Psychology

The continuous development of addiction causes significant impact on all aspects of functioning including health, relationships, career and lifestyle in general. In order to effectively treat and prevent chemical dependency, the origin and solution of addiction is therefore oversimplified through strategic intervention methods. Intervention is a clearly orchestrated attempt by one or many people to get someone to seek professional help

with addiction. This term is most often used when the traumatic event involves addiction to drugs or other items. It may equally be used to refer to the act of using a technique within a therapy session (Weighright, 2002, p. 46).

Collaboration in the field of addiction is on a general upswing considering the challenges of under funding, and isolation of addiction intervention mechanisms in the heath and human services sectors. The biopsychological model, a fresh approach to treatment is on the rise. It attempts to unify competing addiction by the rise of the integrated conceptual framework. The biopsychological model recognizes that there are multiple pathways to addiction and that the significance of these individual pathways depends on the individual. This model recognizes the importance of treating the whole person, other than just the addiction (Calvert, 1999, p.68).

The biopsychological model as detailed in Balls work, is an umbrella that encompasses the disease model, the learning theory model, the psychoanalytic model, the family theory model and the biopsychological model (2004, p.92).

The disease model has been a dominant model since the 1960s. The model contends that certain individuals have a distinct physical or psychological condition that renders them incapable of drinking or using drugs in moderation. This model endorses working with the individual to accept their diagnosis and be persuaded to follow an abstinence from alcohol and other model-altering drugs. Furthermore, this model has been closely associated with the moral model which emphasizes personal choice as the main reason why individuals become addicts. The moral model appears when clients fail to observe house rules or are struggling with coming to terms with their addiction (p.94).

The biological model also embraces the provisions of the disease model. It entrenches the hereditary brain disorder factor and dependence degrees of the individual and considers medication as a healing option.

The learning theory model, a second concept of the biopsychological model, focuses on the internal workings of addiction such as thoughts and behaviors regarded as cognitions and behaviors respectively. This model asserts that addictive behaviors are developed in response to ones environment. It includes behavioral modalities, cognitive and cognitive-behavioral modalities, a merger of the first two modalities.

The psychoanalytic model embraces Sigmund Freuds psychological version. The approach utilizes time in the therapeutic process and entails psychodynamic modalities of psychotherapy, modified dynamic group therapy, and supportive-expressive psychotherapy (Weighright, 2004, p.52). The family theory model on the other hand, believes that an individual cannot be understood without considering his or her relationship with the family. It also asserts that families as a whole tend to resist change which consequentially affects individual progress. The term is family in this type of therapy is defined as the immediate family, significant others, couples and multiple families. The family models covered under these therapeutic models include the family systems, family behavioral, family disease models, strategic family therapy, structural family therapy, Bowenian family therapy, contextual family therapy, network therapy, and multidimensional family therapy (Calvert, 1999, p.75).

People are mostly centrally concerned with motivation. Individuals struggle to find energy, mobilize effort and persist at tasks related to life and work. The motivation is defined by the outward environment which incorporates reward systems, grades, evaluations, or external opinions about their appearance and output and inward motivation manifested by interests, curiosity, and care and abiding rules as well. These intrinsic motivations are rarely externally rewarded or supported but tend to sustain passions, creativity and sustained efforts (Ball, 2004, p. 102). The interplay between intrinsic motives and extrinsic forces is what defines The Self Determination Theory, a theory categorized under motivation theories. 
             
The Self-Determination Theory
The Self-Determination theory represents a broad framework for the study of human motivation personality. This theory articulates a meta-theory for framing motivational studies, a formal theory that defines intrinsic and varied extrinsic sources of motivation in cognitive and social development and individual differences. It also focuses on how social and cultural factors facilitate or undermine peoples sense of volition and initiative in addition to their well-being and the quality of their performance. Several mini-theories are discussed under this theory (Basset, 1996, p. 38).

The Cognitive Evaluation Theory concerns intrinsic motivation, a kind of motivation based on the satisfactions of behaving and is a lifelong creative wellspring. It specifically addresses the effects of social contexts on intrinsic motivation and critically highlights critical roles played by competence and autonomy supports in fostering intrinsic motivation. The Organism Integration Theory, a second mini-theory, addresses the topic of extrinsic motivation in its various forms, with their properties, determinants, and consequences. A concept of internalization in the extrinsic motivation determines the level of autonomy which further enacts the behaviors (p.40).

The Causality Orientations Theory describes individual differences in peoples tendencies to orient toward environments and regulate behavior in various ways. It describes and assesses three dimensions of causality orientations the autonomy orientation, in which people act out of interest in and valuing of what is occurring the control orientation, where the focus is on the rewards, gains, and approval and the impersonal orientation characterized by anxiety concerning competence.

Basic Psychological Needs Theory is a third mini-theory that elaborates the concept of evolved psychological needs and their relations to psychological health and well-being. It argues that psychological well- being and optimal functioning is predicated on autonomy, competence and relatedness (p.44).

The last is the Goals Contents Theory grows out of the distinctions between intrinsic and extrinsic goals and their impact on motivation and wellness. Goals are seen as differentially affording basic need satisfactions and are therefore differentially associated with well-being.

