Social Stratification

Social Stratification

1. Choose a social problem, and explain how the sociological imagination, as defined by C. Wright Mills, can be used to understand the causes and consequences of that problem. Be sure that you address and apply the components of the sociological imagination in your response.
2. Explain what is meant by the terms “ascribed status” and “achieved status.” Discuss a specific example that illustrates how a person’s ascribed status could influence his or her achieved status.
3. Why is socialization so important to the development of our self-concept? Explain the role of socialization in shaping our lives, using at least three concepts from the course material in your explanation.

Sociological imagination is an interaction between an individual and social influences. C. Wright Mills defined sociological imagination as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society (Mills, 2000). It is the capability to come to the realization that the choices people make and their environments are linkages to something larger, like the societies in which they live. The things we do are influenced by the situation we are in, the values we have, and the way people close to us act. These things are assessed based on how they all connect with some outcome. To have an understanding that many of the personal environments are interconnected and that the cause of personal sufferings is by the larger societal structural changes is to have a sociology..

 APA 902 words