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.

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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.