Using Sociological Imagination to Examine Me with the Aid of My Family History - Essay Example

Using sociological imagination to examine myself with the aid of my family history Introduction I will not be wrongto say that sociology is a discipline that is worth attention. Through its study one can change his or her view of life. Through sociological imagination my reasoning changed positively for the better of everyone. The public will benefit as personal or individual motives are left. I never knew that I will change my stand on not working for Korea. But having learned on sociological imagination, it is a fact that I cannot wait to graduate to work for this country whose economy is currently at a compromising state. It is a fact that I “think myself away” from normal or familiar daily life routines (Robert and John 33). Thesis statement: Through the analysis of sociological imagination which refers to ability or capacity to shift from one perspective to another perspective, this paper should: Explain how sociological imagination has changed me from examining my family’s income to making comparative assessment of global national budgets, thus being concerned with Korea’s economy (Robert and John 6). Explain how I have shifted to being psychological from being political thus ready to work for Korea despite its war issues of the past. Work and social class Considering my class background I can say I was brought up in a poor family. This is indicated by the fact that my father and mother were poor to an extent of not being able to raise three children thus taking my sister to be raised up by my grandparents. Although my parents were poor, they were actually hard-working making me to realize that poor people should not be neglected but be assisted. My mother ensured that she did not wait for our dad to provide family needs since he is the head of the family. She worked at an insurance company which involved a lot of travelling from one city to another city but she ensured that our house always remained neat. I use to find it awkward when my mum engaged herself in insurance job but with sociological imagination I have discovered that men and women are suppose to work together. Despite the fact that my mother was hard-working I felt neglected since she had no time to be with me. As any other young child, I wanted to be with my mother but this was not achieved. However, when my dad got a better job and left IMF, my mother left her insurance job and became a housekeeper but I was no longer young at that time. Social mobility which is people’s movement from one social class to another was positive since we moved vertically upwards when my father changed his profession. However, we got back to our low class due to International Monetary Fund as seen below. But I currently appreciate the role of IMF since it aids the whole public but not a single home as it aided us as seen below: My father being the head of the family struggled to ensure that our family was successful. He moved from one job to the other looking for greener pasture to make her family happy. First, my father was employed by Samsung Electronics Company. Second, he began owning supplementary educational institute indicating how he was hard-working as upward social mobility was seen. He also did his parental roles of advising his children. He used to tell us to work hard in school in order to join his education institute. Nevertheless his hard-work was destroyed by the coming of International Monetary Fund which made many people jobless thus making the social mobility to be downwards (Robert and John 7). I was very disappointed as we were made poor again and yet our class had begun to rise making me to hate International Monetary Fund (IMF). The painful part of it was that my father ended in a leasing service job thus beginning from the bottom again and yet he had improved in terms of class. Since I know the services of International Monetary Fund I appreciate its role to the public despite what it caused to my family. Culture and socialization Our family being an agent of socialization was deprived its role. Agents of socialization are those things that affect our socialization process such as family, school and society (Robert and John 3). Due to poverty, my parents were not able to raise three young children making them to take my elder sister who was six years old to my grand parents. This child missed parental love since she was taken out of her parents at tender age. However, when she was eight years old she came back. She had roles like those of a mother being a first born child since she took care of us as parents struggled to make life worth living for us. My grandparents went against their beliefs to ensure they had happy families. Beliefs refer to psychological state where people hold certain premises or propositions to be true (Robert and John 8). In my culture it is believed that women are suppose to wait for their husbands to provide for their families. However, my grandmother engaged herself in farming with my grandfather to ensure that they were able to take care of their seven children. Since they were busy in the farms, I think the seven children lacked parental care as parents were busy in the farms. However, my grandmother left farming when my grandfather got a better job thus conforming to norms of our culture. Norms refer to expectations of behavior held by social group. However, their happiness did not last since Korean War began in 1950, when they were five years only in marriage. My grandparents lived in Seoul before they were moved by war to Southern Korea. Due to such strain caused by war they became poor despite the fact that they work hard making me to conclude that the poor need our attention. My grand father was part of Korean army during that time. After the end of the war, my father was born in 1952. When I was told the story, I was astonished since it is evidently seen that if my grandfather was killed during the war I could not be alive or my family could not be there. But with sociological imagination I realize that even if my grandfather was to die for the benefit of Korean citizens, there could be no problem (Robert and John 17). Social movements They refer to informal groups of organizations or individuals who carry out certain social or political activities (Robert and John 25). To participate in social movements, one really needs to be a social activist. I have seen this from my father’s father; my grandfather. My father’s father who survived Korean War as he was in the army did a lot of social roles during his time. He owned a taxicab company after leaving farming making him to know how to treat employees by being social with them to learn more from them. Stories tell that he was strict and conservative but social with his employees. This could be a reason that he was able to raise seven children even in times of war. Being a social activist, he solved employees’ issues tactfully whenever they arise. He was able to manage his leasing service and bathhouse being a social activist. His time was dedicated to his siblings and his employees in the company hence attaining material success. Ethnicity and Race Race refers to groups of people who have socially significant similarities and differences in biological characteristics; similarities and differences in skin color. Robert and John recognize that ethnicity refers to learned shared cultural distinctions, cultural perspectives and cultural practices which differentiate one group of people from other groups (34). My mother’s father was a high class person who was not ethnic or a racist. He was too social to people making one to appreciate his unique character. He was not a racist since he had friends from varied ethnic groups. He used to visit his family members including our family despite the fact that we were poor. He had no biasness in terms of class. I use to like associating with him as I could visit him more than twice in a month. Since he liked keeping fit we could climb the mountain which I could really enjoy. I used to feel bitter when he interacted with people from ethnic groups which caused wars in Korea which contributed to viscous poverty in our extended family. Since travelling is part of my hobbies, I could visit my grandfather’s house frequently. Based on his simplicity, no one could agree that he was once the chief National Police Agency in the era of Japanese Ruling. Being nice and kind to people he started as a mere police and ended attaining his position. With the knowledge on sociological imagination, I can now see the reason as to why my grandfather was not a racist and I will also not be a racist since we need one another on earth for development to be achieved (Robert and John 45). Conclusion It is real that most of my family members have undergone hard times due to poverty, war eras and suffering from economic depression. These stories had made me to fear working in Korea after my graduation. However, with the knowledge of sociological imagination I view working in Korea as an opportunity to aid the society. I am no longer scared with the view of many that the economy of Korea is worst currently since I know Korea needs my services as a graduate. Works cited Robert Brym and John Lie. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 2nd Edition. University of Toronto: Berkeley, 2007. Read More