Nine domains can be identified in which the community must function in order to survive. These domains are physical, environmental, economic, human development, political, informational and communicative, spiritual, cultural, and social and emotional. As a crowded city, Chicago is deficient in many environmental and physical requirements. Open space, other than in parks, museums, and college campuses, is hard to come by. Plant and animal life is difficult to be observed aside from the seagulls that often flock throughout the area, pets, and window gardens, though small city gardens for the purpose of fresh, organic food are beginning to become more popular. In addition, the problem of homelessness mentioned earlier means that many cannot meet their physical needs. The city's government runs services, however, do provide transportation, sewage and trash maintenance, and other environmental and physical requirements. The city's ability to accept diversity has enabled it to meet many economic and human development requirements, however, as well as cultural requirements. Although today's economic situation makes jobs difficult to find, opportunities are offered equally and education is accessible for money. In addition, Chicago understands the ability for each group to contribute, which is why it has many programs to honor the talents and abilities of diverse groups. Walking down the street in Chicago, one might find business professionals, artists, students, and those who do more blue-collar type work. The infamous Chicago politics, though, make political requirements difficult to achieve, as many people are suspicious of political leaders and government programs because of the corrupt nature that Chicago politics traditionally held. Thus, while Barack Obama's election suggests that members of this community want to have their say in the electoral process, the scandal currently surrounding the Illinois governor and the rocky status of Chicago politics makes them wary. To counteract this problem, however, is the amount of information technology that is available to the typical member of the Chicago community. Newspapers, magazines, television shows, the Internet, and public forums allow nearly all to speak, and people often use these mediums to make decisions regarding what...

Furthermore, specialized publications for certain ethnic groups, religious groups, and minority groups, such as women and the LBGT community exist.
These mediums allow people to discuss different spiritual, cultural, and ethnic points-of-view, allowing the community to meet spiritual and cultural requirements. Many types of religions and beliefs exist in the community of Chicago. Churches, synagogues, temples, and places of new age and spiritualist studies can be found throughout the city. People often associate their cultures with their religion, and many cultural and religious organizations exist. Still others do not have a spiritual belief, and these people are usually well accepted as well. Although tensions among groups because of political events and propaganda do occur, they are generally confined to extremist groups and are few and far between. Perhaps this speaks, also, to the social and emotional requirements in this community, as people are generally able to work together, trust each other, and accept each other. The community is generally proud, and attempts to take care of itself.

Conclusion

After looking both at basic demographic information and the nine domains in which a community functions, a counselor would be able to work with greater impact in the community of Chicago than if he or she had not considered these features. Overall, this examination reveals that the community of Chicago is both tight-knit and composed of diverse groups. For the most part, people are able to hold to both their individual and community identities, but the problem of Chicago politics, the economy, and homelessness puts a damper on this positive information. A counselor would use this background information to determine how a person might be upset by changes in his or her community. In addition, a counselor could evaluate if a client had values and characteristics similar to those valued in the community.

References

Some Quick Facts & Demographics About Chicago. (2001-2008). Retrieved January

29, from ChitownAds.com. Web site: http://www.chitownads.com/k/idx/27/049/Chicago_Statistics__Demographics/article/_Some_Quick_Facts__Demographics_About_Chicago.html