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Psychotechnology and the
Muslim World : An Attempt toward Indigenization
by Dr. Omar Haroon Khaleefa
Introduction
Psychology has been defined as the scientific
study of human behaviour. Its goal is to understand, predict and control the
behaviour of the organism. The main branches of psychology include both
theoretical and applied aspects and among the most important branches of
psychology is psychometrics. Sometimes, the role of the psychologist is defined
in terms of applying, and analysing psychometric tests. In the present study, we
are going to adopt the term "psychotechnology", consisting of "psycho" form the
word psychology and "technology" which is related to the application of
technology to assist in understanding human behaviour and for solving practical
problems. This technology covers wide areas from principles, methods, and
equipment use in experimental psychology to other audio-visual instruments that
are used in psychology in general and psychological tests in particular.
Psychotechnology is broadly used in some applied areas : educational,
counselling, occupational, industrial and clinical. The area of psychological
testing covers the nature and type of tests, the theoretical basis of tests and
procedures for constructing them. It also includes social, moral and ethical
values such as privacy, confidentiality and human and minority group's rights.
There are many necessary principals for the application of the psychological
tests : adequate norms and standardization and a high level of reliability and
validity are required. Popular areas of psychological test include intelligence,
personality, creativity and specific abilities. Intelligence tests include
individual, group and special group tests. Personality tests include
self-assessment, measures of values and interests and projective tests.
Creativity tests include verbal and figurative creativity tests, divergent
tests, creative personality and creative activities tests etc.
The present study aims to adopt the
psychotechnology of intelligence, vocabulary and creativity from the
Euro-American psychology and transplant it to the ummatic (Islamic) culture in
order to examine its universality in terms of concepts and tools. The study has
other questions which need to be answered : for example, what are the responses
of individuals and groups to this psychotechnology ? Does the ummatic culture
share the same values of the orthodox Western psychology ? Why does Japan and
the Muslim world respond differently to psychotechnology ? How can the
psychotechnology be adapted and improved to suit the ummatic culture ? Our
(Muslim) contemporary society has been invaded by new technologies that have
affected all spheres of life (ISESCO, 1990). The question is whether to respond
adequately to this technology or to isolate ourselves. It seems that research in
the educational arena is very important in shaping a suitable response to the
invading technology. This is because "the educational sector constitutes the
basis of the advancement and development of society, and the introduction of
technological innovations into it guarantees their dissemination in a steady and
firm manner." (Hilali, 1987, p. 9).
Western cultures is the major producer of
knowledge generally, and of the social and behavioural sciences particularly,
and these have been exported, regardless of their ethnocentrism, to both Islamic
and other non-western cultures. Such imported sciences have many limitations
when applied in cultures other than their own. There is a need for
cross-cultural comparisons which can discover laws that are stable over time and
place and across different cultures and societies. The adoption of
cross-cultural views can lead to inter-cultural contacts, which, in turn, can
lead to the discovery of a true 'global', 'universal' or 'cosmopolitan'
understanding. The important challenge facing the ummatic culture is the
production of social and behavioural sciences that are characterized by
reliability and continuity without universal isolation : sciences that can
reflect the spirit, roots, values, beliefs, and needs of individuals and groups
towards a high level of innovation, creativity and development (Khaleefa &
Ashria, 1995b). The history of psychology and social sciences in general in the
ummatic culture is the history of Westernization, acculturation and
deruralization, and is associated with the educational system. Western concepts
becomes a part of the style of thinking of individuals and groups who are
education in Western schools. The methods and approaches of teaching,
administering and research are either copied from the English, French or
Amercian systems. It is true that all Muslim countries have their independence,
however, they still have strong ties with their previous colonisers in most
educational, economic and technological aspects.
In the Sudan, as in other ummatic countries, there
is an urgent need for psychotechnology for educational, occupational and
clinical assessment, classification and guidance. However, there are no
standardized tests for the Sudanese local environment except few attempts
carried out by Scott (1950) and Badri and Dennis (1964). Modern scientific
psychology, though a child of Western civilization, has developed many useful
tools and practices which no nation can do completely without if it intends to
technologize and develop its educational, military, and medical systems.
Psychometry is an area in which Western psychology has offered one of its
greatest contributions to science. This is particularly true of the more
objective measurements like intelligence tests, personality inventories and
vocational guidance tests. But for such Western psychological tests to be of any
help in Muslim countries, a good deal of adaptation and standardization must be
carried out. The great differences between European super-industrialized
countries and our Muslim developing societies can invalidate the results of
unadapted tests (Badri, 1979).
