Sociology

Understanding the human psyche in relation to the elements that surround its existence is one of the basic yet significant principles that Carl Jung has contributed to human psychology. However, Jungian psychology is not that simple it requires a complex understanding of the process of individuation, archetypes, and motifs. These concepts may be easily understood by analyzing myths and folktales. Using three folktales from different cultures, this paper examines how Jungian principles truly apply to the life of common people.

One of the folktales chosen is Nathaniel Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown. This story talks about the transformation he undergoes as he takes a journey into a forest. The second story is from China titled, The Fisherman and His Wife. This story presents Chinese beliefs about extraordinary elements that co-exist with humans. The third story is titled, The Farmer and the Goddess, a story that reflects Wiccan tradition. These three stories strongly present Jungian principles of the process of individuation, archetypal symbols, and motifs.

The three stories illustrate Campbellian monomyth form, though stages to the journey are limited. The heroes of the story all take a journey into the unknown realm and later experience individuation. Young Goodman Brown closely adheres to the stages of the heros journey that Campbell (1948) posits. The main character identified as Young Goodman Brown is the hero of the story. In the beginning, he bids his wife goodbye as he takes on a journey into the forest. This illustrates the call to adventure. Young Goodman does not reveal to his wife where he is going, and why he must leave her. All he says is that his journey must needs be done twixt now and sunrise. This implies the mystery and secrecy of his affair. Once the journey is started, Young Goodmans journey unravels different stages as Campbell proposes, including supernatural aid and the initiation. The evil creature that accompanies him bears a staff which bore the likeness of a great black snake. reflects his evilness and power. The image of the snake is an archetypal symbol which suggests the snake in the Garden of Eden, hence the evil that lured Eve to commit sin. This element foreshadows the tragedy that the hero submits to. Next, Young Goodman undergoes the three-stage initiation process. First is the road of trials where he sees the pillars of the Church on their way to the evil ritual. He is very disappointed to see that the very people he and the community trusted are actually the leaders of the cult. The second stage, the meeting with the goddess, is when he sees his wife Faith in the ritual. Particularly, seeing his wife submitting to the ritual of the cult makes him feel defeated. Faith, who is the symbol of all that is positive in Young Goodmans life is also taken, thus connoting the heros defeat.

The end of the story deviates from Campbells idea of a victorious hero but submits to one that fails. As Campbell claims, an initiation hero can be slain by an opponent and descend in death (17). The idea of death, which is another mythological theme, is not physical dying in Young Goodman Brown. Rather, it is spiritual death, one that disallows a person to continue with his life with certainty and freedom. The Fisherman and His Wifeual death that Goodman suffers from causes him to fail in attaining the ultimate boon and the freedom to live and love. This is basically caused by his disappointment with the high clergymen of his town, and could be attributed to his youth (which is why he is called Young Goodman).

In the Chinese folklore, The Fisherman and His Wife, the hero, a fisherman, undergoes the similar process of initiation. He encounters a dwarf called Little Three who serves as his supernatural guide to the initiation process. Like Young Goodman, he undergoes the road of trials, where he needs to control his breathing, swim with the dwarf, and keep the secret to himself. Likewise, he experiences meeting with the goddess, and in his case, it is also his wife. This is where the fisherman fails. He does not anticipate what his wife wants, and after telling her the truth, the process of initiation stops, disallowing the hero to fulfill his mission of living in prosperity.

In the Wiccan story, The Farmer and the Goddess, the hero is able to fulfill his mission. Like Young Goodman and the fisherman, he too undergoes the process of initiation and meeting with the goddess. The farmer is troubled by the drought that his country experiences. He expresses grief, saying, Yes, the corn which I had helped to birth - that which I had loved so dearly - was gone. Dried up. Dead. This reflects the tribulation that he undergoes as part of the initiation. In his dire position, he encounters a goddess. This time the goddess is a fairy who dances in his cornfield to produce rain. The gracefulness of the goddess helps him attain atonement. Experiencing beauty, he stops crying over his cornfields and later achieves the ultimate boon.

