few wealthy and the poor majority. He would associate crime with the exploitation by the wealthy of the resources thus controlling the economy. In this situation, the poor people are drawn in doing crime. He views deviance as a problematic issue because the divide in these two populations would increase the insensitivity to economic control.

Answer to Question 3 The different agents of socialization that would influence the child would be the family, peers, media, and the community and culture. Since the child is still an infant, the influence of his mother would greatly affect shaping the child’s behaviour. The behaviour of his parents and his peers would influence the infant’s development to social awareness and the behaviour tendencies. For example if his mother always carry him wherever she may or, or would help him travel to some distance by carrying him, would affect the child to develop independency.

Another agent is peer groups. They influence the child’s behaviour and his preferences. When a child embraces a particular per group, he also embraces the interest of that group. Agents of socialization imbibe culture and cultural values to the child, telling the child of what