Psychologists in Arab countries face daunting challenges

Though psychology and psychiatry in the Arab world have roots in the 11th and 12th centuries, most Arab countries didn?t recognize psychology as we know it until the 1960s or later.

In fact, even today most Arab countries have only a handful of psychologists, according to psychologists who spoke at the International Congress session 'Psychology in the Arab world.'

According to psychologist Ramadan A. Ahmed, PhD, chair of the psychology department at Menoufia University, Egypt, there are 2,700 to 2,900 psychologists in the Arab world. About 2,000 live and work in Egypt. There are now 108 psychology departments in Arab countries, 60 of which are located in Egypt.

Psychology practice is uncommon or absent in Arab countries so most psychologists there work in research, teaching or administrative jobs. There are two psychology associations in the Arab world, both in Egypt: the Egyptian Psychological Association and the Egyptian Association for Psychology.

In addition to being few in numbers, Arab psychologists face several other obstacles, said Uwe P. Gielen, PhD, an expert in Arab psychology from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, N.Y. They include:

? Psychology is largely brought in from the outside. While Arab psychologists follow developments in Western psychology, most of their own studies are done in their native languages and are not translated into English. As a result, few Western psychologists read or hear about their findings. In addition, almost all of the 10 most used psychological tests in the United States have been translated and adapted to the Arab world, but there hasn?t been a corresponding development of indigenous tests in Arab countries. Ahmed predicted it will take Arab psychologists 20 to 40 years to overcome this problem.

? Psychologists are little understood in Arab countries. Most people in Arab countries don?t know what psychologists do and have a poor understanding of the psychology field.

? Psychologists themselves lack a clear identity. Arab psychologists don?t have a united focus on the goals of their profession and what they are working to achieve.

? Arab researchers? work often centers on instruments. Arab psychologists rarely conduct studies on problems they?ve identified. Rather, they are more inclined to design studies around instruments they have for examining certain constructs?such as Hans Eysenck?s personality scales to look at extroversion verus introversion.

? It?s difficult to build a research tradition in Arab countries. In most cases, the researchers don?t follow up their findings, which then become isolated. In addition, psychologists often come under pressure to leave research for other jobs, such as teaching or administration.

?Sara Martin, Ramadan A. Ahmed and Uwe P. Gielen are editors of the upcoming book 'Psychology in the Arab Countries,' a 630-page text that will be published by Menoufia University Press in December.