The Transtheoretical Model of Behavioral Change
The second motivational theory is the Transtheoretical Model of Behavioral Change. This theory proposes that behavior change occurs in five distinct stages through which people in a cyclical or spiral pattern. The first of these is termed as pre-contemplation. Here, there is no intent on the part of the individual to change his or her behavior in the foreseeable future. The second is contemplation, where people are aware of the existence of a problem and are seriously considering taking some action to address the problem. This stage is however characterized by lack of full commitment to undertake action. The third stage is the preparation stage. It involves both the intention to change and some minor behavior which often meet with limited success. The fourth stage, action, is where individuals actually modify their behavior, experiences or environment in order to overcome their problems or to meet their goals. Maintenance is the final stage where people work to prevent relapse and consolidate the gains attained in the action stage.

For successful behavioral change to be achieved, Calvert (1999) the cyclical process is influenced by both progress and periodic relapse. Relapses at earlier stages are inevitable and individuals never remain within the earlier stage to which they have regressed, instead, they spiral upwards until they reach a state where most of their time is spent at thee maintenance stage. 

The exposure of a child to factors defining maltreatment results into several psychological effects such as stress, trauma, and other socio-emotional complications affecting memory of the child.  In the past years, studies regarding the assessment of the effects of maltreatment on child behavior have flourished throughout these past decades.  However, such empirical studies were mostly focused on the relationship between maltreatment and negative effects on the emotional side.  It was juts in these recent years that psychological scholars have looked into the link between maltreatment and memory.  In general, related studies are accounted for studying how and why children who are exposed to some forms of maltreatment can recount the experience especially the stressful ones.  A review of some empirical studies and articles focusing on the memory effects of child maltreatment is used to back up the thesis.  This is in line with the objective to identify co relational factors present in the studies to be mentioned in their pursuit to answer questions about child maltreatment and memory.

Although scientific studies about maltreatment and memory are still in its early wake, many scholars have found its importance.  For example, these studies have found that child maltreatment resulted into effects such as short-term brain damage which later on possess significant effects on the childs memory.  There are also findings which reveal that upon the acts of maltreatment towards the child, the subject experience false memories after laboratory examinations.  However, it is not purposively attempt to provide empirical reviews regarding false memories as this may constitute broader scope of the topic.

Before going through a review of the five scholarly studies, it is essential that this paper would define major variables such as maltreatment, memory, stress, trauma, and socio-emotional factors relating to the subject of the studies. 

According to Goodman et al (2010), maltreatment are acts of physical abuse, sexual abuse, andor psychological abuse that constitutes profound failures of care giving and in effect, results to psycho-emotional damages.  However, there may be variations in the definitions of maltreatment across every states or countries depending on their legal interpretations.  One certain effect of maltreatment, according to Goodman et al (2010) is that the victim is being deprived of essential factors for normal adaptation of personal development.  They also argue that children who have suffered from maltreatment in there are more likely to carry the effects throughout their life.  This hypothesis will be justified based on results of investigations conducted for diverse subjects.

Memory here is defined as the psychological accounts of experiences wherein a person is able to recount when a similar event or circumstance triggers the subconscious to relive the experience, thus, producing the same emotional distress as it happened in the first time.  In the case of maltreated children, their ability to recount the actual events concerning stressful life experiences is very high especially if the event has happened in the early stages of their childhood.  This assumption will be justified through a series of empirical results provided by the studies concerned.

Stress is developed when a subject is involuntarily subject to events which solicit emotions which are unhealthy for the victim.  In the case of maltreated children, stress is prevalent when they feel obliged to recount events from the maltreatment to give information, for example in laboratory examinations.  Or, stress may become prevalent when a child who has become a victim of maltreatment will be faced with factors, for example, the doer of the abuse, and experience the urge to remember stressful events without their prior voluntariness.  Stress can still be experienced even by adults with stressful experience in the past brought by maltreatment.  However, their ability to recount these events is dependent on the severity of the maltreatment or their capacity to undergo normal process of emotional and psychological healing.

The Nature of Child Maltreatment and its Consequences

In the primitive times, punishments are carried out by adults, particularly parents to correct behaviors of children.  Some forms of punishment include beating, slapping, pinching, and other physical forms.  These methods may positively constitute to a specific level of trauma for children especially if reasons are not very well explained.  The severe application of punishments may lead to child abuse.  However, the concept of child abuse is far different from child maltreatment primari5ly because the latter constitutes broader scope and the former may be identified under child abuse but requires rigorous process of getting into the causes and effects.

Among the most common forms of child maltreatment is physical and emotional neglect and sexual abuse.  Child neglect is considered as the most frequent acts of maltreatment, according to the Childrens Bureau (2009).  On the other hand, sexual abuse, as one of the most identified forms of maltreatment, received greater amount of attention from researchers and scholars for the matter of identifying its effects on the childs memory.  Based on a report provided by Goodman et al (2010), the topic of sexual abuse on children has been the focus of controversy primarily because of two reasons  the notion of repressed memory and the argument that most sexual abuse situations take place in daycare settings.  Findings on sexual abuse also serve as major evidences on legal cases, forensic interview practices, and even in the formulation of local and national policies for children.  What fueled the controversies in discussing child maltreatment is the intervention of psychologists and their assumption that sexual abuse has significant effects on the childs memory.  Although it may be possible that sexual abuse may not cast effects on the victims memory, one thing is certain, and that is, in every cases, there are justified negative and positive outcome of the experience depending on the victims ability to incorporate self-healing

In an empirical study conducted by Goodman et al (2001), it was reported that at least five out of 10 children experience sexual assaults before their 18th birthday.  More of these cases were left unreported, or if consulted to legal courts, the basis of its validity is on the childs statements.

