Defining personal troubles, public issues?

Question

I am trying to write an essay relating to personal troubles, public issues as defined by C.W.Mills but I am unable to do this with an academic tone. My understanding is that a personal trouble is to do with the individual and their character when they perceive their values to be threatened, this then transforms into a public issue when it relates to significant numbers of people perceiving their values to be threatened. I am looking for clarification of what personal troubles/public issues are and assistance with putting this into layman's terms without using the terminology used by Mills

Answer 1

I would say the difference is mainly about numbers of people affected, and subsidiarily about how they respond. Take the example of sexual abuse of children. When an individual Catholic priest abused a child 20-30 years ago, it was a personal trouble for both of them. When it emerged that a considerable number of Catholic priests had abused many children, it became a public issue.

I said 'about how they respond' because public issues are ones that politicians, the media, or pressure groups do or are asked to get involved in They are issues brought into the public domain. So even if fifty people have the same problem with their boss, so long as it remains within a ring of confidentiality in the office it does not become a public issue.

Answer 2

Public Issue Definition

Answer 3

It looks to me like you shouldn't have a problem. I think you have a pretty firm grasp on the concepts, and as long as you're coherent and readable, who cares if you have an "academic tone"? Okay, so the teacher might, but I personally much prefer to read something that accurately expresses what the writer thinks than something cluttered up with academic jargon.

I think the only potential stumbling block that you have right now is the focus on values. It's been a while since I read the essay on personal troubles/public issues but I seem to recall that they aren't necessarily value-oriented (at least for the personal troubles thing). For instance, my personal trouble might be that I live in a poor community whose drinking water is unsafe thanks to pollution from a nearby chemical plant. This may then become a public issue when my community organizes (based on our shared personal troubles) and takes it to the court system on environmental grounds.

Thus, I think that a personal trouble may just be something that an individual doesn't like in their life (regardless of their values), while it often gets transformed into a general (sometimes normative) value judgment when it becomes a public issue.

Of course, as I said it's been a while since I read this article, so you should definitely do a close read on the personal trouble/public issues section to make sure that I'm not confused.

Good luck with your essay!

Answer 4

I've searched to no avail, but i think a personal trouble is more to do with emotional trauma, whereas public issues are to do with upholding your civil rights. how's that.