Welfare Myths and Realities Essay Example for Free

Welfare Myths and Realities Essay Society has continued to undergo evolution and change throughout the history of civilization. These are the factors that spell out the dividing line between social classes and castes that are redrawn on an almost daily basis by mankind. This is why there will always be a mixture of fact and fiction surrounding the way present day society views those people who were unlucky enough to end up at the bottom of the societal class chain. These are the people who are forced to survive using welfare to keep food on the table, money in their pockets, and clothes on their backs. It is highly unfortunate that the word Welfare has come to mean a person who does not want to work unless he is forced to work. But this is not always what defines a person on welfare. In todays world, the workplace is a highly competitive environment where people no longer have security of tenure in their jobs. People want to work. The problem is, there are not enough jobs to go around. The reality is that when a person loses his job these days, it is highly unlikely that he will be able to get new regular employment anytime in the short-term future. So, he is forced to take what odd jobs he can while trying his luck at landing regular employment. Realistically speaking, temp jobs wont pay the rent nor keep food on the table. In order to stay afloat, the person must take welfare assistance. This is a not a permanent set up for most, it is just financial aid until the person can get back on his feet. Hey, he paid his taxes and his Social Security dues. Therefore, it is only proper that the system helps him get back on his feet. Nobody in his right mind would want to make welfare his way of life. Welfare tends to affect a person both psychologically and emotionally as he struggles to try to go back to the way of life that he has become accustomed to. Even though they try to get off welfare at the soonest possible time, sometimes, he is forced to go back on welfare for one reason or another. The last thing he wants to become is a welfare cyclist but he is left with no other choice. Psychologically, a man unable to support himself is thrown into despair and self-pity. He thinks less of himself and wishes to feel better by being able to support himself without the aid of welfare. The last thing he wants for himself is to get involved in welfare cycling. This is the act of going on welfare for short periods of time during which a person has lost his job. It is totally unfair to say, the federal welfare program encourages people to stay poor. (Margaret L. Andersen Howard F. Taylor, 2003, p. 200) Man is an ambition driven entity. He pursues lofty goals and ambitions in life and does not deem himself a success or a complete individual unless he has something to show for his existence. It can be in the form of finances, or something solid like real estate. Whatever it may be, there is nothing that can drive a man to have a desire to stay poor. The government does not give enough financial support to the welfare organizations for one to believe that those on welfare would be getting enough welfare checks or food coupons to sustain any kind of lifestyle. These benefits are available only to a limited number of families who must pass a stringent interview and verification process. Neither is it true that only Blacks or Hispanic families benefit from welfare. There are also White families who are down on their luck and also move from place to place or even state to state in search of the elusive jobs. The welfare myth about women is proves to be even most unfair. Women are the light that guides a family. While husbands work and bring home what pay then can in the lower middle class society, the women are left at home to tend to the children. Most of them cannot afford child-care and therefore help their husband earn income in order to improve their basic lifestyle. This is why most women collect welfare for their families. If there were proper child-care assistance provided to these families, both parents would have a chance to work instead of having to line up collecting unemployment checks just to make ends meet. Of the 100% of the total federal budget, only 60% of this it spent on assisting poor families. This provides subsidies for the lowest income families basic living and medical assistance. There is absolutely no truth to the belief that certain welfare recipients are paid benefits that they no longer qualify for. Though the system is not foolproof, as some payments errors are done due to human error, there are still safety measures in place to make sure that overpayments are limited and that any fraudulent transactions are weeded out in the process. Going on welfare was never meant to make any man rich. It is not a status symbol that will make you the envy of others either. Often times, the amount of the checks given to the people involved are below the poverty level. It is really meant only to be a stop gap measure for those who have had a stroke of financial bad luck. It was not meant to sustain any person throughout life. The myths that were created by the fear of going on welfare gave the deserving welfare beneficiaries a bad name. It has branded them in such a way that society tends to be judge and jury of the way they conduct their lives and personal businesses. Welfare was meant to be a helping hand when one needs it the most. Welfare was envisioned, developed and meant to help a person get back on his feet after a devastating financial setback. To believe all these myths that have been handed down from generation to generation would be a disservice to such a humane undertaking that is done for and on behalf of your fellowman. Works Cited Andersen, Margaret L. Taylor, Howard R. (2003). Sociology The Essentials (2nd Ed. ) Welfare Myths: Fact or Fiction? Exploring the Truth about Welfare. 1996. December 22, 2006, Retrieved from http://hcom. csumb. edu/welfare/resources/myths_facts. html Irons, Meghan Erica. Dispelling Myths About Welfare. December 21, 2006, Retrieved from http://www. voice. neu. edu/960215/welfare. html

