From Private Troubles to Structural Issues- Unveiling Societal Challenges through the Sociological Imagination

From Private Troubles to Structural Issues- Unveiling Societal Challenges through the Sociological Imagination

The sociological comprehension of social problems depends intensely on the idea of sociological imagination by C. Wright Mills. Private trouble or personal trouble or biography alludes to an issue that affects a person. The individual and society normally fault it on the person’s own unique and moral shortcomings (Mills 2000). C. Wright Mills described private problems as issues experienced within the individual’s personality and the scope of their close relation to other people. One example of private trouble is an eating disorder.

Factors that can explain how and why private trouble may reflect a society’s structural problem

Society usually considers an eating disorder a private issue that stems from low self-esteem, absence of self-control, or other personal matters. However, this elaboration doesn’t clarify why so many people have private troubles that result in eating disorders. All the more critically, this conviction disregards the larger structural forces that assist in defining these disorders (Greenwood 2019).

For instance, in America, a large percentage of people with dietary disorders are women. To begin to explain why most people with nutritional disorders are women, the general public needs to take a gander at the standards of beauty that emphasize women having a thin body. Assuming such social standards didn’t exist, fewer women would experience the ill effects of such disorders.  Regardless of whether those women who experience the ill effects of eating disorders are cured, as long as the beauty standards exist, more women will take their place as young girls grow up and are subject to the pressures of being beautiful. Consequently, when viewed through such lenses, eating disorders are not just a personal problem but also a public issue.

Potential Solutions to This Problem for Both the Individual and the Society.

Regarding eating disorders and other private troubles, society will, in general, have confidence in blaming the individual as opposed to blaming the system. This blaming of the victim approach focuses on finding solutions to social issues distinct from those recommended by a more structural methodology that faults the system (Greenwood 2019).  By criticizing the victim, society spends its limited resources to address individual failures of people like, in this case, eating disorders. However, if society were to blame the system, attention would be shifted to different social conditions, such as the beauty standards and beauty content shown on mainstream media, which account for these problems.

Theoretical Perspective Lens That Can be Applied to Solve Private Trouble: Eating Disorders.

Of the three theoretical perspectives, conflict theory is the most effective in solving eating disorders. Conflict theory’s view on social problems is that they emerge from essential flaws in the society’s structure and together mirror and support inequalities dependent on gender, social class, religion, and race, among different attributes (Jamrozik et al., 1998). According to the conflict theory, practical solutions to social issues like eating disorders must involve an extensive change in the society’s structure, which in this particular case is the beauty standards and production of healthy foods.

In conclusion, societal structures influence individuals in various ways. One of the impacts of societal structures is private troubles, which manifest in several ways. Accordingly, private trouble might manifest itself as eating disorders resulting from the standard societal structure on beauty. Subsequently, to fit this standard, most women resort to drastic measures resulting in an eating disorder; consistently, the solution must address both the women and society to solve these cases in society. Further, various approaches can be applied as retribution to these issues, including the conflict theory.

References

Greenwood, S. (2019). What’s the problem? Making sense of public issues and private troubles.

Mills, C. W. (2000). The sociological imagination. Oxford University Press.

Jamrozik, A., & Nocella, L. (1998). The sociology of social problems: theoretical perspectives and methods of intervention. Cambridge University Press.

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Using our sociological imagination can allow trained professionals the opportunity to solve structural issues in American society. Keeping this in mind, please address the following issues in essay form.

1)Select an example of a “private trouble” and
2)What factors/evidence would you use to explain how and why it may reflect a structural problem in society?

3)What are some potential solutions to this problem, both for the individual and the group to which they belong?
4)Which theoretical perspective lens would you apply to solve this issue: functionalism, conflict theory, or symbolic interactionism? Why?
Please use academic journals, course text, and/or scholarly articles to support your claim.