Introduction

Abstract

Unfortunately, there are many undesirable circumstances that degrade or destroy the human condition. These circumstances include child abuse, domestic violence, poverty, communicable diseases, violence, war, drug addiction, terrorism, prejudice, psychological disabilities, medical illnesses, developmental problems, homelessness, intractable pain, and fragmented families. While these deplorable conditions are present-day concerns, they have probably always been with us. Although the general nature of the problems, for example, domestic violence and war, remains the same, there are some important differences between the circumstances of the present and those of over 50 years ago. While war has always been with us, at no time has civilization unleashed such devastating weapons and the possibility of complete annihilation of all humanity. The breakdown of the nuclear family appears to be a more frequent and devastating problem nowadays. While many communicable diseases have been for all purposes completely eradicated, we are threatened by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which does not appear to be running its course like the Black Death of the Middle Ages, but is gradually affecting a greater portion of the population and appears to be developing more resistant strains. While drug abuse used to be confined to certain portions of the population, it is currently a severe problem across ethnic and socioeconomic lines. Violence in the streets and terrorism now threaten the psychological and physical security of everyone even here in America.