In examining the consequences of maltreatment on children, a rich body of research findings concludes that there are crucial effects on the victims cognitive, socio-emotional, and neuropsychological aspects.  In findings cited by Goodman et al (2010), there were cases of maltreatment wherein the victims are suffering from delays.  Such delays are in forms of cognitive processes, language, and intelligence.  It was assessed that these children who become victims of maltreatment are one to two years behind as compared to other children who have the similar demographic features.  Given the assumption of delays (because not all cases of child maltreatment constitutes delays and this aspect is still under debate), one of the highly observable effects is the childs inability to perform cognitive tasks in adherence with factors such as gender and age.  Another implication of child maltreatment is the limited language abilities executed by the victims, especially in memory-inducing interviews.  With these circumstances, the child will most likely to exhibit stutters and reduction of comprehension when the child is prompted with questions pertaining to past events.  These delays can be present regardless of the amount of information suggested to be remembered by the child.  However, it is emphasized that memory deficits are not always evident in children who became victims of maltreatment because at some point of the studies, there were reported advantages regarding the recall of past experiences (Goodman et al, 2010).

In terms of the socio-emotional aspect, child maltreatment is believed to have effects on the regulation of emotions, whether extrinsic or intrinsic.  This may involve factors such as attention processes, interpretations, and copying of the behaviors.  According to Goodman et al (2010), children who experienced maltreatment were exhibiting poor emotional regulations as compared to non-maltreated children.  That is, expressed in their negative reactions to some events.  Maltreated children are also more likely to respond to positive and more appropriate emotion regulation.  It is generalized that both physically and emotionally abused children, as well as those who are neglected are more likely to develop difficulty in regulating their emotions. 

Maltreatment also constitutes increased attentiveness to events suggesting emotional information.  For example, Goodman et al (2010) cited empirical findings that maltreated children easily identifies negative emotions such as anger or hatred and they can easily label such emotions as negative as compared to their ability to recognize positive ones.  This may be due to the accumulated negative emotions that the victims had in the course of the maltreatment process.  Moreover, it was found out that maltreated children have difficulty in disengaging themselves to negative stimuli, and as a result, such stimuli develops into full-blown emotional reactions.  These circumstances are all in correlation to the development of stress and trauma among adults, who were become victims of maltreatment during their childhood years.  As a result, adults exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD).  This suggests that adults are more likely to be more attentive to information on events which induce stress or trauma.  The more serious effect is that adults with PSTD can prolong their response to negative stimuli and later on develop better memory for such kind of information. 

Another crucial effect of child maltreatment, which has become common but definitely the most problematic in terms of sociological capacity, is their perception on social relationships and their tendencies to lose trust or the lacking of trust for other people.  Since maltreatment during childhood shows that there is some extent of care giving unresponsiveness, victims usually build up the belief that adults (or other people) are most likely to become unresponsive of their need and eventually develop negative feelings against them.  Difficulties in relationships are highly evident in adolescent to young adult stage but it is believed that such circumstance is negated given some time. 

In legal cases, one of the interesting consequences of child maltreatment is the perception of the victim that other people would normally be unsupportive of their needs or their claims regarding the incident.  This is most evident in when victims are asked of vital information regarding the stressful event.  They are most likely to feel insecurity to disclose pertinent information because of the belief that they cannot generate support from other people.  To counter this, interviewers or forensic professionals usually extend reassurance and protection support to the victim for them to be participative in the process of resolving cases.  Here, the victim is experiencing repressed emotion due to their inability to trust other people.  Hence, social dissociation is most likely to be experienced by victims of child maltreatment.

Memory and Child Maltreatment
PSTDs and other mental health problems have some crucial effects to the victims memory.  Some of the symptoms include emotional numbing and intrusive memories of flashbacks.  The intensity of the memory can be as severe as the first the first encounter. It is also possible that when flashbacks occur, the victim may not be able to feel any kind of emotions (emotional numbing), but the negative effect may recur given some time.  This is in direct correlation with a childs dissociation to the traumatic events.  This is critical because the victim may find it hard to disengage himself to the situations which trigger pain, stress, and trauma. 

This aspect of research on child maltreatment is still new however, there are a number of efforts to determine the association of memory and maltreatment on child.  For example, one methodology to assess this is the eyewitness memory recall interview wherein the childs memory is subject to documentation prior to his past experiences.  In empirical findings cited by Goodman et al (2010), it was found out that when victims of child maltreatment were subject to eyewitness interview, majority of them can remember the events or the experiences vividly even if the information of the experience is painful.   Thus, it is concluded that the accuracy of the memory of a maltreated child is relatively high.  However, there are no significant comparisons whether a maltreated childs memory is more accurate than that of the non-maltreated ones. 

