Arab Psychology in Global Context - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 31
About This Presentation
Title:

Arab Psychology in Global Context

Description:

In M. J. Stevens & D. Wedding (Eds.), Handbook of international psychology (pp. 387-403) ... at Kuwait University as part of two invitations extended ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:150
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 32
Provided by: michae1260
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Arab Psychology in Global Context


1
Arab Psychology in Global Context
  • Uwe P. Gielen
  • Institute for International and Cross-Cultural
    Psychology
  • St. Francis College, New York City
  • Ramadan A. Ahmed
  • Kuwait University

2
A Brief History of International Psychology
Beginnings
  • First International Congress of Physiological
    Psychology
  • Paris, France 1889
  • Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
  • 190 doctoral students from 10 countries
  • Predominately European and North American

3
Main Question
  • How can Arab psychology strengthen its presence
    in the emerging global psychology movement while
    being of service to society?

4
Response
  • The brief history of international psychological
    development
  • The state of global psychology
  • The state of Arab psychology
  • Establishing an Institute of Arab Psychology

5
A Brief History of International Psychology
Post-WWII
  • American Psychology becomes a scientific
    superpower
  • Monocultural in nature
  • Little awareness of developments elsewhere, even
    in Europe
  • English THE language of communication

6
A Brief History of International Psychology
Recent Developments
  • Europe
  • 300,000 estimated European Psychologists
    (Tikkanen, 2005)
  • European Federation of Psychologists
    Associations (EFPA)
  • 31 countries represented
  • Professional licensing requirements

7
A Brief History of International Psychology
Recent Developments
  • South America
  • Large number of psychologists (140,000 licensed
    psychologists in Brazil alone)
  • Fairly limited impact in the international arena
    (rather weak scientific and academic base)

8
A Brief History of International Psychology
Recent Developments
  • East Asia
  • Relatively fewer psychologists
  • Japan 20,000
  • China 10,000
  • More rigorous scientific inquiry than in South
    America?
  • Chinese Government Psychology one of 18
    scientific disciplines for the 21st century

9
Trends in Global Psychology
  • Generally speaking, the richer the country, the
    more significant psychologys role
  • Other factors
  • Education level
  • Modernization
  • In emerging countries, psychologists more often
    found in urban areas

10
Trends in Global Psychology
  • Political and Cultural Factors
  • Left and right-wing totalitarian regimes have
    often restricted psychologists
  • Liberal Democratic Governments generally
    encourage adoption of psychology
  • Exceptions Nazi Germany, Apartheid South Africa,
    (former) German Democratic Republic, Communist
    Cuba

11
Trends in Global Psychology
  • Psychology has still been able to prosper in a
    wide variety of settings
  • The Philippines
  • Communist Cuba
  • Formerly communist Russia
  • Theocratic state of Iran
  • Liberal and largely-secular Netherlands
  • racially heterogeneous Brazil

12
The Tasks of Global Psychology
  • The worldwide integration of psychological
    developments in a culturally sensitive way
  • The creation of a psychology that can contribute
    to a universal consciousness and sense of
    responsibility

13
The Tasks of Global Psychology
  • Meeting global challenges
  • Cognitive-Emotional the need for empathy and
    sociocultural role-taking
  • Moral the use of principled ethical reasoning
    in an environment of conflicting perspectives and
    values
  • Practical the scope of global challenges (i.e.
    overpopulation, global warming, differences in
    wealth and resources)

14
Arab Psychology
  • Where does Arab Psychology fit into the global
    picture?
  • Is Arab Psychology visible on the international
    stage?
  • Has psychology assumed an important role in the
    modernization of Arab nations?
  • How much is psychology contributing to the
    welfare of Arab societies and their members?

15
Arab Psychology - Publications
  • Review of 2,500 publications (Ahmed Gielen,
    1998, 2008)
  • Bibliography of 5,000 publications (Ahmed, 2007)
  • Steady growth and expansion of psychology in the
    Arab world
  • Broad range of Arab studies being conducted in
    developmental, social, educational,
    cross-cultural, and abnormal-clinical psychology
  • Minimal studies in animal, physiological, and
    experimental psychology

16
Arab Psychology - Publications
  • Review of of published studies in PsycINFO in
    114 developing countries over a 5-year period
    (Sánchez-Sosa Riveros, 2007)
  • Large variation in research productivity between
    Arab countries
  • Some countries like Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt have
    global visibility comparable to many South
    American and Asian countries
  • Not fully representative - any studies published
    in languages other than English not counted

17
Arab Psychology - Publications
  • Research Activity by Psychologists in 19
    Countries of the Middle East and North Africa
  • Country Number of Studies Listed
    in PsycINFO
  • __________________________________________________
    ______________________
  • Jordan 138
  • Iraq 98
  • Egypt 92
  • UAE 78
  • Kuwait 77
  • Lebanon 73
  • Saudi Arabia 63
  • Morocco 40
  • Oman 25
  • Sudan 19
  • Bahrain 17
  • Syria 15
  • Algeria 13
  • Somalia 13
  • Tunisia 12