The three stories also subscribe to Jungs idea of archetypal symbols. Basically, the stories use things found in nature to elaborate the themes. Young Goodman Brown uses the forest as the place for the initiation. The forest, with its trees, nocturnal animals, darkness, and fog, symbolizes the mystery of the journey and even the evilness of the ritual that Goodman intends to attend. Interestingly, The Fisherman and His Wife makes use of the sea and the fishes that represent the prosperity and reward that one can get by keeping secrets and doing things as told. In The Farmer and the Goddess, the author also uses the cornfield, the big tree, and the rain as archetypal symbols to represent abundance in nature. These symbols help produce an atmosphere of authenticity and cultural tradition. They embody the agricultural life from where the stories originate. With such symbols, readers gain impression of the simple life in the countryside. The elements of nature which serve as the peoples main sources of living signify either famine or bountythe common aspects of peoples lives.

One archetype that deserves much attention is the use of the night. In particular, the initiation process that the heroes undergo happens during nighttime. This brings us to question, What is it in the night that makes fiction authors use it to unravel a heros journey or trial According to Jung, (1999), the night symbolizes evil, mystery, darkness or death. In common sense, the events that take place in the stories are supposed to happen in secrecy, thus it is important to have them occur during nighttime. Mystery is achieved in this sense but apart from mystery, the night also suggests the weakness of the protagonist, considering that it is more difficult to see things in darkness than in light. In line with this weakness is the foreshadowing of death or failure or an unexpected victory. Furthermore, the night is used to signify the evilness of purpose in Young Goodman Brown. The cult cannot do its ritual in broad daylight because doing so will destroy the reputation of the churchs leaders. In contrast, in The Fisherman and His Wife and The Farmer and the Goddess, the night is used not for evilness of purpose but for pure secrecy. The husband needs to keep the secret from his wife to remain in good faith with The Fisherman and His Wife while in the other story, the fairy will not show herself to the people other than the sobbing farmer. Overall, the use of the night makes the story more interesting and mystery-laden.

Other archetypal symbols add to the mystery of the stories. In Young Goodman Brown, the evil guide with the big staff suggests the angel of death. His presence in the story implies a warning to Young Goodman of the terrible fate that awaits him. In The Fisherman and His Wife, the dwarf or unknown spirit also adds to the mystery and makes the readers shiver with both fear and interest. Likewise, in The Farmer and the Goddess, the fairy makes the heros experience mythical and strange.

The similar motifs that the archetypal symbols represent illustrate Bastians concept of the psychic unity of mankind. With the symbols from nature, the stories similarly relate human exploration of nature. Young Goodman enters the forest, the fisherman unseen in the deep sea, catches some fish, while the farmer hides under the big tree to witness a strange occurrence. The similar use of nature to bring out the mystery reflects the psychic unity that people feel towards nature. Although the stories come from different parts of the world (U.S., China and England, respectively), they reflect a similar treatment of nature. They show how people see nature with mystery, challenge, abundance or danger.

Another universal theme that reflects psychic unity is related to the use of the night. As discussed above, people regardless of their origin, see the night as a time associated with a persons initiation. The heroes initiations happen overnight. Although the first two stories show inability to attain the boon while the third one ends in the heros success, all three stories present an overnight experience that leads the characters to realize some truths about life. Everything happens in the middle of the night Young Goodman Brown learns about the hypocrisy of the churchs leaders, the fisherman sees the value of keeping a secret, and the farmer learns to trust and thank nature for its goodness.
The similar idea that people go through a process of initiation to achieve a good end is likewise illustrated as another psychic unity true at least in the three cultures represented. Although there are some similarities in stages, the three cultures support the truth regarding the road of trials, the meeting with the goddess, and the desire to achieve the ultimate boon. Likewise, the stories also reveal the universal desire of the people to achieve freedom. In Young Goodman Brown, Hawthorne reflects the desire to live in truth and love, while the Chinese and the Wiccan story, the authors long for freedom from hunger and worry.

Reading stories from different cultures is a good way to understand different people. More than this however, a good grasp of Jungs archetypes can help further recognize cultural details, and the writers underlying thoughts and images. In particular, the common use of natural elements and of the night suggests the way people regard the elements around them while the common theme of heros initiation implies the way people perceive the occurrences that they go through in life.