For example, in a study conducted by Eisen et al (2002), three 16-year olds were interviewed to examine their memory as part of an inpatient abuse-assessment program.   There were no fixed categorization of the form of abuse, thus, the subjects ranged from the physical to sexual abuse, and even neglect.  The study also examined children who are not maltreated as the experiments control group.   Results showed interesting findings as follows  first, it was found out that older children are more likely to remember events vividly and possess the ability to answer questions in a precise manner as compared to the other subjects who are of younger age.  Secondly, this group of victim rarely makes a mistake when they are asked of sexually-abusive misleading questions.  Subjects who are younger oftentimes made this kind of mistakes.

Eisen et al (2007) additionally begin that greater dissociative tendencies were associated with added memory error for an child maltreatment examination.  Trauma symptoms were not associated with increased inaccuracy for victims who appear beneath dissociative tendencies.  This signifies larger memory error in traumatized children who are faced with a stressful event.

Three issues have received considerable attention in research on eyewitness memory among children being maltreated.  Because memory is the core issue under study, it is palpable that findings would be vulnerable to external factors.  Indeed, it is essential to conduct prospective research in which documented cases of child sexual maltreatment.  Other studies focused not on the question of whether people remember documented child sexual abuse but instead on the accuracy of memory among individuals who in fact recognize abuse. Overall, memories of child maltreatment appear to be retained quite well over time, corresponding to findings suggesting that emotional events in characteristic are retained surpassingly true in that occasion than are ordinary or non-emotional events.

Conclusion
Overall, the discussion above shows that there is a strong relationship between child maltreatment and memory.  In fact, factors such as stress, trauma, and other psycho-emotional instability are significant determiner of how a child remembers events pertaining to maltreatment.  Child maltreatment may come in various forms such as physical and sexual abuse, and even neglect.  The intensity of which a child remembers events in relation to the maltreatment is also dependent on his capability to cope in with such distress.  Capabilities are not constant since such would depend on the gravity of the maltreatment received, the support system that the child has, and his personal clinging to such past events.  It was discovered from the review of empirical studies above that the effect of child maltreatment on children can  be potentially carried out until the adulthood stage.  One of the most common effect of maltreatment is memory is the occurrence of flashbacks.  This, however, according to the articles reviewed, can be surpassed given an amount of time necessary for recovery.

Limitations
The review just focused on child maltreatment in general.  There are other significant and more detailed areas of child maltreatment that needs to have an additional amount of attention.  For example, the topic on eyewitness memory and child maltreatment was not discussed in the course of the review.  There are related articles pertaining to such area of study.  Case studies were also not given to discuss the comparisons of the effect of maltreatment towards adulthood.  It is equally important to somehow measure the length of grave to mild effect of maltreatment on a persons memory.  Another interesting topic in relation to this one is how maltreatment affects intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships of the victim.  Although this may cast a little attention to the memory, this area would entail significance since it will explain why victims of child maltreatment can or cannot handle relationships with quality.

Implications
Findings in the studies being reviewed have posted valuable importance in the investigations of how maltreatment affects a childs memory.  These studies have created a ground basis on which researchers can be able to plot a graphical memory development impact among maltreated children.  Such could be a principal contributor for other research endeavors to push through.  Civic organizations pertaining to child are benefitted of these kinds of studies since it provides them empirical information on the effects of child maltreatment.  In return, these findings may potentially incur movements from concerned groups such as civic volunteers, policy makers, and health workers.  What I think is the most valuable contribution of research like the ones being reviewed is that they induce the motivation and the urge for legislators to formulate laws that will protect the rights and welfare of those who are victims of abuse.

Future Researchers
Other researchers may want to tackle topics such as child maltreatment, memory, and its after-effects on the course and development of relationships or eyewitness memory and child maltreatment.  Future research may also want to engage in different but related endeavors such as effects of child maltreatment an d memory in academic or professional performanceexcellence andor child maltreatment and its post-trauma effects as experienced in personal relationships.

Background of Obama
Barrack Obama was born in Honolulu Hawaii at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital. Obamas parents met in a Russian Language course while they attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student.  He was born on August 1961.Her mother later enrolled in University of Washington, and lived in the Capitol Hill of Seattle she later left Seattle in the summer of 1962 and re-enrolled at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. At this time His mother raised him single handedly. In 1963, his father relocated to an apartment in Alexander Street. At this time, he still lived separately from Obamas mother. The two later separate in 1964. Obama moved with his mother to Manoa district where they stayed with his maternal grandparents. His father obtained a Masters degree and moved back to his native Kenya where he became a Minister before passing away in 1982 (Obama, 2004).

Throughout his early years, Obama was known at home and school as Barry Seotoro. He attended kindergarten at an Elementary school, Noelani near his home. While still in Manoa, his mother married Lolo Seotoro an Indonesian studying in Hawaii University When Soharto, a military leader moved to Seotros home country, in 1967, all students studying in abroad were recalled back and therefore the family moved to Indonesia. Obama then attended school in Jakarta between the ages of six and ten where classes were taught in the local Indonesian language. He attended school at St. Francis Assissi Catholic School for close to three years (Obama, 2004).

He later enrolled in a secular government school in Menteng where his family had moved to. While living in Indonesia, Obama was a Cub Scout. His half- sister remembered Obamas step father as one who was non religious and never attended prayer services except for big events. While in third grade, Obama wrote an essay about wanting to become president. His teacher told the Chicago tribune that she was not sure what country he wanted to be president of but that he had his reason for becoming president, to make everyone happy.