The aim of the present studies is to adopt and
adapt Western psychotechnology from Euro-American psychology and apply them to
the local Sudanese culture. Three empirical studies have been carried out
between 1987 and 1995. In the first study, we intended to examine the
applicability of the well known Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised
(WAIS-R) when applied in the Sudan. In the second study, we examined the
application of creativity tests in a dual educational system. In the third
study, we attempted to examine the application of both creativity and vocabulary
tests in a dual educational system (Khaleefa, Taha & Ashria, 1995).
Study 1 : Intelligence Testing and the Sudanese
Culture
The first study was represented by a group of a
diverse volunteers, 30 and 801 as a pilot and main study, respectively. The
number of males was 418 (52.2%), and of females was 383 (47.8%). Due to the
majority of illiterate people in the Sudan (approximately 68.7%), the sample has
been classified into two broad categories of education : literate and illiterate
(Khaleefa & Ashria, l995a). The well known Wechsler Adult Intelligence
Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), which consists of eleven sub-tests, was applied in the
first study. It consists of two parts : verbal and performance, and it measures
intelligence from 16-75 years and was developed by David Wechsler in 1981. The
whole test consists of six verbal sub-tests and five non-verbal (performance)
sub-tests (Khaleefa, Erdos, & Ashria, 1996).
The pilot study revealed that 80% of Sudanese
subjects failed to respond adequately to the Picture Arrangement test of the
WAIS-R. 60% of the subjects did not respond suitably to the Information Test and
50% failed to respond completely to the General Comprehension test. 36 % were
not familiar with some items of the Similarities Test. 14% of the Vocabulary
Test was found to be unsuitable for the subjects. The inadequate responses
elicited from the Sudanese sample to these sub-tests showed clearly the cultural
bias of these tests. For the test to be administered fully, it takes between 90
and 150 minutes (Khaleefa & Ashria, l995a). The main study showed that the mean
score for literate subjects on the full scale was 104.3 (SD= 23.1), while it was
69.8 (SD=12.9) for illiterate subjects. The difference between literate and
illiterate subjects scores were highly significant. The study showed that there
are significant differences between regions : Khartoum obtained the highest
scores (106.52) in the measured intelligence, while Darfur obtained the lowest
scores (80.77). These variations in intelligence reflect the variations in
education, urbanization and Westernization.
Study 2 : Creativity Testing and the Sudanese
Culture
Three hundred participants constituted the sample
for the second study. They were considered with respect to their age, which
ranged from 15-20 years. Traditional, modern and architectural education were
represented by 132, 132 and 36 subjects, respectively. Four creativity tests
have been used in the present study : (1) Consequences Test designed by Guilford
et al (1987); (2) The Alternative Uses Test, which is a revised and improved
form of the Unusual Uses Test, and was designed by Guilford and Guilford (1980);
(3) The Creative Personality Test, prepared by Habib (1990a); (4) The Creative
Activities List, prepared by Habib (1990b). The first two tests were brought
from America and adapted to the Sudanese culture, while the second two tests
were brought from Egypt.
The aim of the second study is to examine the
differences between traditional or indigenous and modern or Western education in
creativity. A significant difference was found on creativity as measured by
Consequences Test, favouring modern education (t=-6.31; P<.001). Additionally,
modern education results in more creativity than traditional education, as
measured by the Alternative Uses Test (t=-4.78; P<.001). The Creative Activities
List showed a significant difference in creativity, favouring modern education
(t=2.20; P>.01). However, the Creative Personality Test showed slight but not
significant differences favouring modern education (t=1.64; P<.05) (Khaleefa,
1995; Khaleefa, Erdos and Ashria, in press).
Study 3 : Vocabulary and Creativity and the
Sudanese Culture
Two hundred and eighty participants constituted
the total sample for the third study. The participants were selected with
respect to their age, gender and type of education. Three educational
institutions were considered in this study. The average age of the participants
was 20.3 years. Two tests have been used in this study, namely : The Alternative
Uses Test (AUT) and the vocabulary test of the WAIS-R. The mean creativity
scores for traditional and modern education were 5.20 (SD=1.92) and 6.51
(SD=1.98), respectively. The difference between the two groups was significant
and favoured modern education, and the effect size was medium (d=0.67). The
means vocabulary scores for traditional and modern education groups were 10.62
(SD=1.38) and 11.68 (SD=l.11), respectively. The significant difference between
the two groups favoured modern education and the effect size was large (d=0.85)
(Khaleefa, 1995).