The term modern can be seen to refer to the consciousness of an epoch that would involve and relate itself wholly to the former events thus embracing a look shaped by the transition features from the past to the current. Modernity is characterized by a generation that is literally in motion towards refashioning their world to fit their revolving interests. This generation rejects and opposes the past with a great passion filled with a thirst to conquer new empires (Lyotard, 1991). The motion into the unknown conquest field is done with one hand armed with pen and professionalism while the other hand is armed with sword and acrimony. The spirit of modernity started with an urge of liberalization and equality but resulted to death of many innocent lives. The era was camouflaged in religious causes through which millions sought to have their lives re-branded for eternal good, and therefore its path was unstoppable. The propagators of modernity conquered nature with all its values in their yearning to put an end to poverty and homelessness. This raised the population of the World to great levels of prosperity and high levels of power. However, the remaining part of the world was left in abject poverty and misery. It left behind great scars including the famous First and Second World Wars, the holocaust and the scramble for colonial mastery (Rawls, 2002). Modernity brought in the possibility of industrial age which was the main driving force of the worlds main development agenda, and continues to promise more perks as the information age and advanced technology take up the stage. The developmental agenda sparked up by the spirit of modernity has been used as a bait to call over the rest of the world in joining the momentum of civilization and economic progress. This has brought about unfair competition that has elicited the emergence of a more divided world characterized by overpopulation, poverty and misery (Rawls, 2002). The world has also continuously been threatened by the technology advancement brought by the struggles to achieve modern status.
The term postmodernity, on the other hand, refers to the socio-economic or cultural status that a community is seen to express after the modernity era. In addition, postmodernity can refer to an individuals self response to a community whose values are considered post modernized (Lyotard, 1991). The concept of postmodernity is a more current deity that is shaping up from the values set up by modernity. Its main agenda is to assure freedom for the society from the many aspects that lender communities enslaved. Postmodernity promises a more heterogeneous world where there will be no racism, ethnicity and dominance from some quarters. It is aimed at correcting the wrongs brought about by modernity, effectively opening doors for those who felt left out by the move. However, postmodernity has brought its own excesses with most of its supporters coming from outside Europe who consider having nothing much to loose through their attacks on the establishment. Postmodernity in essence seems to bring an end to ideologies staged by imperialists and socialists (Lyotard, 1991). However, it also posses a threat to nationalist ideas and sets a stage for criticism of global capitalism, underestimating its renown resilience.

The Interface
Societies all over the world have sought to hold and retain their traditions religiously while at the same time seeking to have room for the effective intercourse between modernity and postmodernity. The traditions are seen to have been stuck in the ideals of modernity that have generally been considered as the cure for poverty related challenges (Habermas, 2003). The use of modern values that are seen to be the foundation of the developmental agenda to criticize the tradition norms has risen as a common practice by most reformers (Latour, 1993). In the same way, the traditional values that have seen peace and stability among ethnicities have been in use as a way of fighting the excesses that come with modernity. Most currently, the traditional concepts are being married to the modernity operatives to criticize the postmodernity elements or postmodernity marrying with the tradition values to oppose the modernity practices. The connection between the tradition and postmodernity is fueled by the fact that their common rejection of modernity is a way of retrieving the traditions that were rejected by the modernity proponents. This retrieval of the past rejected traditions is one of the major goals of postmodernity, a fact that makes it more palatable to the traditional proponents (Habermas, 2003).

Geographical Relations to Postmodernity
A series of choices can be brought up when the relationship between various regions and nations is considered against their responses to postmodernity, modernity and traditions (Harvey, 1989). For example, the national values can be exercised to oppose the wrongs propagated by the international similarly the regional and international marriage can be used against the national values the sub-regions can in the same way be used to oppose the regions the regions and the international exercises can also be merged together to fight against the international ones. It is also possible for the national and international wings to merge with an aim of exploiting the smaller geographical regions (Rawls, 2002). It is becoming common for regions and sub-regions to align more and more towards postmodernity because they both enjoy the fragmentation status that it promotes. Similarly, the national proponents are seen to align more in modernity values because national projects are generally considered modern. The relationship of the national and modernity can also be used to explain the reason why both of them are considered oppressive (Habermas, 2003). The traditional values are closely linked with postmodernity because both are seen to reject the values propagated by modernity hence helping in promoting the tradition values that had been shelved by it. Retrieval of traditional practices can be seen as an international move considering that this is where most of the wars on the various types of both modernity and postmodernity emerge from (Harvey, 1989).

