Brittany Watson
Edward Curtin
Sociology 100
Response to Reading
October 2, 2014

While reading “Hernando Washington” by Lisa J. McIntyre, there was three key terms that the author talked about: Sociological imagination, Social milieu, and Social facts. During this course I never understood how I was going to connect the terms I was learning in class to real life, until this reading. At the end of the reading the author really breaks down the reasons, how these terms we use in sociology today relate to the Hernando case. Sociological imagination “allows us to make connections between individuals and the societies in which they live in” Hernando lacked this skill which resolved in him killing Sarah Gould, because he couldn’t understand there were differences between his milieu where he grew up, and the milieu Sarah came from. Where Hernando was from and the society he grew up in shaped his mind set and made him think different then Sarah, this is when social fact come in, Social facts are ways that people act or think relatable to society. For example if you grow up in a place where people who do crime and never get punished, most people will do crimes and think they can get away with it. Just like Hernando thought because the guy who killed his brother never got caught, or how his sister was raped nothing was done. Hernando might have had mental problems but there is a story behind it, and that’s when sociologist come in and figure out why, who and what. After reading this I really can now understand how sociology is related to life, also how a lot of people who make wrong decisions there is always a story behind it, and it’s up to sociologists to figure out that