General Discussion
The first group of results of the present study
showed clearly that some of the intelligence sub-tests were culturally biased
when administered to the indigenous Sudanese culture. There are several aspects
of bias. One aspect of this bias was the language. The original language of the
test is English and the test needed to be administered in the indigenous
Sudanese culture where Arabic is the spoken language. The second aspect was the
unfamiliarity of some of the test items to Sudanese subjects. The third aspect
was the time factor, Sudanese subjects need more time to complete the test than
American. The fourth aspects of bias was the level of literacy. The test has
been constructed and applied in the US which is characterized by a high level of
literacy. However, the majority of the Sudanese are illiterate (68.7%),
according to the census of 1973. This factor handicapped the proper use of the
test because some tests, e.g., the Digits Symbol requires some literacy skills.
It seems that using modern and Western tools to assess the masses of illiterate
people in the indigenous Sudanese culture can be seen as a crime committed by
Euro-American psychology and there are some serious social, ethical and clinical
consequences in categorising the majority of illiterate subjects as retarded or
borderline in their abilities because they show an average intelligence of 69.8
according to the measure of intelligence. Another serious problem created by
Euro-American psychology is that regional variations in IQ scores classify some
regions as below average in their IQs. The variations between different regions
in the Sudan is very significant for : Khartoum represents the highest IQ scores
(106.52) while the Darfur region represent the lowest IQ (80.77) but these
differences are related mainly to their variations in educational,
westernization and urbanization levels (Khaleefa, Taha & Ashria, 1995).
In the Sudan, and perhaps other Muslim countries,
students are generally locked into a system of marks, ratings and grades. This
may be because of the lack of suitable psychological tools for assessment. In
the Sudan, only 33% of children considered above average by the school are above
average on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, whilst in U.K 90% of
children considered above average by the school scores above the average on this
test. Many more children were over-estimated in their intelligence in the Sudan
and regarded as gifted than in U.K. This was due to the fact that many children
were judged by factors other than intelligence. These include family background,
ability to verbalize and high achievement due to hard work by the child
(Lowenstein, 1981).
The results of the second and third study showed
clearly that there are significant differences between the intelligence and
creativity scores of traditional and modern education system favouring modern
education in most tests. Perhaps there are several explanations for these
differences. On the one hand, high emphasis that is put on conformity by
traditional education seems to block creativity. Dyk and Witkin (cited in
Arasteh & Arasteh, 1976) have found a significantly negative relationship
between the child's degree of differentiation and the degree to which the mother
stressed conformity and limited her son's curiosity. Perhaps another possible
factor relates to the heavy emphasis on memorization, repetition and learning by
rote in traditional education. More emphasis on memorization is suggested to
have a negative influence limiting creativity. According to Ibn Khaldoun
(trans., 1967), one factor in the decline of Islamic education is the greater
dependence upon memory in learning texts with commentaries and supercommentaries
thereon, repetitive in words while the meaning is one and the same. Another
possible explanation is that traditional education puts too much emphasis on the
authoritarian relationship between the teacher and the student. In the Sudan,
the relationship between teacher and pupil is found to be based on fear and
holiness (Abu Bakr, 1992). The system usually sees the teacher as giving and
pupils as receiving (Brown & Hisket, 1975). As a result of the authoritarian
characteristics of the teacher-student interaction, the system does not allow
any chance for questioning and discussion.
This kind of result and analysis seems to deny any
scope for creativity in the traditional sociocultural and educational system. It
seems that the low scores of traditional education in creativity are not related
only to internal social and cultural factors, but probably also to other
demographic or external factors. Possible explanations for the higher creativity
scores of modern-educated students lie in demographic differences, such as the
modernization of the family, the level of the socio-economic status and
urbanization. In the Sudan, modern families are found to be interested in the
development of each individual family member and to promote increased
independence and children may question their parents (Grotberg and Badri, 1991).
Modern families also tend to have higher socio-economic status and urbanization.
Both our samples, modern and traditional, were selected from urban areas.
However, many participants from traditional education were from the outskirts of
Omdurman.