Postmodernity Features
Postmodernity is an era of freedom of choice in which no orthodoxy can be adoptable without eliciting some form of irony because all norms are taken to have their own levels of validity. This is as a result of the technological advancement especially in information, the explosive nature of world knowledge and increased use of cybernetics. Postmodernity is closely associated with the explosion of the global scientific and technological advancement that has greatly altered the environment upon which man communicates with the world (Habermas, 2003). Technological advancement and the mushrooming industries are the two main features that characterize postmodernity. Technology has effectively given man the power that drives his functional objectives to run and dominate the world (Lyotard, 1991). The products of the industries and factories that have constituted our day to day activities including cars, microwaves etc is an indicator of what the postmodern mans brain has achieved as life without such products is unbearable. Conceiving the intelligence of man as only features and competence in post modern world is however misleading. In addition to their intelligence, human beings are also surrounded with all manner of weaknesses, faith and sentimental imaginations. Taking intelligence as the only feature in which human beings function is therefore a way of attaching mans total dependence on his intellect meaning that he is under siege and lacks the freedom of operation (Jameson, 1991). Technological advancement and industrial revolution of the postmodern era have by brought a major enlightenment in which man exercises his intelligence and maintains his freedom. This form of enlightenment can be seen as deliberate efforts of the human beings to move from the nature that is characterized by limitations that were brought forth by lack of optimal use of appropriate intelligence (Habermas, 2003). The scientific and technological advancements are however out to destroy the world in which the mans activities are, including his social amenities and traditional norms. This will in essence destroy the mans value system effectively putting his intelligence in a cross road. This challenge will also be enormous in art and will determine its course. This art that is free from sentiments will progressively advance in supremacy and find its way to the industrial culture (Latour, 1993). The opposition to this enlightenment in which gradual advancement of art particularly in architecture is to be witnessed is facing great criticism on how it would eventually present itself in both theory and practice. This is directed at recreating a polyphonic nature of artistic language to suit the postmodern era. Man had however created this form of language before using his varying opinions, imaginations and faith. In the current times, this concept presents itself as postmodernity.

All human beings with freedom of choice and imagination will respond to modernity differently from one another. In the process, one will however not pull back to the ordinary conceptualization in which postmodernity is considered as nature given (Habermas, 2003). The products are instead considered to have been human intellectual work through technology and industrial advancement. This notion expands the status in which the general human environment is conceived with its linkage to the world in that by being humanized they effectively lose their natural reality. In this form of conceptualization, the world is seen as constituting art and aesthetics and will therefore give birth to a new art spectrum in which man and his intellectual form will take the centre stage. Concepts that are intolerable in modernity will not give an appropriate environment for pluralism to thrive and will allow a nature in which the polyphony of art will thrive. This polyphony of the art will also compose the foundation for mans freedom (Habermas, 2003). Man will be at a position to disentangle his brain from the closets where it was forcefully closed up by the modernity ways of operation and with this freedom he is able to assume a new value system.

The postmodernity freedom will give man a more humane face and the art concepts that were treated as useless by modernity will be seen to prosper in the postmodenity era. This demonstrates a rediscovery of humanity, particularly the individual self (Harvey, 1989). The modernity had imposed dominance propagated by intelligence in which the individuals creativity was not given a chance. However, postmodernity gives a room for individuals to offer their diverse creativity in molding their world. There are differences in the way people think and reason and consequently, there will be diversity in the work from their creativity and independent judgments. As a result, postmodernity assumes an exemplary form of individualistic mode of approach to life characterized by two main concepts, these are, freedom and creativity. Through these concepts, the era of postmodernity is viewed as fully new and driven by its independence and innovative nature (Habermas, 2003). These two concepts give postmodernity its meaning and are effective in both the information and art related requests as well as in social, political and economic day to day lives. For instance, the political status of modernity is seen in the state-nation linkages whereas, the postmodernity status is basically characterized by liberal democracy. In addition, modernitys economic status is static whereas the postmodern embraces a free market economy (Jameson, 1991).

