ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 : The Sociological Imagination and Human Rights Policing introduces the sociological imagination as a tool for understanding people and the world they inhabit. We offer a brief discussion on the meaning of the sociological imagination and how to use it when looking at people and their community. Since we, as authors, serve the discipline of criminology, we offer examples from criminology to discuss how to use the sociological imagination to understand the world beyond the subjective experiences of our own lives. The chapter strives to impart the sociological imagination upon readers so they can use it to better understand their communities, and, further, better protect and serve them while conducting police work. We continue with a discussion on the relationship between storytelling and human rights. People have the right to tell their own stories, but oftentimes, academics, journalists, and various media platforms strip people of their voice and right to self-representation, leading to violations of human rights and dignity. In the end, we ask the reader to apply the lessons learned in this chapter on the sociological imagination to a member of the community in which you experienced a negative interaction, or to someone you have arrested, to tell the story of the “other” from the perspective of the community member to capture the actor’s point of view.