In the present study, we used the Western concepts
and tests to assess creativity in both traditional or indigenous and modern or
Western education. Using these concepts and tools of analysis can cause serious
problems when applied to traditional or indigenous education or in assessing
psychological functioning like creativity (Khaleefa & Ashria, 1994). We agree
with Azuma (1984), the well-known Japanese psychologist, when he suggests that
psychological concepts developed in one culture may be less effective in working
with the minds of another culture. The reason such ideas sometimes fail to take
root is because they reflect the state of affairs prevailing in a culture in
which the science developed. Concepts dealing with phenomena unknown in a
culture are unlikely to emerge. It may even include some concepts that distort
perception and block a deep understanding when applied to another culture.
There are several methods that are used by
psychologists to study the creative expression of individuals and groups. One
such way to understand creativity is by studying personality traits dimensions.
Stein (1974) gives the following list of personality characteristics that have
been found to be associated with creative individuals. The creative individual
is self-assertive and sufficient; is a more differentiated individual, whose
behaviour is determined by his/her own value-hierarchy; he rejects suppression,
is less conventional, more radical and scores low on measures of authoritative
values. He/she has little interest in interpersonal relationships, does not want
much social interaction, is introverted, is lower in social values, is reserved
and has a willingness to break with custom. However, understanding creativity by
contrasting it to conformity, social relations, respect of traditions, altruism
and the unconcern for the others could cause some problems within the ummatic
culture which puts more emphasis on homogeneity, humanity, collectivity and
cooperation. The individual's orientation toward the group is characterized by
conformity, not self-assertion. "To be creative, then, is not enough. Man also
needs to relate humanly to other men. Creativeness with isolation is different
from creativeness with mutuality. Self-actualization, like true psychological
health, requires both creativity and human relatedness. The complete
self-actualization is impossible without socio-self-actualization, then we will
define a new reality in which man's role is that of relating creativity to
others while working toward the creative realization of himself." (Foster,
1968).
There are some limitations to both the internal
cultural forces and the external Western assessment of intelligence and
creativity. In applying a complete Western perspective to assess creativity in
its traditional or indigenous context, there is a serious problem in seeing this
context as an impediment to creativity : what is called the 'creatocastration' :
which means the system castrates the creativity of its individuals (Khaleefa,
1993). There are serious problems in attempting to understand intelligence and
creativity within the ummatic system because there is no complete system of
ummatic psychology to understand intelligence and creativity in its local
setting. More specifically, there are no native tests or tools to assess
intelligence and creativity psychometrically. We agree with Azuma (1984) in his
discussion of the problem of both Western and indigenous psychologies in
understanding the traditional sociocultural system. He noted that "the imported
psychology may fail to develop a full appreciation of the traditional culture
and may be applied prematurely with disturbing rather than beneficial
consequences; and the indigenous psychology that might have contributed to the
development of mainstream psychology may remain parochial and pre-scientific".
These two problems, the limitations of Western psychology and the lack of a
complete ummatic system of analysis, lead to what we called the predicament of
intelligence and creativity (and perhaps of psychology) in the ummatic culture.
This predicament paves the way to one of the most crucial questions in this
study : what kind of relationship can be developed between the advanced Western
and the growing ummatic psychology to understand local psychological phenomena ?
Indigenization of Psychotechnology
Indigenization is the act or process of making
predominantly indigenous; adaptation or subjection to indigenous influence or
dominance. Webster's Third New International Dictionary defines the word
indigenous as follows : "native : (1) not introduced directly or indirectly
according to historical record or scientific analysis into a particular land or
region or environment from the outside, (2) originating or developing or
produced naturally in a particular land or region or environment, (3) of,
relating to, or designed for natives". The science which studies psychological
functioning in indigenous cultures is called indigenous psychology. It is the
study of individuals and groups as they perceive themselves in terms of their
sociocultural system. Thus, indigenization is derived from the word indigenous
and, in psychological terms, it is the transplantation of psychotechnology to
suit the soil of the ummatic culture. The incorporation of Western
psychotechnology into the ummatic culture can be transplanted effectively
through several stages that might take many decades of effort and patience.
These are : (l) the adoption stage; (2) the adaptation stage;(3) the
ummatization stage. In examining these stages, it is very useful to learn a
lesson from the world 's most skillful nation in the 20th century, namely,
Japan. Japan is the leading country in Asian tiger economy, characterized with
high technology and high skills, hard working styles and high investment. There
are some similarities between Japan and the Islamic world in terms of family
stability, strong social relations and respect of sacred values. Our admiration
of Japan does not mean that it is the absolute model to copy in the ummatic
culture; it is more appropriate to respond to its experience in adopting, and
adapting psychology and developing technology together with the preservation of
social values.