Transition
It is obvious that the Modernity era is being succeeded by the postmodern era however, the concepts of postmodern era are so much interwoven to those of modernity era that a border line between the two is not obvious (Jameson, 1991). In addition, the issue of postmodern remains ambiguous and controversial following the fact that the concept of postmodernity has been taken and employed by many as to imply or refer to the sequential nature of its existence that is, coming after modernity. However, postmodernity does not necessarily mean that it has been taken from a modernity era that has ceased to exist instead the term may also be used to indicate the close relationship that can be seen between modernity and postmodernity. The transition to postmodernity is closely linked to pluralism and individuals choices (Habermas, 2003). Although modernity to some extend was seen to have similar elements, postmodernity recollects such elements and shoots them to greater heights. The concept of individuals identity which is largely based on the effectiveness in the modern communication indicates that the underlying values and beliefs stand to lose their state of coherence. The individuals that make up the system are therefore left in uncertain environment in which they are emerging in an overwhelming world of information and communication. This situation may leave the individuals with a general feeling of helplessness that would consequently deter them from getting back to the world of intimate relationships (Habermas, 2003).

The shift to postmodernity has poised a string of consequences that that has affected social scientists, particularly those participating actively in the talks on its ethics and morality. In postmodernity, there is an essential interlink between individual self and others that is characterized by intense processing of global linkages and the rising of intensed use of advanced information technologies.

Postmodernity has effectively ushered in a new world in which the freedom of choice is easily mingled with relevant cultural values (Cooper, 1991). The freedom of choice has opened up the world of uncertainties that is considered not only as a temporary nuisance towards the achievement of ones objectives but more significantly as an important tool and medium in realizing such objectives. The room of uncertainty forces the players to shift into the world of innovations and creativity that has characterized the postmodernity era (Habermas, 2003).

Conclusion
Considering the gains that modernity values have brought to the world, it is eminent for many to state that a retreat to our tradition values is uncalled for. However, with the options and freedom offered by the postmodernity, it is possible to revisit our tradition while enjoying the freedom of creativity rather than being tied in the dictatorship of modernity. Postmodernity has offered a chance for many players to regain liberation but it is good to be careful and concentrate more on the more important liberation, while trying to avoid being drawn to concentrate on the postmodernity as the means to achieve such liberation as that would be driving us to yet another form of slavery. There is effectively nothing much new to postmodernity, though the means and the way it is said and carried is new, and this fact feeds the human synergy, setting stage for greater production. The concept of postmodernity is therefore currently accessible to all build on the foundations set earlier by both the tradition and modernity era (Cooper, 1991).

With the transition to postmodernity, it is significant to note the great services offered by the modernity era. Most importantly is the literature freedom that was set from entangling nature of the tradition values. Modernity offered a hand in the violent struggle that was necessary to demolish the structures of tradition values to allow new ideas to be entrenched. As the glory of modernity fades away giving room to postmodernity, there is an emerging freedom and creativity that build the faith of the players. Many historians however, fear that a new wave of oppression may be on its way (Habermas, 2003). For a successful and effective postmodernity era, it is paramount that the relationship that exists between regions, including national and international platforms, be strengthened.

Sports are mostly associated with men and it is seldom seen that womengirls are given the same level of encouragement in being active participants. Messner corroborates my claim. Here individual males are given the opportunity to identify - generically and abstractly - with all men... (p. 71)

The image of girls is created such that they are considered fragile and vulnerable for any sport. Thus it is seen that girls in adolescence are deterred from participating in rugged sports like football and hockey.

Even in sports like tennis where women have managed to make a mark of themselves questions have been raised as to why is the prize money offered to women in a grand slam is less than that of men. The menstrual cycle of women is also used as another excuse by several authorities to demoralize young women. Over the years, it has been witnessed that such reasons can affect active participation of many young girls.

It is often seen that girls who are interested in sports often give up because they believe that the men have the authority and they do not wish to see them playing. the entire mediation of the sporting event is based upon values of dominant social groups and, as such support corporate, white, and male-dominated ideologies. (Messner, p. 73)

My primary objective behind writing this letter to you is that I believe that You have to be in the system to change the system. I also believe that changes have to be made at the grassroots level. I strongly recommend you to inculcate passion among young adolescent girls to pursue a career in sports with the same level of zeal and ardor. I hope that you shall endeavor to help bring a change of attitude among girls of the school.  

