To understand the world we live in, we must first broaden our scope and understand the structured thinking and patterns of behavior affected in society . The sociological imagination was first developed by C. Wright Mill in the 1950s to help "become aware of the relationships between personal experience and broader society." While individuals think their problems are specific to them, sociology is interested in larger-scale social patterns in society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” » This was Mill's way of understanding the connection between personal difficulties and larger social problems. This means telling us how individuals should shift their perspective rather than simply looking through the tunnel of their own crisis. Mills wants to inspire society to not keep its situations locked in a jar, but rather to open them up and see them as a larger potential problem within society. According to C. Wright Mills' interpretation of private problems and public problems, the relationship between the two is very similar. Most private concerns arise from public issues, whether individuals are aware of them or not. Personal issues are what an individual may feel is their own experience caused by their behavior or failures, which may lead them to blame themselves for their struggle. Public problems are mostly faced by society due to the social structure and culture of society, which reflects as a social problem affecting many individuals. An example of private versus public issues is that a couple may be experiencing financial difficulties with young children, house payments, or other financial demands, but still consider it a personal issue because it is his own business. While the economy may be in a financial crisis as a whole, we prefer to blame the victim rather than the system. A few years ago, a close friend of mine was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa due to bulimia for many years as a teenager. This caused many mental health problems and significantly lowered her self-esteem when she started using social media. I believe the public issue here is the requirement that young women's bodies conform to a particular cultural standard due to beliefs about how women should look to be liked. Teens with eating disorders may feel isolated and think it's their own battle, but society's pressure on cultural body standards is to blame. Not only are it young women who feel the need to be as curvy as a Kardashian, but men may also feel the need to be fit with chiseled bodies to make them more attractive to young women. As our society becomes more and more open to sexuality and gender/transgender, the expectations to “fit in” are that much higher due to the number of likes you will receive on a photo. This pressure created by society has detrimental effects on younger generations, leading to another public problem of suicide. Thanks to Emile Durkhiem's ​​study on suicide, his results on Anomic suicide help us identify if an individual feels disconnected from the,.