Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the differences in four social classes: lower, working, middle, and upper, based on income, race, sex, and education and to show how these clear divisions in society lead to stereotypes, social expectations and limitations.

From the paper:

"Differences in each of the four classes are marked when income is the factor differentiating them. 11.3 per cent of Americans live in poverty, and can be considered part of the lower and working classes. In the U.S. today, 16 percent of the population falls into the "lower" class. Thirty-eight per cent fall into the "working," or "blue-collar" class. Forty-four per cent fall into the "middle" and "upper middle" class, and 2 per cent fall into the "upper" class. The lower and often working classes are often characterized as less educated. They tend to live in urban areas, and do not own their own homes. The middle and upper classes tend to own their own homes, often are two-career couples by choice, and usually live in less urban and more rural areas or suburbs of larger cities. They are usually better educated than the lower and working classes, often with advanced college degrees."

Tags:division, social, differences, advantage, disadvantage, rich, poor

Abstract
An in-depth study on how children from broken homes are affected emotionally, physiologically and from a behavioral point of view. The paper explores issues such as children with single-parent homes vs. two-parent homes, the benefits of friends and extended families, single parent attitudes towards children, effects on academic education and emotional behavior, socioeconomic effects, step-parents and single fathers.

From the Paper
"Today, single fathers seem to be more familiar with these roles in home management and childcare than mothers. Furthermore, the tie and connection between single fathers and children as well single mothers and children have now become new focal points for self-direction. Both single parents have set the criteria for organization of more traditional spheres of work and social life such that now single fathers develop close relationships with their children and have a greater appreciation of responsibility in being the primary parent.
However, the fact remains that no mater how good mother or a father can be as a single parent, the negative and adverse effects of children's development proofed through various studies concludes that there's a price to be paid for removing one of the traditional pairs, and the old-fashioned concept and belief that to have a mother and a father is still a pretty good idea."

Tags:low-income, divorce, hyperactivity, conduct, disorder

Abstract
This paper is a concept analysis of grief behaviors in families, as witnessed in the pediatric critical care setting. The writer explains how grief is a concept surrounded by ambiguity despite nurses' frequent encounters with grieving persons. This paper clarifies this concept and explains how it allows nurses to gain insight into managing grieving families in a therapeutic manner. A concept analysis is described using antecedents, attributes and referents, and principal variables of grief are identified. In addition, model, contrary, borderline, related and illegitimate cases are described. It shows how this analysis can contribute to the establishment of nursing practices with grieving persons.

From the Paper
"Grief fills the room up of my absent child, lies in his bed, walks up and down with me" (Bartlett, 1919). The death of a child, sudden or otherwise, has a profound, life changing effect on the family infrastructure. As nurses, it is important to develop skills of compassion so that we can support these families in their time of need. In order to support a family through the initial stages of grief, one must look at their own belief systems. One must keep an open mind and realize that every family has a different belief system related to death, dying and the grieving process. Our responsibility is not to get families to believe as we believe, rather we must fill the role that the family defines for us during their time of need.

Tags:nurse, caregiver, compassion

Abstract
This paper focuses on the quality of care delivered by various forms of managed care organizations and fee-for-service organizations as reported by numerous recent studies.

From the Paper
"There is a current climate of distrust and frustration with managed care which has led many people to question whether health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other forms of managed care really are looking out for the best interests of their patients. Managed care plans have incentives in place which reward physicians and other health service providers for providing fewer services or less costly solutions. With American society's negative feelings toward managed care medical practices, questions about the quality of care provided by various managed care institutions have been raised. The fact that managed care enrollment has been increasing while at the same time growth in total healthcare expenditures has been declining only serves to increase the frequency of questions about the quality of healthcare provided by managed care organizations. This paper will focus on the quality of care delivered by various forms of managed care organizations and fee-for-service organizations as reported by numerous recent studies."

Tags:HMO, hmos

Abstract
This paper examines the enduring causes of poverty among single mothers in the United States. It discusses many of the social factors; including social stigma, paid work and parental time constraints, the cost of daycare and the perceived need for children to have a paternal input. It also details the governmental attempts to alleviate some of the problems and the differences in the problems faced by ethnic minority single mothers. The paper contains a lot of statistics and is well researched.

From the paper:

?They make the covers of news magazines and get to appear on the local news. We hear about them endlessly from public officials and during daytime talk shows. IN fact, if you were not careful you might begin to think that all of the problems in society today are caused by them.

"Single mothers.

But why should this group be so generally vilified? Why should so much blame for so many social ills be placed upon them? The answer is twofold. The first is that they violate conventional social ideals about what a family should be, which (even in our postmodern) age is still deeply imbued with ideas about the importance of a patriarchal figure. And, on a more pragmatic level, they require society to help them, for single mothers ? along with their children ? are in general amongst the poorest of Americans.?

Tags:politics, welfare, race, demographics

Abstract
This short paper outlines the problems of homelessness that exist in America. The author gives a few options for solutions and compares homelessness of today and of the past, suggesting that loss of community and social life add to the problem.