Staffing and credentialing issues for behavioral health care professionals requires both attention to the ways in which professionals conduct their work in regard to their specialty areas as well as affirming that the daily work of the professionals is rooted in evidence based practice.  By taking a look at modern research regarding staffing and credentialing issues for behavioral health care professionals, it is clear that the professional world is moving toward more integrated and scientific solutions.

Pincus makes the statement that the future of behavioral health care is the intertwining of behavioral health and primary care (2003).  He notes that it is increasingly important for professionals to bring their specialty areas together in the effort to best serve patients in need of care.  By incorporating behavioral health specialists in the arena of primary care, more people would be better served on a comprehensive level of health care.  It is important to call attention to the fact that patient needs should be at the center of the staffing debate.

Tanenbaum makes it clear that the work of behavioral health care professionals should be rooted in scientific evidence based practice (2005).  There is already of wealth of information which points to the ways in which behavioral health care professionals can make scientific declarations, apply this science, and record evidence for improved health.  By engaging in the practice of evidence based problem solving within behavioral health, professionals are able to prove themselves competent of performing their daily tasks.

Pincus takes a look at the integration of behavioral health and primary care, while Tanenbaum points out the significance of evidence based practice.  By drawing these two spheres together in the question of best staffing and credentialing behavioral health professions, it is certain that there would be a successful implementation of workers to service the need of patients with behavioral health concerns.

There is a substantial population of homeless people in the United States. Due to ambiguity, statistics and demographic data on homelessness have not been comprehensive enough to give accurate information. According to the federal legislation, the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987 defines homeless people as individuals who lack fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. According to statistics, about 1 of the entire United States population experience homelessness in a year. In the 2005, biannual census in Los Angeles counted approximately 92,000 homeless persons living in the county. The city of San Francisco, Chicago and Denver, have the largest population of homeless persons. Indianapolis, San Antonio and Boston are the other cities known to have a significant number of homeless people. This paper will keenly describe the causes of homelessness in the United States, its impact on society and the possible solutions for dealing with it.

Causes of homelessness
Homelessness is caused by a variety of reasons that differ for each individual. One of the causes of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing.  This has led to a shortage of housing for low- income earners, the disabled, immigrants and other moderate-income earners. More families spend more than 30 of their annual income on housing costs hence making them lack other necessities like food, health care and clothing. This problem is more serious in cities where it is causing a social and economic crisis. The second cause of homelessness is the increase in unstable employment. Foreclosures have contributed to homelessness as more people lost their jobs. A recent report indicated that the official unemployment rate in the United States was 9.4 in May 2009. Declining incomes have also hit many workers badly and the result of this is inability to afford housing. The inability to qualify for public assistance has put many persons without housing. Public assistance has been declining leading to increased poverty and homelessness. In addition, poverty levels are increasing among people with disabilities and children. However, the US government has not done enough to increase public spending to give assistance to these needy groups. The increase in domestic violence has pushed many women below the poverty line. A 2005 survey by the Network to end Domestic Violence showed that about 63 of homeless women have been involved in domestic violence. In addition, domestic violence in major cities has contributed significantly to homelessness especially among women. Drugs and substance abuse have a strong link to homelessness (Zorza, 1991).Addiction disorders put many persons under the risk of losing their incomes and eventually becoming homeless. On the other hand, natural disasters and unexpected emergencies have contributed to homelessness in the United States. These include natural calamities like floods, forest fires and storms (Carter and Rausch, 2008).

The impact of homelessness on society
Homelessness has social and economic effects on the society. The operation and maintenance of public assistance programs for the homeless is funded through taxpayers money. This is very costly considering numerous public programs also need adequate funding. Most homeless persons engage in criminal activities like violence and theft, which discourage investors. Homelessness contributes to environmental pollution as individuals scatter litter on the streets. On the social front, homelessness exposes individuals to sexual abuse, drug addiction and the effects of poor health due to poor health conditions. This is especially significant because about 40 of all homeless persons in the United States are children. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (2009), it is clear that disease like air borne diseases, diabetes, and water borne diseases are more prevalent among homeless communities. Skin infections and malnutrition are some of the other health problems that affect homeless people. It is also notable that homelessness has profound effects on poverty and civil liberties like the right to personal security, health and the right to participate in community issues including democratic process.