He then returned to Hononolulu for high school where he lived with his maternal grand parents. His mother followed him to Hawaii and stayed there from 1972 to 1977 and lived in Poki Street while her parents stayed in Beretania Street. She relocated back to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. Obama attended Punahou School and worked at a nearby Baskin Robbins Company. He stayed in the same school till his graduation in 1979. Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles and attended Occidental College. After two years he transferred to Columbia University and majored in political science, specializing in international relations and subsequently graduated with a B.A in 1983. He worked for a year at the Business International Corporation and New York Public Interest Research Group (Obama, 2004).

After four years in New York he moved to Chicago where he was hired as Director of the Development Committee Project, a church based community organization originally comprising eight catholic parishes in Greater Roseland. He worked from 185 to1988 and his staff grew from one employee to thirteen while the annual budget grew immensely. Over this period, he set up a training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants rights organization. After his job he traveled to Kenya to meet his fathers family before enrolling in Harvard Law School. He was selected as editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year, and president of the journal in the second year. He then graduated in 1991. He served as a lecturer in Chicago for twelve years starting from 1992, teaching constitutional law. He also served as a Director of Project vote, worked with Davis, Miner and Gallant law firm, Woods Fund of Chicago and Chicago Annenberg Challengers. His mother finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year before dying of ovarian cancer (Obama, 2004).
In 1995, he published a memoir, Dreams of my Father and later became the Illinois Senate in 1996. He was instrumental in the passing of various laws and recommendations while in this position and was later elected as the United States President in 2007.

It is worth noting that in his memoir, Obama confessed of his struggles as a young adult where he tired to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He used marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol in his teenage life to push questions of who he was out of his mind. He further confessed of this as a grave mistake. He describes his drug use as his greatest failure. In order to find a niche in his life while in college, his friends said he used to attend parties and other events so as to associate with African American and military service people. Hawaii to him offered an opportunity to experience a variety of cultures and a climate of mutual respect which became an integral part in his life and formed the basis of values he holds as most dear to him. He married Michelle in 1992 and has two children (Obama, 2004).

Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory Childhood Development
Child development that occurs from birth to adulthood was largely ignored throughout much of history. Children were always viewed as small versions of adults and little attention was paid to the many advances in cognitive abilities, language usage and physical growth. Sigmund Freuds theories stress on the importance of child hood events and experiences but almost exclusively focus on mental disorders rather than normal functioning (Pablisher, 1998).

According to Sigmund, child development is described as a series of psychosexual stages. In his three essays on sexuality, Freud outlined these stages as oral, anal, phallic, latency period and genital. Each stage involves the satisfaction of a libidinal desire that can later play a role in adult personality. His theory is one of the best known theories in the world today. However the same theory is somewhat controversial. Freud believed that personality develops through a series of child hood stages during which the pleasure- seeking energies of the id become focused on certain erogenous areas. This psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind ones behavior (Pablisher, 1998).

In cases where the psychosexual stages are completed successfully, the result is a healthy personality. If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixation is deemed to occur. A fixation is a constant focus on a previous psychosexual stage. Until the conflict is resolved, the individual will remain stuck in this stage. For, example, a person fixated at the oral stage may be over dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.

The ego, as discussed by Pablisher (1998) acts according to the reality principle that is, it seeks to please the ids drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing grief. It therefore comprises of the personality structure that includes defensive, perceptual, intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Conscious awareness dwells in the ego, although not all of the functioning of the ego is conscious. The ego separates what is real and helps individuals to organize their thoughts and make sense of them and the adjacent world. In Freuds theory, the ego reconciles the idand the super-ego with the outside world. He vividly uses the term ego to express judgment, tolerance, reality- testing, control, planning, defense, and synthesis of information, intellectual functioning and memory (Engler, 2005).

The super-ego on the other hand contradicts the id. It strives to act in a socially appropriate manner as opposed to the id which focuses on self-gratification. The super-ego retains the character of the father.

The oral stage is the infants primary source of interaction which occurs through the mouth for purposes of eating by tasting and sucking. The weaning process is the primary conflict at this stage as the child becomes less dependent on caretakers. Oral fixation can result in problems described previously as well as nail biting. The anal stage is characterized by activities such as toilet training where parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive. Inappropriate parental response may however result in negative outcomes such as messy, wasteful or destructive personality. The phallic stage concentrates on genial development while the latent period is characterized by the ego and superego. Children concentrate mostly on peer relations, hobbies and other interests. This builds the intellectual pursuits and social interactions further enhancing social and communication skills and self-confidence. The genital stage is on the other hand illustrated by sexual desire (Pablisher, 1998).

The oral stage, whose fixation results in oral stimulation through smoking and drinking can be equated to Obamas teenage life where he indulged in chemical dependent substances such as Cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol to divert from reality. He however, reconciled with himself and came out strongly to pursue his lifes goals. This is also related to the id component of the personality theory where an individual seeks self- gratification.

The ego is influenced by reality and is therefore a reality check which seeks to satisfy the id while at the same time considers realistic applications. This reality is mostly long-term. Obama was selected as president of the Harvard Review and acted as a Director of a number of Organizations and was also a professor of Columbia University. He was also a senator and later president elect of the United States. These attributes are executive functions related to the ego. His intellectual functioning is evident in his education history. Over and above the mentioned achievements, Obama was tolerant. He tolerated the events that unfolded in his childhood life by adapting to frequent changes in his geographic location as well as the schools he attended (Obama, 2004).

