Social Institutions - Essay Example

On the other hand, those who do not realize the relationships will not live better lives since they will not be able to make the desired changes. This is the concept of social imagination. Thus, this expose seeks to determine the use of social imagination in understanding the family’s use of newspaper. Mills identified the field of social imagination as one that helped individuals understand the history of their society, which eventually helped the individual engage in their society instead of living lives isolated from other members of the society.

In effect, this perspective about social imagination by Mill’s emphasizes the reason a family uses a newspaper. In this regard, the newspaper is one of the ways people get to know of the current affairs and trends in society. This way, a family’s use of a newspaper will help them connect with the rest of the society and keep them away from isolation. Elwell defined social imagination as the quality of the mind to “grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society.

” In this regard, a family would use the newspaper in order for them to get information that helps them have a grasp of the history of a society since the newspaper contains information related to the history of a society. Using the information relating to the society's's history, a family relates the history and their current society. Hence, the information helps the family to become fully functional in their setup and more involved in the affairs of their society. According to Krieken et al.

, some situations in life are a result of social forces, which are not within the control of an individual. However, it is evident that some individuals may view some of these situations as consequences of their own actions. In this regard, a family may use the knowledge of social imagination to identify the causes of such situations as effects of the malfunctioning society. In effect, a family will use newspapers to identify the malfunctioning society and acquire an insight to solve these social issues affecting the society together with other members of the society.

In conclusion, it is important for individuals to understand the importance of the sociological imagination in order to acquire the necessary skills for improving their lives in the society. In this case, social imagination is the argument that helps individuals to address the problems facing their societies. In a family setup, the family uses a newspaper in order for them to remain updated about the current affairs, which enables them remain connected with the whole society. In addition, newspapers help the family understand the history of the society and relate the history with the current occurrences in the society.

Finally, a family may think that the problems they have been a result of their own activities. However, newspapers make them understand that the problems result from the malfunctioning societies and effectively work to solve these problems with the other members of the society. Works Cited Elwell, Frank. The Sociology of C. Wright Mills. 2005. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. < http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Mills/>. Krieken, Robert. Philip Smith, Daphne Habibis, Kevin McDonald, Michael Haralambos, and Martin Holborn.

 Sociology Themes and Perspectives. 2nd Ed. Melbourne: Longman, 2000. Print. Mills, Wright C. The Sociological Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959. Print. Short answer