Solutions to the problem of homelessness
One of the best ways to prevent homelessness in the United States is to provide permanent housing for those leaving on temporary shelters (Graves, 2007).Policy makers should also focus their efforts on formulating clear long-term policies on support and rehabilitation of those with mental illnesses and those with developmental disorders. To ensure affordability, the minimum wages must bear the reality of the minimum living expenses. Creation of employment opportunities and the formulation of fair labor laws will cushion workers from the vulgarism of economic changes. Adequate provision of social services is important to ensure that childcare, health care and mental health services reach the intended groups. Due attention should be given to people living in temporary structures and those under the threat of violence. Prohibition of laws that discriminate against the disabled, sick or the poor will also prevent more people from joining the homeless community (Donohoe, 2004).

Conclusion
The housing crisis in the United States is one of the critical areas that need immediate address. The danger is that the rate at which people are becoming homeless is sharply increasing posing a big risk to the social and economic environments of the society. According to my view, effective solutions on the problem of homelessness must focus more on the long-term strategies and avoid emphasizing on temporary short- term measures.

This section will discuss in general the long term and short term benefits of head start program. Lets begin with the short term

Short term benefits

Head start program accrues a lot in the short run including

Helping children with activities that help them grow mentally, emotionally, socially and physically.

Providing children with an environment to love, accept and understand others.

It also gives them opportunity to learn and to experience success.

By socializing, the children are molded to become self-confident as they improve their speaking and listening skills.

It provides high-quality early childhood education
It promotes good health through the treatment of health problems and by providing children with good health care

It enables active participation of parents in the programs in which their children participate
It also promotes the use of social services by families in the community they need them.

Long term benefits
All the benefits enjoyed in the short run accumulates with time to be the long term which includes Higher levels of verbal, mathematical, and intellectual achievement Greater success at school, including less grade retention and higher graduation rates Higher employment and earnings Better health outcomes Less welfare dependency Lower rates of crime and Greater government revenues and lower government expenditures.  

Policy Implication
Given the prospects of head start, the program has a place to stay in our society. Without it we would always have poor children and as we all know poor children grow up into adults who are more likely to engage in crime, use illegal drugs, abuse alcohol, neglect and abuse their children, and suffer from poor physical health and a variety of mental illnesses. They are also less likely to be gainfully employed and, thus, less likely to contribute to the growth of our economy. Poor children who fail to achieve their full academic potential are more likely to enter adulthood without the skills necessary to develop into highly productive members of society able to compete effectively in a global labor market. Less skilled, less productive, and earning less, when these children become adults they will be less able to help us sustain public retirement benefits systems such as Social Security, one of the most challenging problems we face in the future.

Up to today there has been almost universal agreement among experts that too many young childrenthe most vulnerable members of our communityhave inadequate access to food, clothing, shelter, health care, and clean, safe, crime-free living environments. In addition, too many of our children do not have access to high quality educational opportunities or fall far short of achieving their academic potential while in school. At the very same time, however, there is a consensus among experts of all political stripes that high-quality investments in the education and health of young children would have huge long-term economic payoffs, both to our children and to society as a whole.

First, criminal justice costs come down because participantsand their familieshave markedly lower crime and delinquency rates. Second, subsequent public education expenses are lower because participants spend less time in school (as they fail fewer grades) and require expensive special education less often. Third, both participants and their parents have higher incomes and pay more taxes than non-participants. Fourth, ECD investment reduces public welfare expenditures because participants and their families have lower rates of welfare usage. All these advocates for head start program.

I was brought up in an environment with hospital setting as both my parents were Rns. One particular event which shook me was at the age of six. And that was the death of a girl called Ashli who died of brain cancer. I tried to help her financially by selling cookies and lemonades at local stores but unfortunately she passed away even before I could collect it and utilize it for her treatment. This feeling to help people took stronger roots as I reached college. My childhood was affected by a heart defect known as Hypoplastic right ventricle pulmonary stenosis from which condition I survived after six operations. I also had hearing and speech problems and after years of speech therapy and ear surgeries, I am now perfectly healthy and athletic. Through sheer will power and determination I went from grade 5 to grade 11. I received two As , one in social behavioral science and the other in university studies in high school. This May 2010, I would be receiving my Bachelors in Psychology.