18
Arab Psychology - Publications
  • Research Activity by Psychologists in 21
    Developing Countries and the Arab World
  • Country/Region Number of Studies Listed in
    PsycINFO
  • __________________________________________________
    ______________________
  • China 1917
  • India 835
  • Brazil 812
  • 19 Arab countries combined
    798
  • South Africa 738
  • Mexico 733
  • South Korea 550
  • Thailand 222
  • Nigeria 214
  • Argentina 210
  • Chile 160
  • Uganda 156
  • Kenya 155
  • Jordan 138
  • Malaysia 136

19
Arab Psychology International Conferences
  • December 2003 - First Middle East and North
    Africa Regional Conference of Psychology, Dubai,
    United Arab Emerites
  • Participants from 35 countries including 17
    neighboring states
  • April/May 2007 - Second Middle East and North
    Africa Regional Conference in in Amman, Jordan
  • Participants from 28 countries including 15
    countries in the Middle East and North Africa
    region (Knowles Sabourin, 2008)

20
Arab Psychology International Conferences
  • Kuwait University Three International
    Conferences in the Social Sciences and
    Interdisciplinary Studies (Third Conference
    December 2006)

21
Arab Psychology Limitations
  • Most Arab studies conducted by a single
    researcher, imitative of Western studies, and
    tool-oriented rather than problem-centered
    (Soueif, 1998)
  • Arab psychologists have not sufficiently
    indigenized their theories and research programs

22
Arab Psychology Limitations
  • Arab psychologists have not developed original
    theoretical frameworks
  • Arab psychologists are not sufficiently visible
    in the global arena

23
An Institute of Arab Psychology A Modest
Proposal
  • A center for interdisciplinary cooperation in the
    context of joint research projects
  • A model for establishing a research culture
    based on collaboration between researchers from
    both Arab and non-Arab nations

24
An Institute of Arab Psychology A Modest
Proposal
  • A venue for organizing conferences, workshops,
    and courses in psychology
  • The institute should focus on scientific work and
    training of direct and indirect use to the
    surrounding society

25
An Institute of Arab Psychology A Modest
Proposal
  • The Institute should include a library that
    contains books, articles, chapters, unpublished
    dissertations, masters theses, published and
    unpublished research reports, psychological
    tests, and other materials that are relevant to
    Arab psychologists

26
An Institute of Arab Psychology A Modest
Proposal
  • The Institute could publish a periodic Survey of
    Arab Psychology
  • The Institute should be fully integrated into a
    university setting while, at the same time,
    conducting its work on a relatively independent
    basis. Kuwait University is one such place where
    this may be possible

27
Conclusions
  • Psychology is prospering in many non-Western
    countries
  • The International Union of Psychological Science
    includes 71 national psychology associations on
    all inhabited continents
  • Psychology in many Arab countries, while steadily
    developing, has fallen behind in relation to some
    other economically, politically, and culturally
    emerging regions of the world, especially in East
    Asia and parts of Latin America.

28
Conclusions
  • The establishment of a financially well endowed,
    creatively led, and university-connected yet
    partially independent Institute for Arab
    Psychology would constitute a significant step
    toward making Arab psychology a more significant
    force in Global Psychology

29
References
  • Ahmed, R. A. (2004). Psychology in Egypt. In M.
    J. Stevens D. Wedding (Eds.), Handbook of
    international psychology (pp. 387-403). New York
    Brunner-Routledge.
  • Ahmed, R. A., Gielen, U. P. (Eds.).(1998).
    Psychology in the Arab countries. Menoufia,
    Egypt Menoufia University Press.
  • Ahmed, R. A., Gielen, U. P. (Eds.).(2008).
    Psychology in the Arab countries. Cairo, Egypt
    Supreme Culture Council. (in Arabic)
  • Gielen, U. P. (in press). Arab psychology and the
    emerging global psychology movement. In A.
    Aksu-Koc S. Bekman (Eds.), Perspectives on
    human development, family and culture. Cambridge,
    UK Cambridge University Press.

30
References
  • Knowles, M., Sabourin, M. (2008). Psychology
    and modern life challenges The 2nd Middle East
    and North Africa regional conference of
    psychology, Amman, Jordan, 2007. International
    Journal of Psychology, 43 (2), 130-139.
  • Sánchez-Sosa, J. J., Riveros, A. (2007).
    Theory, research, and practice in Psychology in
    the developing (majority) world. In M. J. Stevens
    U. P. Gielen (Eds.), Toward a global
    psychology Theory, research, intervention, and
    pedagogy (pp. 101-146). Mahwah, NJ Erlbaum.

31
Acknowledgements
  • During 2002 and 2006 The first author was given
    the opportunity to visit the Psychology
    Department at Kuwait University as part of two
    invitations extended respectively by the College
    of Graduate Studies and the College of Social
    Sciences, in order to review the departmental
    graduate and undergraduate programs. I am deeply
    grateful to the deans, administrators, and
    members of the Psychology Department for their
    warm hospitality and their openness with which
    they discussed the programs and the overall
    situation of the department during my two visits.
    I am also indebted to Juris G. Draguns and
    Harold Takooshian for discussing with me their
    observations during our joint visit to Kuwait
    University in 2006. This paper constitutes an
    attempt to extend and broaden my report to the
    College of Graduate Studies (Gielen, 2002) and
    the joint report by Professor Draguns
    (Pennsylvania State University) and I to the
    College of Social Sciences (Draguns Gielen,
    2006), by adding a few suggestions about how
    psychologists might contribute even further to
    the academic excellence of Kuwait University in
    the wider context of Arab psychology.
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com