His social interactions and his leadership roles and independence are conclusive evidences of the superego nature in him. These are characterized by his work experiences in community organization, his membership with the Cub Scout, his fathering of two children and his presidency and senator roles as well. The ego and superego lie in the latency period of child development.
The genital stage relates to Obamas marriage to Michelle in 1992.Freud recognizes that a successful completion of the childhood development stages result in a healthy personality. Obamas personality can therefore be regarded as successful owing to his successful passage of each of the aforementioned stages (Pablisher, 1998).

Alfred Adler Interpsychic Theory
Alfred Adler was a theorist who experienced childhood illnesses and several injuries and equally developed the fear of death. He was an average student who felt inferior but rose to a superior position. He studied medicine at the University of Vienna and was the president of the International Psychoanalytic Association but disagreed with Freuds perspective. He believed that humans were essentially products of their social and cultural worlds (Engler, 2005).

Alder adopted an essentially optimistic and positive view of human nature. He saw the importance of culture and society in the development of individual personality in which the individual also plays an important responsible role. Through the cultivation of ones social interest, he identified self-appreciation and education as means to create a better world. He further expounds that individuals are able to deny or disobey their basic instincts to survive and reproduce (Adler, 1968). In his approach, Adler embraces several concepts such as social interest, which is an urge to adapt oneself to the conditions of the social environment and involves developing an attitude of oneness with others and a desire to cooperate with others. These however need to be encouraged and nurtured finalism which entails the goals that govern all living things is the second concept. The principle of finalism focuses on the motive and purpose for the future, with most guiding goals being referred to as fictional finalisms as they are constructed or invented and reflect our view of the world. goals of superiority drive the competence and effectiveness in whatever one strives to do. This is described as similar to Jungs self realization. Feelings of inferiority arise from childhood dependence and lead individuals to strive for competence and superiority style of life considers unique ways that each individual seeks to cope with the environment and develop superiority. This takes different forms, from physical strength to intellectual skills (Adler, 1968). It is influenced by family constellation, family atmosphere expressed through emotional relationships. Therefore ones style of life influences people to be passive or active, constructive or destructive and, creative self which interprets ones experiences and establishes a persons style of life. This mainly establishes, maintains and pursues the goal of ones life- a conscious process. It further recognizes that individuals create their own personalities that conscious plays a central role to personality, and opposes Freuds emphasis on unconsciousness.

This theory can be related to Obama in quite a number of ways. First of all, while Obama was growing up in Indonesia, he was well known as Barry Seotoro. This shows that he had built closer ties with his community, an aspect of social interest. He portrayed self realization through his intellectual skills. Obama was a bright student at school and dedicated most of his childhood life to education. He was enrolled in Harvard, a prestigious university in the United States and was able to attain his doctorate degree as well as his undergraduate degree in political science. Obama was also able to embrace the type of life he lived while growing up. This influenced to a great extent his style of life and conscious kept his goal alive, of becoming a president at some point in his life.

Secondly, Obama confesses that his experiences in Hawaii were fundamental in building his innate values and that he holds dearly these experiences. This shows that the culture of the community around him at that time played vital roles in developing his personality (Adler, 1968). He was also able to cultivate his social interest through education. By achieving the highest level of education and subsequently becoming a University professor, Obama was able to construct a better world for himself. This same education played a vital role in his running for senator and presidency.

Lastly, Obama disobeyed his basic instincts so as to survive and reproduce (Adler, 1968). During his teenage life, Obama was psychological affected by the fact that he could not place himself anywhere as far as personal identity was concerned. This is due to his parents distinct ethnic backgrounds (his father was an African, his mother, a white). He therefore opted to indulge in drugs and alcohol in order to destruct himself from these questions. This however did not affect his later achievement as he focused on school work and his talent.

Carl Jungs analytical psychology.
Analytical psychology or Jungian psychologyy is a psychological school that originated from Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist. This theory was advanced by his students and other thinkers who followed in his tradition. Its main aim is to apprehend and integrate the deep forces and motivations which underlie the human behavior by the practice of an accumulative phenomenology around the significance of dreams, folklore and mythology. Depth psychology is related to this theory in that it employs the model of the unconscious mind as the source of healing and development in the individual (Sahakian, 2000).

Jungs work sought to uncover the mysterious depths of the human unconscious. Fascinated by what the saw, Jung devoted to explore the unconscious. According to him, the empirical investigation of the world of dream, myth, and folklore represented the most promising road to the deeper understanding of the human psyche. He also stipulates that the unconscious is untouchable by experimental researchers through scientific and philosophic mechanisms. His definition of the unconscious however differs from Sigmunds understanding as he assumes collective unconscious to include images or mind contents thought to be innate to humans. The existing mental patterns are common to each human being and are precisely the factors that contribute to the commonality in humans (Engler, 2005).

The overarching goal of the Jungian psychology lies in the reconciliation of the life of the individual with the world of supra-personal archetypes. Vital to this process is the persons encounter with the unconscious. Humans experience the unconscious through symbols encountered in all aspects of life, in dreams, art, religion, and the symbolic dramas that people enact in their relationships and life pursuits. The important element therefore is learning the symbolic language manifested by the minds images (Sahakian, 2000).