Adoption
Adoption is the action of taking or the fact of
being taken into any relationship. It is a legal term and refers to the area of
family adoption in which children are fostered either by relatives or by family
members by marriage, frequently a step-parent of the adopted child. In the
present study, the term has been borrowed to specify the process of transfering
psychotechnology which is exported from Western culture and hosted in the
ummatic culture. As several problems occur in the process of transfering a child
between the biological and psychological parents, also some problems occur in
the area of adopting psychotechnology such as acceptance, rejection,
identification, relatedness and separation. In the first stage of indigenizing
psychotechnology there is a need for modern psychology, with its tools and
methods, to be adopted by and transplanted into the ummatic culture. During this
stage we can look at the most appropriate tools and methods that can be applied
across sociocultural systems. Psychotechnology has been imported from
Euro-America and exported to the ummatic culture. However, this technology has
not been adopted and transplanted effectively to suit the local conditions for
national progress and development. "Technology transplant borrows a metaphor
from biology to imply the need for receptivity in the host body. Some
compatibility is needed between the thing "transplanted" (be it a heart or seed)
and the recipient. There has been a considerable amount of technology transfer
to the Third World in the last 30 years, but very few little technology
transplant. Especially in Africa, very little of what has been transferred has
in fact been successfully transplanted. Very little has taken root. While the
normative climate.... is favourable to technology, the structural and
sociological soil is still relatively barren." (Mazrui, 1985, p.182).
The potential contribution of psychology to
research and its application in the area of national development is rather
large. Development is defined as "the process of individuals and groups moving
from some present state to some more valued end state, then psychology can
contribute in the following ways : understanding the present state,
understanding the valued end state, understanding the process of change, design
implementation, and evaluation of development programs." (Berry et al, l992, pp.
385-386). Modernization without development leaves a nation dependent on
outsiders (Europe and America). This is because the former is almost always
induced, and it is the metropolitan society (in this case Europe and America)
which drives the real benefit (Freire, 1972). The promotion of consumerism, by
Western psychotechnology in the ummatic culture is about modernization and not
development. "Consumption patterns are a reflection of values, either new or
old. Production techniques would be a reflection of skills. The West has been
more successful in popularizing its values and tastes than in transplanting its
skills. This balance has often been deliberate. Creating a taste for Western
goods without a local capability for producing them was often more profitable
for the West than exporting both tastes and techniques. Even in exporting
capitalism as a system, the West has been more effective in exporting the profit
motive than the entrepreneurial skills. The profit motive is a desire for
profit. But to be motivated for profit is not necessarily to be skilled in
securing it." (Mazrui, 1985).
Most Arabic books on psychology which have
appeared in the last forty years reveal that this period has been one of
uncritical assimilation and copying. The chronic problems of psychological
studies in the West were transplanted in us with all the West's hostile and
scornful disregard for the influence of the spiritual and moral in the formation
of the human psyche in general and of the Muslim psyche in particular
(Al-Hashmi, 1981). Departments of psychology in the Muslim World are structured
according to Western departments. Some departments are supported by Western
funds and have relations with foreign departments of psychology rather than with
local ones. Most of the research that has been carried out locally is a
repetition and duplication of foreign studies. In the Sudan, most psychologists
at universities have their training in the West. Of the twenty Sudanese
lecturers whom we know, having Ph.D.s in psychology, sixteen of them (80%)
studied at Western universities, 2 (10%) at Egyptian universities, and 2 (10%)
at Sudanese universities. Therefore, adoption of psychotechnology is not enough.
Psychological tests have been adopted and translated as part of the
modernization process but not adapted effectively to suit the local conditions
of the ummatic culture neither have psychologists been inspired to create
original psychotechnology that can reflect the spirit of the ummatic culture.
This dilemma leads us to the second stage of the adaptation of psychotechnology.
Adaptation
The term "adaptation" has been borrowed from
biology which is used to describe the process of physical changes that help the
organism to survive adequately in the environment. In the present study, it
meams the process or action of modifying psychotechnology that is imported from
the West to be better fitted in the local soil of the umma. Thus, adaptation is
a form of modification to fit a new use, new condition, new environment, etc.