From the Paper
"We?ve all seen them on the street. Many of us have given them our spare change while passing by. Maybe you've even served them Thanksgiving dinner in a shelter somewhere. Perhaps you've felt an overwhelming sense of pity for them, or maybe a sense of detest and disgust. The point is, homelessness is a major problem in America. You can go to any major city and find homeless people on park benches, street corners, doorways, and stairwells. And in every city, you will see almost the same thing - the average American passing by them while doing their best to ignore them - this is how we have trained ourselves as a nation to react to this problem - ignore it. It seems to big a problem to solve, so we ignore it as well as we can. Unfortunately, the last thing we should be doing is ignoring it - the fact that there are citizens of our country who do not have the basic needs that we need as humans - food, shelter, and clothing - is horrendous. I'm going to add one more necessity to that list: love and acceptance. Not only are we ignoring their physical needs, but we don't even think about their emotional needs. Luckily, I am not alone in my call to action on this subject - many groups such as the National Coalition for the Homeless, Habitat for Humanity, the Salvation Army, PADS (a close to home organization - PADS serves the southwest suburbs homeless community with shelters, food, and health care), Goodwill, newspapers and the rest of the media, and even some judges, lawyers, legislators, and other government officials join in the plea to solve this homelessness problem that seems so overwhelming."

Tags:government, problems, reform, social

Abstract
This paper examines how economic growth in developed countries is affecting individual well-being, justice within society and environmental sustainability. This includes how economic growth damages mental health, physical health and our feelings of happiness. The paper then considers the treatment of unpaid workers and the protection afforded to the vulnerable in society. The paper also considers the lack of concern for dangerous emissions and industrial malpractices such as the dumping of waste. These issues are considered with respect to John Rawls' vision of "Justice as Fairness" and Australian Prime Minister John Howard's speech entitled, "Getting the Big Things Right".

From the Paper
"Political ideology in Australia and many developed nations emphasises the perceived importance of strong economic growth. Policy is focussed on establishing an economy where Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is rising, inflation and unemployment are low and foreign debts are zero. Much of this growth in GDP, which is the measure of total monetary transactions in the economy , is justified by a magical and unfounded belief that society is like a pipeline where money is sucked in at one end and wellbeing flows out the other . However, the world is a complex system that does not simply transform wealth into human wellbeing. The societies and environment in which we, as individuals, live is dynamic and affected by multiple factors. In 2004, Australian Prime Minister John Howard gave a speech entitled, "Getting the Big Things Right" in which he asserts that Australia would be a "fair and just society" based around a strong economy."

Tags:well-being, health, happiness, wealth, society, emissions, waste

Abstract
The paper offers a brief discussion of the definition of social policy and then traces the history of the development of welfare policy in Australia. To analyse how efficiently the current delivery of social policy achieves its goal, the paper focuses on the two key welfare policy areas of education and employment. The paper argues that in these key policy areas, the delivery of social policy does not completely fulfil its social goals and aims. The paper contends that social policy is shaped by changing needs and values, thus the delivery of welfare must reflect these changes to ensure efficient and effective social policy.

From the Paper
"In its common form as it is most often applied, 'social policy' has connotations of equality through the provision of welfare and the redistribution of resources (Graycar & Jamrozik 1993, p. 54). This definition is further extended by McClelland (2006a, p. 7), who adds that social policy involves debates about values, and assumptions of the behaviour of members of a society. The scope of social policy is broad, in that there are a wide-range of factors which influence it. This can include factors such as economic, political, and historical contexts (Jones 1996, p. 30; McClelland 2006a, p. 18). Economic policy, for example, often determines the resource allocation aspects of social welfare policy (Smyth 1994, p. 39). Given this broad scope of social policy, social welfare should be viewed not in isolation, but as part of the broader contexts of a society. This is an important point to consider, as this often affects the aims of a social policy goal, and also the effectiveness of social policy as an instrument."

Tags:welfare, unemployment, education, resources, goal, instrument

Abstract
The writer explores the differences and the similarities between single and dual parent homes and uses three sources to identify each category. The emotional, social and developmental characteristics of children from each type of home is analyzed.

From the Paper
"In today's world there are as many children living in homes of single parents as there are children living in homes with two parents. It has become so commonplace that it is not unusual to hear questions such as "Does your dad live with you?" or "Are your parents divorced?" as a normal part of daily conversation. There have been numerous studies done on the effects of being raised in a single parent home and being raised in a dual parent home. Many differences between the two settings have been discovered and many similarities have also been noted. The one thing experts agree on is that they are not one and the same."

Tags:parent, child, single, dual, emotional, social, development, mother, father, economic, pressure, poverty, neglect

Abstract
In this essay social forces such as class inequality, status, life chances, culture and gender are discussed in regards to its influence on poverty in contemporary Australian society.

From the Paper
"Poverty seems to be a problem that is deeply buried in this nation often conceived as egalitarian or classless. Hil (2002) admits that there is an issue of a "poverty taboo" in Australia where the government busies itself with globalization ideas and forgets, or perhaps prefers to avoid its internal problems. His research shows that the gaps between the affluent and the poor have been "increasing dramatically over the past few years". It contrasts with the "beloved" view of contemporary Australia as a classless society. With issues such as poverty in an egalitarian society, the idea of Australia being classless becomes a hope rather than a reality."

Tags:age, class, culture, egalitarian, gender, inequality, issues, power, social, sociological, status