SOC220 Social Problems

A social problem that seems important to me is “suicide”. Suicide is the result of  any positive or negative action undertaken by victim himself. The consequences of such action are already known to the victim e.g. consuming poison, starvation etc.

The problem of suicide is socially constructed as forces causing suicide are the result of decline of mechanical solidarity and slow rise of organic solidarity due to Division of labour and industrialism. These forces of integration and regulation have affected all social classes.

Altruistic suicide takes place when social purpose overweighs individual life and individualism is negligible e.g. suicide bombers. Egoistic suicide happens where individualism is very high and the integration between individual and society is not strong e.g. suicide resulting from stress. Anomic suicide takes place in transitory situation where normlessness and hopelessness are widely prevalent e.g. rate of suicide increased in great economic depression in Europe in 1930. Fatalistic suicide is the result of high regulation of individual by the society e.g. slaves’ suicide in ancient society.

The problem of suicide can be alleviated by proper counselling of the people so that they don’t resort to depression or anxiety. Education in this matter can play an influential role. Familial or peer pressure need to be taken care of. Various NGOs can play an important by offering help and support to people who feel suicidal.

As per estimates of World Health Organization, suicide is the reason for death of over 1 million people every year. Various factors include depression, substance abuse, poverty, domestic violence, etc.

A social problem that I and some of my close friends had faced is “unemployment”. Analysing this issue on the micro level, I used to blame myself for not dedicated towards my goals. Sometimes I felt very disheartened. However, if we look at the problem of unemployment on the macro level, there are thousands of other people who are facing the same issue. The problem of unemployment was not limited only to me. As such, I felt the need to understand the issue in context of society and stop blaming myself.

As per Mills’ concept of sociological imagination, every problem faced by an individual is not unique to him/her and has roots in society as a whole. The same problem is faced by a lot of other people. Along with this, the sociological imagination can be applied to any behaviour e.g. drinking a cup of coffee can be analyzed from different perspectives like addiction towards coffee or an energy booster.

In the conclusion, I can say that the concept of sociological imagination helped me see the social problem of unemployment through a wider lens. It definitely widened my view.

References:

• Durkheim, E., Spaulding, J. A., & In Simpson, G. (1966). Suicide: A study in sociology.
• Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination.
• Lubell KM (2006). Suicide and youth violence prevention: the promise of an integrated approach.
  
  

Youth suicide prevention: Mental health and public health perspectives. (2003). Los Angeles: School Mental Health Project, Center for Mental Health in Schools. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED478357).

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