Sociological Imagination
Nicole Badders
Galen College of Nursing
Professor Sanjay

Sociological Imagination Social Imagination is defined as the ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces (Conley, 2012, 5). C.Wright Mills’s theory was thought to help us connect what happens to us on a personal level to what is happening to society as a greater whole. This concept can be seen as a way to also help us realize we are not alone in our struggles and decisions. I will be using this concept and applying it to a situation that I went through almost twelve years ago, when I married my husband just two weeks after I graduated high school.
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These things were what we were used to. When we married we moved into a very tiny one room apartment like home on his parents 5 acres. We were responsible for our own income and how we chose to use our money. This was another culture shock I had in my life. I went from an upper class status to what is considered “underclass.” However, we were told we made to much money to receive any state benefits. So, technically we could be considered “working class.” Working Class is defined as the social stratum, usually of low status, that consists of those who earn wages, especially as manual workers (free dictionary.com). Brian worked at his father’s garage as a mechanic. I got a job answering phones at a doctor’s office. This financial stress caused strain in our marriage just as it would in any relationship. This put us at an increased risk for divorce, not only because of our age but because of our social status. In 2001, only 9.1% of women getting married were fifteen to nineteen years of age. There were 83,473 divorces reported to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in 2001, an increase of 2.1% from the year 2000. The National Center for Health Statistics reported the U.S. divorce rate for the 2001 a calendar year is 47.6% of new marriages per capita (userninche.com). This statistic is one that we could have easily fallen under. Most marriages do not last past the first year; this is not even taking age and economic status into