The fundamentals of Jungs analytical psychology are disclosed as unconscious which is a potent part of the normal human psyche thus for wholeness to be achieved, a reliable communication between the conscious and the unconscious needs to be necessitated (Engler, 2005). Dreams are a manifestation of ideas, beliefs and feelings of which individuals are not readily aware of archetypes are innate, universal prototypes for ideas and may be used to interpret observations. A complex refers to a group of memories and interpretations associated with an archetype. These archetypes are collective as well as individual self realization offers two distinctive considerations, one base on separation from humanity which explains the destructive nature of young men, and the other based on reunification of humans with the human race, this begins from the age of thirty five years where individuals prioritize on community and spiritual efforts.

The psychoanalysis concept of the theory focuses on integrating the unknown material. The search for the meaning of behaviors, symptoms and events is categorized under this concept. The scrutiny of dreams is the more common. Others include expressing feelings in art pieces, poetry or other expressions of creativity. According to Jung, analytical psychology approaches the unconscious from a general perspective and discloses that the unconscious may contain repressed sexual drives, aspirations and fears (Sahakian, 2005).

From Jungs perspective, several aspects of Obamas life can relate to this theory. First of all, Obama was affected by both sides of self-realization. The fact that during his childhood life, in an attempt to reconcile his personal world with the outside, Obama found himself engaging in drugs and alcohol which were more destructive than constructive. He also went to African American parties in search of his identity while still in high school, an action viewed by his friends as more mature than his age.

Secondly, his reunification with the human race can be equated to his significant involvement in community welfare, as well as his running to be senator and president which was his dream, to make every one happy.

Thirdly, Jung considers the fact that the unconscious may be manifested through dreams or other creative work. Obamas dream in Dreams from my Father is quite metaphorical. His father was highly educated he had been to Harvard and became a Minister in his native country. Despite the two not being in close contact, Obama was able to follow his fathers footsteps by enrolling in Harvard and being a leader of the people just like hi father. He also manifested his unconscious through writing. This is evident from his literary work in Harvard, where he was elected as editor and president of the Harvard Review. In addition, he wrote his memoir which was published in 1995 (Obama, 2004).

Obama realized his dream of becoming the American president, a dream he wrote during his childhood study.

The psychoanalytic theories and approaches discussed above focus on the development of personality. They consider the different interpretations of personality ranging from the unconscious, the external environment to the conscious. All these address personality wholesomely and the gaps evident in one are well covered by another. Obamas life is related to each of these theories in one way or another as described.

Analyzing the claim that vaccines particularly MMR causes autism, it can be argued that there is limited information to justify this idea. On one side of the debate, there are those concerned parents who seek to argue that vaccines cause autism among their children. Similarly, this remains to be supported by a study in London during 1998 that argued the connection between vaccines and autism (Institute of Medicine, p.1). Though there was little connection made in this study concerning the two variables, it raised the attention among parents who sought to remain hesitant in the administration of these.

On the other hand, medical authorities argued that there are no established claims relating vaccines with autism. With limited evidence to point these two together, its administration remains to be safe among children especially in establishing the ability to boost their immune system (Mauro, p.1). At the same time, numerous studies have sought to establish the connection because of the complexity of autism. Similarly, since each childs reaction to vaccines remains to be varied, establishing connection to this process remains questionable and difficult to decipher (Institute of Medicine, p.2).

Given these realities, it is then essential for medical professionals to establish appropriate communication to parents. Here, it does not revolve around convincing parents to engage in such action or not. Rather, allow a collaborative responsibility in facilitating the proper dosage and elements that children need (Mauro, p.2). It takes into account the value of establishing proper avenues to induce more accountability to the practice and seeks to further research in determining the validity of the claim that vaccines do cause autism.

The information that is stored in the memory about the things, ideas, events and so on is what we called as knowledge (Sternberg, 2009 255). Cognition refers to the process by which knowledge is derived. According to Allan Paivio, two codes represent information. These are analogue codes and symbolic codes. Analogue codes are forms of knowledge representation that preserves the main perpetual features of whatever is being represented for the physical stimuli we observe (Sternberg, 2009 261). On the other hand, symbolic code refers to arbitrary representation for something and that does not perceptually resemble whatever is being represented (Sternberg, 2009 261).

To understand how these codes work, consider the abstract notion of the number seven. People in a society represent this idea as a written symbol 7 or VII and call this symbol with the English word seven, the French word sept or the Italian word sette. A more concrete example would be to represent actual objects such as a dog. The term dog is merely a word that symbolizes the actual domestic animal under the genus Canis (Serpel, 2008 32). Nonetheless, the term dog could be represented verbally in different ways, in the same way as the notion of seven has different verbal representations.

If two people from different cultures communicate with different languages, they would not be able to understand each other because the manner of representing knowledge is different. For example, a sign written plainly in a building says beware of dogs. However, the warning is written in Spanish as tener cuidado con perros. A person without knowledge of the Spanish language will not be able to comprehend the sign tener cuidado con perros. Thus, to be able to convey a resemblance of the actual object, pictures or pictorial images could be use. It would be useful if there were pictures that accompany the sign tener cuidado con perros. A drawing of the dogs shape or an actual picture of a dog would make the warning more effective.