Several psychological tests have been copied, translated and applied verbatim
and uncritically, and few have been modified, fitted and standardized in the
ummatic culture. By standardization we mean that a test has been applied to a
representative sample, has adequate norms, has clear instructions of application
and scoring procedures, and has data on validity and reliability. In the area of
psychological testing, few attempts of adaptation and standardization have been
carried out in the Sudan. Euro-American tests which are used in the Sudan
include intelligence, personality and creativity. Intelligence tests which are
investigated by Sudanese psychologists include : e.g., the Draw-a-Man-Test, the
Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), the Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children (WISC). Personality tests include : e.g., the Eysenck
Personality Inventory (EPI), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(MMPI), the Rorschach Inkblots Techniques (RIT). Creativity tests include :
e.g., the Consequences Test, the Alternative Uses Test.
The major questions that can be asked in the
second stage are as follows : Is it possible to adapt psychotechnology without
acculturation to Western values ? How can psychotechnology be adapted rigorously
to suit the local soil ? Could it be possible to have Western technology with
Islamic values ? "Development is a product of three social forces-political,
economic and cultural. Economic development occurs not merely when economic
conditions are right, but also when the political situation is receptive and the
cultural context is congenial. In the past, technology had been a unique aspect
of each culture. But the spread of Westem technology to other countries in the
last two centuries has posed cultural dilemmas in those countries. One
persistent question has been whether economic modernization is possible without
cultural Westernization. Japan, after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, decided
that it was indeed possible to industrialize and modernize without capitulating
to Western cultures. Hence the slogan of Meiji industrialism, Western Technique,
Japanese Spirit." (Mazrui, 1985, p. 177). From the time Meiji Japan was first
opened up for Western influence, there was an interest in learning about
psychology from the West. Amane Nishi published an encyclopaedia of science
around 1870 in which Western psychology was first introduced. Nishi was a
pioneer who tried to grasp and relay the entire structure of Western thought in
the interest of modernizing Japan. After 1920, in Japan, there was a steady
increase in the number of psychological studies of an applied nature. Perhaps
what spearheaded this trend was the mental testing movement, with its
substantial practical influence. Binet-type intelligence tests and group
intelligence tests were adapted to Japanese use in the early 1920s. They were
used for personnel classification in education, labour, and the military.
Technical aptitude tests as well as tests of work habits were developed and
administered in the 1930s. These tests had a certain usefulness in reducing
accidents and improving efficiency (Azuma, 1984).
One of the large tasks insisted upon by the ruling
occupation powers was the social and psychological reform of Japanese society.
Psychology was expected by both Japanese and Allied leaders to help guide such
reform. Areas of study that quickly spread during this period were group
psychology, clinical psychology, social psychology, and anthropological
psychology. Kurt Lewin was one psychologist who was well-known in pre-war Japan.
Consequently, Lewinian studies of small groups were among the first to take root
in post-war Japan. The advantages that showed for democratic leadership over
autocratic leadership were given great play in the reform of post-war Japan.
Macro-social psychology also was used to point up the feudal, autocratic and
irrational aspects of pre-war and wartime Japan, and invoked to help establish a
more "democratic" society (Azuma, 1984). Mazrui (1978) asked this question : to
what extent is it possible to import Westem technical skills without at the same
time importing also such aspects of the Westem way of life as are relevant and
necessary for the use of such skills ? Furthermore, to what extent might such
skills, devoid of their relevant Westem cultural accompaniments, succeed in the
African cultural context ? For traditional African societies succeeded admirably
in being able to teach skills which were compatible with their own sacred
values. It is this harmonious relationship between the two arms of education
which is now largely lost. The answer might lie in the dual strategy of
Africanizing humanistic studies, on the one hand, and increasing technical and
vocational training on the other.
In Japan some researchers (e.g., Lebar, Misumi,
quoted by Kim, 1994) have noted that industrialization, urbanization and
capitalism have not significantly altered the underlying cultural value system
that emphasizes human-relatedness. Although many external features of Japanese
culture have changed, the core elements of the culture that emphasize
human-relatedness remain strong. Misumi notes that the phenomenal economic
progress of Japan has been achieved because of the maintenance of
human-relatedness, and not in spite of it. Although capitalism has altered
external features of Japanese culture, capitalism itself was modified to fit
underlying Japanese cultural values that emphasize human-relatedness. In a
country such as Japan, the ability to respond collectively to both internal and
external challenges remains intact.
