When speaking of any social phenomenon, it is a common mistake to consider an issue in isolation from a variety of external factors that may either mitigate or aggregate the outcome. Hence, in the 20th century, C. Wright Mills, an American sociologist, coined the term “sociological imagination,” meaning the process of correlating personal experience to a wider social experience such as national peculiarities (Shields, 2017). However, over the years, this definition has evolved into a more sophisticated and contextualized endeavor, which depends on a variety of factors, including modern sociological advancements and globalization.
To understand the idea of sociological imagination more deeply, it is necessary to provide an example of how various factors may influence a certain social issue. For instance, suicide, as one of the most challenging and severe social problems, cannot be unified by a single cause or precedent people experience before deciding to terminate one’s life deliberately. However, many people still seem to assume that the ones committing or attempting to commit suicide are generally dissatisfied and frustrated.
When reflecting on the issue of suicide, it should be mentioned that suicide risk rates are significantly correlated with the notion of gender. Hence, according to the most recent statistical data, women make more suicide attempts, while the suicide rate in men is generally higher (Indu et al., 2020). Simultaneously to this research, the World Health Organization’s data shows that violence is mostly exposed in relation to women within a family, resulting in one out of every three women suffering from domestic violence worldwide (Kavak et al., 2018). Hence, considering these facts, it is necessary to put the notion of suicide risk in perspective when related to the issue of domestic violence.
One of the studies in the field demonstrates that women experiencing domestic violence are at higher risk of struggling with such mental dysfunctions as severe depression, anxiety disorder, and stress disorder (Kavak et al., 2018). When looking at major mental precedents for suicide, one may notice a coincidence, as depression and stress are considered to play a significant role in one’s decision to commit suicide (CDC, 2021). As a result, it may be concluded that domestic violence and suicide risk are related, as the former social issue catalyzes the latter.
In an attempt to define the connection through the prism of sociological imagination, a group of researchers decided to conduct a study estimating the sociological peculiarities contributing to the females’ rates of suicide exposure (Indu et al., 2020). In terms of the research, such notions as education, employment, and age were taken into consideration to define major behavioral patterns. Yet, they lost their relevance as soon as it was defined that the overwhelming majority of female suicide attempters were suffering from domestic violence (Indu et al., 2017). Considering the data, it would be safe to assume that women had a higher risk of attempting suicide because psychological distress made them feel like they had no other option to avoid the ongoing abuse. However, such attempts, when detected timely, might be averted with the help of immediate psychological intervention. Taking into account the aspects of domestic violence and suicide, it may be concluded that sociological imagination helps identify and assess the issue so it could be prevented by presenting proper solutions and training.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (2021). Suicide prevention: Fast facts.
Indu, P. V., Remadevi, S., Vidhukumar, K., Shah Navas, P. M., Anilkumar, T. V., & Subha, N. (2020). Domestic violence as a risk factor for attempted suicide in married women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(23-24), 5753-5771. Web.
Kavak, F., Aktürk, Ü., Özdemir, A., & Gültekin, A. (2018). The relationship between domestic violence against women and suicide risk. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 32(4), 574-579.
Shields, R. (2017). Expanding the borders of The Sociological Imagination: Spatial difference and social inequality.Current Sociology, 65(4), 533-552.