According to the definitions made by Paivio, it is clear that the picture is an analogue code whereas the number 7 and the word dog are symbolic codes. These two codes are both important to be able to convey meaning and to be able to store information. There are things that could not be represented by symbols. As explained above, symbols or verbal representations differ from one language to another. On the other hand, pictures are analogical to the actual object. However, pictures could not explain abstract ideas. For example, pictures could not represent the idea of peace and honesty because there are no concrete and spatial objects that are equivalent to these terms.

Paivio further claimed that people use both analogue and symbolic codes to represent information and organize it into knowledge (Sternberg, 2009 261). This is known as the dual-code theory. According to this theory, a person uses both codes implying that analogue codes do not operate in the same way as symbolic codes. To examine the relevance of this claim, consider using the two codes at same time and using the same code at the same time. First, the analogue code of drawing a dog and the symbolic code of telling what 7 is all about. Then, consider telling what seven is all about while writing the general description of a dog. Lastly, imagine earthworms while drawing an ostrich. Among these three the task, the easiest would be using different codes at the same time.

The two codes assist learning by providing mental images or mental representations of the objects and ideas. For example, the word beware gives us mental images of the things we should beware such as falling debris in construction sites, dogs or other animals, etc. The word gives a warning that we should be more careful about our actions.  The photo of a rose garden provides the mental image of the rose garden.

According to the study made by Paivio, Smythe, and Yuille in 1968 concrete words are easier to remember than abstract words (Weiten, 2008 279). Concrete words are symbolic codes that have an analogue code, or could be expressed through pictures or visual images. Abstract words are words that do not have a corresponding analogue code. The study illustrates that it is easier to remember high-imagery words.

Indeed, this observation could explain how children learn faster with the use of visual aids. When I was in grade school, I learned about the water cycle and the process of digestion when images accompany the explanations. If there were no images, it would be too hard to grasp this concept especially for young children. Thus, Paivio suggested that using two codes could enhance learning and memory.

During regular trips on grocery markets and shops, I have noticed that a friend of mine have employed several foreigners with different backgrounds,  mostly Asians  My inquiring mind asked my friend about it since, I have notice that there are a lot of them on different shops I went to. My friend told me that they were Filipinos working there and she also explained to me that theres a small community of them in our Town. I was curious with that fact  and I decided to research about them and create a multicultural study from it.

The purpose of this multicultural study is to analyze overseas Filipino workers here in the US. According to the American Community Survey, in 2005, about 3,252,678 Filipinos and Filipino-Americans live in the United States. However, this number is speculated to be at more than 5.5 million, according to many Filipino-American organizations, with 1 million that are undocumented (All experts, 2010). We will use a descriptive approach a typical case study in which the mission of this service oriented case study is specific to Filipinos overseas workers (Hadley  Mitchell, 1995). And this will be done to study intensively on why does a lot of Filipinos, especially professional ones would rather work abroad than in their own homeland, sacrificing leaving their families and friends on the Philippines.

Although we might already have some assumptions on the reasons they may have, but what is it clearly Case studies  typically document what happened differently than do comparative studies (Confrey  Stohl 2004).  This study will also go beyond their race but also analyze their culture and religious preferences, as this social domain was one of the first areas explored mediators of the religion-health association (Baetz  Toews, 2009)  purpose of which is further provide inputs on this studys overall goal of  answering why the increasing number of Filipinos coming in. The sample size will also be significant and case studies will be repeated a number of times to assess if there are similar findings from different individuals, in which the results can be, generalized (Hadley  Mitchell, 1995). A survey will also be included to provide some data on age, gender and type of employment, again to assist probable supporting details on the subject. And finally, to have a decent projection if this trend will continue, a further Trend study will be applied to examine changes over time (Hadley  Mitchell, 1995).

The results will probably indicate organizational support for multiculturalsocial justice issues and gains in the participants multicultural competence ( Zalaquett, Foley, Tillotson, Dinsmore  Hof, 2008).

Monkey see, monkey do  a line thats been heard through the years and gives strength to the fact that conditioning, and reinforcement or punishment are simply not as effective as observation. Albert Bandura is one who believes that unlike what the traditional learning theory suggests, where focus is placed upon an individuals own experience, learning through anothers experience and imitating behavior contributes much to learning (Mazur, 2006, p.278). Clearly experience truly can be a great teacher  vicarious experience can be a great teacher.

Mazur (2006) talks of how Banduras Theory takes from the teachings of the social learning theory, a combination of (1) the traditional principles of classical and operant conditioning, plus (2) the principles of observational learning or imitation (p.279). Though Banduras theory is influenced by the social learning theory, it belongs to the category of a cognitive theory due to its consideration of concepts outside the scope of ones behavior.

Bandura conceptualized four deciding factors for imitation to occur (Mazur, 2006, p.284). The first factor is that of attentional process which, as the name suggests, requires a person to pay due attention to effectively learn. Second, there is the retentional process where a learner should be able to retain information and make use of abstraction to effectively carry out a task if done at a later time. Third is the concept of motor reproductive processes which demands one to have the necessary motor skills to perform the activity to be imitated or to translate the retained information into action. The final factor is that of incentive and motivational processes. While the first three factors determine the capability to perform a task, this fourth factor presents the drive to perform the task in the first place.

Though there is not single superior theory in terms of learning, Bandura has exposed another side to it. It is not only through our own experience that we learn, but through others as well.