Holden Essay -- essays research papers

Holden Caulfield, the narrator and the main character of The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, is a young adult, who, at first seems to simply describes his four day adventure in New York City after bring expelled from his forth school. However, at the same time he narrates more; through his many experiences, which he describes in the book, we can see the themes of the work. The theme that definitely stands out is the loss of innocence. Holden portrays himself as an individual, who does not want to grow up and change. From the beginning, it is obvious that Holden does not like anyone, except children. To Holden, the world around him, the adult world and all of its members, is phony. In other words, the innocent world of children is the only world that appeals to Holden. However, in the end the reader also gets to see Holden's change and eventual surrender to the adult world. The Catcher in the Rye is simply about Holden's futile resistance to growing up and his surrender. Holden's attempts to refuse maturing are seen through his failures in education, his attitude towards the adult world, and his caring for only children, but his sudden fall into maturity shows there is no escape from growing up. Holden's actions and the way he describes his experiences clearly show his refusal to grow up. The first sign of Holden's refusal to leave the childhood world behind is his constant failures in school. Holden has been kicked out of several schools already, from each one within a...

Authoritarian Parents

Authoritarian Parenting: The Impact on Children. By Matthew J. Miller, Psy. D. Baumrind’s Parenting Styles Parenting Types: 1. Authoritarian 2. Authoritative 3. Permissive 4. Neglectful In the early 1960’s, psychologist Diana Baumrind conducted experiments with parents. These experiments were designed to identify and understand how parents differ in their responses to their children. As a result of the Baumrind study as well as further research, four main styles of parenting were delineated. They are Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive, and Neglectful.Each style has its own characteristics as well as effects on children’s development. This article will discuss the impact on children of authoritarian parenting. Authoritarian Parenting For Authoritarian parents, rules are often more important than relationship. Authoritarian parents have many rules and they enforce them. They expect and demand adherence to high standards. Having high standards for the behavior of children is not necessarily a bad thing. However, the way they go about achieving these high standards hurts the relationship between the parent and child.The authoritarian parent often fails to explain the reasoning for the rules. In fact, they do not engage in much conversation with their children regarding the rules. When children ask, â€Å"why? † the response is, â€Å"Because I said so. † Not only does authoritarian parenting impact the current relationship between parent and child, but this type of parenting can have long-term effects on the emotional development of the child even into adulthood. In addition, the impact of this style of parenting can also be felt in the child’s relationship with God.The Current Relationship There is a strong element of fear that pervades an authoritarian household. Much like an authoritarian government, there is compliance with rules, but the compliance is typically not out of love. Children in an authoritarian home c omply out of fear. Fear of punishment and fear of the withholding of affection drives these children to comply. In addition to fear, the child does not feel loved and accepted by their parents. Children are punished for even minor infractions. Often, these punishments do not fit the crime and are overly punitive.Even worse, the punishments often result in relationship consequences which include a withholding of love and affection from the parents to the child. As a result, the child begins to learn that they are loved and accepted for what they do, rather than for who they are. John, a high-school basketball player I met, had this type of relationship with his father. His father would come to all of his games to see him play. While a parent’s presence at a child’s games should be a source of encouragement, for John it was not. If John had a good 2Current Relationship Consequences: 1. Fear 2. Lack of love and acceptance 3. Lost opportunities for guidance game, his fathe r was like a â€Å"Chatty Kathy† doll on the way home. You could not shut him up. On the other hand, if John’s game did not go as well, there was absolute silence. His father would not speak to him. John learned quickly that there were conditions placed on him to received love. He was loved if he performed. He was not love if he did not perform. Children raised by authoritarian parents often are compliant with parental rules.Authoritarian parents point to this compliance as evidence that their style of parenting is working. However, as with many things in life, there is an opportunity cost to decisions we make. Growing up is difficult, especially in this day and age. There are many times that a child will need help and guidance as they grow. When we seek guidance, we tend to seek it from relationships where we feel loved and accepted. Since children of authoritarian homes do not experience love and acceptance from their parents, they will seek counsel from someone outs ide the home, or they may seek no counsel at all.While the authoritarian parent may be a good person who has much wisdom to offer, when it comes to the major issues of life, the children do not seek their counsel. Relationship with God Often our view of God, who Jesus taught us to call Father, is similar to our view of our earthly father. Since our earthly father is visible to us â€Å"†¦We project our and God is not, we project our image of our earthly father onto our image of our earthly heavenly Father. When children grow up with demanding authoritarian parents, they often begin to see God the same way.While father onto our they may be obedient to God, this obedience is out of fear of heavenly Father. † punishment rather than a response to acceptance. Real change in our lives comes when we feel accepted, not when we fear punishment. As a result, children who grow up with authoritarian parents often have a negative view of God. As was stated above regarding their earth ly parents, children who hold an authoritarian view of God will likely not seek to build a deep relationship with Him. We do not seek relationship with those whom we fear. Instead, like Adam and Eve, they will seek to hide from God. Future DevelopmentIn addition to the impact authoritarian parenting has on the current relationship with their parents and their relationship with God, children who grow up in this type of home often experience long-term emotional consequences. These children often have poor social skills, low self-esteem, anger and higher rates of depression and anxiety. In addition, although they may remain compliant, they can develop an overall mistrust of authority. There are many reasons why these issues may develop in children with authoritarian parents. In an authoritarian home, compliance is expected, while independence is discouraged.Because they are taught to follow rules rather than take initiative, they are more capable of following instructions than becoming leaders. They are taught what to think rather than how to think. As a result, these children remain dependent emotionally into adulthood, sometimes even living in the parental home long after what would be considered emotionally healthy. This lack of independence, both emotional and physical, can result in low self-esteem. 3 Children growing up in an authoritarian home, like growing up under an authoritarian regime, experience a loss of control over their own lives.When we come to believe that no matter what we do, we cannot gain actual control Future Consequences: of our own life, eventually a sense of helplessness ensues. This â€Å"learned helplessness† is a major component in the development of 1. Poor social skills depression. This sense of powerlessness does not leave us when we leave the authoritarian parent. Instead, this becomes a deeply 2. Low self-esteem entrenched view of ourselves that can take years to overcome and can impact all future relationships including marital and parenting relationships. 3.Anger Along with a loss of control, children who grow up with 4. Depression authoritarian parents often experience anger at how they are being treated. However, their anger is not typically allowed to be 5. Anxiety expressed. Often the expression of any form of anger in an authoritarian home results in punishment. Where does the anger go? There are typically two ways that anger gets expressed. The first is in either active or passive rebellion against the parent, or, in the future, toward any form of authority. The second way that anger gets expressed is that the child turns the anger inward toward themselves.This internalization of anger also leads to depression. One reason why in the United States there is less violence against the government than in other countries is that our country’s laws encourage and protect freedom of speech. When people feel that their thoughts and feelings have an outlet, they are less prone to resort to viole nce. When people are not free to express themselves, they will tend toward helplessness or rebellion. Finally, children who are raised by authoritarian parents often experience increased anxiety.Because â€Å"wrong† decisions result in harsh punishments, they develop what Freud would describe as an overactive superego. The superego, according to Freud, is the moral branch of personality. It develops to guide us to make right decisions and to avoid punishments. For Christians, the superego includes the Holy Spirit. However, the Holy Spirit is not our only guide to determine the rightness or wrongness of our actions. The superego also includes the internalized values of the important people and structures (like the law) of our lives.As the number of rules increase, so does the superego. Anxiety is both an internal and external manifestation of the struggle to avoid real or perceived punishment. For those with an enlarged superego, the superego acts like the boulder chasing Indi ana Jones chasing us through our lives. In upcoming articles, the three other parenting styles will be discussed along with their impact on children.  © All Rights Reserved (2010). The Center for Christian Counseling & Relationship Development, L. L. C. Pavilions at Greentree, Ste. 303, 12000 Lincoln Dr. W. , Marlton, NJ 08053. (856) 396-0111. 4