During my junior college days my uncle passed away due to colon cancer which made me curious about Oncology. This incident too left a indelible mark in my mind.

Later I decided to major in Psychology in CSU Chico, California for my Bachelors.
A few of my psychology professors particularly professor Dr. Michael Ennis inspired me in deciding what career I should take. I attended three of his classes on Biopsychology, neuropsychology and health psychology. I was also a part of his biopsychology research group and undergraduate projects such as Assessing Trekking poles through electromyography, heart rate and respiration, Relationship between Testosterone, self deception and attachment styles and The influence of psychological therapy in immunoregulation of Latent Epstein Barr virus and stress. In my senior year, I attended his health psychology class which influenced me greatly.

Since five years I have been working as a Direct support professional and CVI at the California vocations INC Arthur Schawlow center. I gained rich experience and provided full scale care and growth plan for adults with autism, violent behavior and O.C.D. Also I had two years of Direct support professional and nonviolent crisis intervention Training. I am also trained and licensed for first aid and CPR.

During my internship I volunteered to work as a crisis call operator and shelter care giver at the Catalyst domestic violence services in Chico CA. It was a 24 hour crisisreferral line which I attended to for the victims of domestic violence and anyone wanting information about it. At the womens shelter I volunteered to provide safety to victims of abuse and their children. Just being there for the women and children to listen to their stories was a rewarding experience. Here I completed 40 hours of training and 90 hours of volunteering.

I volunteered twice at the Animal socialization and shelter care center at Butte humane society in Chico CA. Animal care duties involved training and socializing dogs and cats, cleaning cages and providing assistance for cats and dogs recovering from illness. I also assisted in the adoption of pets. Here, I completed 96 hours of volunteering.

I have been a member of Psi-Chi, The National Psychology Honor Association for 3 years and was an event coordinator for 2 years at the California state university Chico. It  involved planning, organizing, creating volunteer opportunities,  raising funds by events  such as autism awareness association walk, memory walk for the Alzheimers disease and  the pumpkin carving event for child development lab at Chico state university.

My extra curricular interests from childhood include water skiing, knee boarding, wake boarding snow skiing, mountain biking and road biking. I recently started scuba diving and am a certified diver now. I love playing the clarinet and the piano and have been doing so for the past 14 years. In high school I had the honor of joining 80 young musicians of USA who played in seven countries of Europe. Music has played a significant role in my life and I intend to study cognitive neuropsychology, particularly how music affects the brain emotionally. I also had an opportunity to play at the CSU Chico symphony orchestra recently.

With this background I would like to receive my MSW and LCSW in clinical social work and then I would also like to work for a post- masters degree in pediatric oncologysocial work. I prefer working in a childrens hospital and provide the family the necessary social support.

I selected Barry University School of social work in Miami shores, Florida because this is one among the top 15 schools nationwide for campus diversity and is recognized internationally. Also Barry offers a part time at Miami-shores 60-credit MSW program in 6-7 semesters while allowing us to work outside the school. And moreover 90 percent of Barry MSW graduates find employment within two months of graduation. Most importantly what interested me are the internship opportunities in oncology, brain injury rehabilitation and emergency room services in the Baptist hospital. Also the supportive counseling and radiation treatment in the Mount Sinai hospital comprehensive cancer center for patients suits me perfectly for what I wish to do in the future.

Today, Cancer is a big social issue. Patients undergo untold trauma mentally and physically. In order to provide them necessary guidance, and help them overcome psychological trauma, social workers play an important role. Also patients who are mentally and physically disabled need to lead a life without any kind of physical and psychological abuse including fear, punishment or humiliation. In such situations a social worker plays the role of a catalyst and reduces their trauma.

Hence I can confidently say that I am capable of performing the tasks given to me diligently and with strong verbal and communication skills would be able to help patients by listening to them and overcoming their problems.

For my degree I look forward to financial aid and scholarships which Barry can offer from 7000 to 9000 per academic year in financial aid for full time students. I also prefer the 30 percent tuition discount offered to students employed in a humansocial service position. I also request you kindly to help me find a professor who would match me perfectly.