The Role Of Unions And Their Importance Has Changed Over...

The role of unions and their importance has changed over the years. A mixture of poor wages, high unemployment, non-existent benefits and insignificant professional stability amongst the more youthful era makes a ready demographic for restoration. The younger era is the slightest unionized section of our general public today by a long shot. Unions are important in today’s society because checks and balances are necessary entities in business and government, so if CEOs are just focusing on themselves and profits, unions are a necessary check to all that corporate power. Today and in the future, labor unions will continue to play an important role in our country s work force and the quality of life for working families. When unions are†¦show more content†¦Offshore countries such as China and India have very little organized labor present, so the private sector is taking advantage of this by moving their business in order to take advantage of the low cost of labour. Minimum wage is the lowest amount of money that an employer can pay an employee under labor law. The cruel irony of the minimum wage is that it harms most the very segments of our society that it is intended to help—the unskilled poor and the inexperienced young. However, the Canadian Labour Congress (2009) noted, â€Å"unionized worker earned $4.97 an hour more than a non-union worker in 2012†. That equates to roughly $10,000 more in monetary compensation relative to non-union workers. Although it varies based on sector and occupation, the union difference for workers across the board is undeniable. The unionized workers are able to live off a living wage. In addition, an expanding conversation about how to end working poverty through decent jobs points out that is to not only important to make minimum wage, but an adequate living wage. For instance, the Raise The Minimum Wage Campain noted, â€Å"The minimum wage should be set 10% above the poverty line, using the Low Income Measure†. Unionization employees that get paid above minimum wage feel more comfortable and satisfied with their job, which indicates that they are less likely to resign from their duties. With skilled workers in greater demand, their job opportunities and their