It is to ask whether a product of the last few
centuries of the Euro-American experience can be useful to Muslims; whether that
product can be transplanted into the value-framework and intellectual traditions
of peoples who for a much longer period have been taught the intellectual,
moral, socio-political and cultural experience of Islam (Mauroof, 1981). It
seems that the right answer to this question is that the product is useful and
valuable. "This does not mean that psychology developed in the Western culture
has no value for solving problems in other cultures. It is like using computer
software developed to solve one problem for somewhat different problems. The
existing software provides a good start. But new nodes and loops must be added
and some parts by-passed in order to deal effectively with the new problem."
(Azuma, 1984, p. 49). Therefore, psychological tools and methods developed in
the West cannot be applied spontaneously in the ummatic culture. However, they
need rigorous adaptation in order to enjoy an adequate applicability in the
local environment (Khaleefa, Taha, & Ashria, 1995).
Ummatization
The ummah is the social order of Islam, and the
movement that seeks to actualize its goals is called ummatism (Langgulung,
1989). Since man's vicegerency is necessarily social, the sciences that study it
should properly be called Ummatic. If we continue to call them social, we do so
in defiance of the West which insists on separating them from the humanities. We
must remember that the study of society cannot be free from judgement and
valuation and is, therefore, subject to the same rigour, or absence of it, as
philosophy, theology, law, literature and the arts. Conversely, the humanities
are as much concerned with the ummah as the so-called social disciplines, and
are capable of applying the same principles of validation to their materials and
conclusions (Al-Faruqi, 1981). The present psychology in the ummatic culture is
divorced from both the creative past of the Islamic civilization and the
creative present of the Western thought. We need creative ummatic psychologists
who can understand both the great tradition in the past and the present modern
thought, and to consider all the processes and development, between them so as
to make history living, active and effective. The spirit of imitation in
psychology has been exported from the West, and not the techniques and methods.
We took from the past the spirit of staticness and not the spirit of vitality
and productivity.
The current intellectual and cultural confusion
characterized by the Islamic world has not yet reached the paint of no return.
The Muslim ummah still has the opportunity to rebuild an integrated
civilization, cement ranks and establish new educational, scientific, cultural
and intellectual bases for the entire Islamic world (Altwaijri, 1994).
Scientific instruction would rely on the Islamic theory of knowledge whilst
technological instruction would take into consideration the social and material
needs of the Muslim World in the light of the Islamic concept of man and society
(ISESCO, 1990). It is important for Muslim psychologists not to rely solely on
the adaptations of existing measurement tools. They must develop the originality
and the self-confidence which will allow them to use the methods and principles
of assessment to create their own measurement tools. They can even tap the
measurement of new variables peculiar to Muslim subjects, thus offering their
own contributions to psychology and breaking the chain of mental slavery to the
West (Badri, 1979).
Relations between the scientific psychology of the
West and ummatic psychology can take many forms, including dependence,
independence and integration. Ummatic psychology in order to refine its tools
would be better to integrate with modern psychology rather than separate from
it. The integration between modern psychology and ummatic psychology, in the
first stage, and the development of scientific and innovative indigenous
psychology, in the second stage, can help toward the creation of new concepts,
tools and methods. These concepts and methods need to be defined, verified,
tested, compared and contrasted with other studies in non-western cultures.
Integration could enrich the promotion and diffusion of psychological knowledge
in a more universal understanding. The rich ummatic socio-cultural and
psycho-spiritual traditions and values need to be studied and analysed in depth
to allow ummatic psychologists to have an enormous contribution to the
development of psychology in both theoretical and applied aspects. At this
stage, without the enrichment contributed by the ummatic culture, Euro-American
psychology is of limited value.
Ummatization and ummaticness of psychology cannot
be realized without encouraging enthusiastic ummatic psychologists through
adequate training, preparing good tools for research and providing generous
grants for research, conferences, library facilities, workshops, innovative
writings etc. An ummatic psychological society and the publication of such
journals are also needed. "Of course an active Islamic psychological society
with frequent scholarly meetings in which papers are read, published and
circulated and in which Islamic psychologists can cooperate in publishing a
journal of Islamic psychology can be of unlimited help in changing passive
Muslim psychologists into dynamic practising Islamic scholars." (Badri, 1979, p.
123). In the future, there is a need for an ummatic civilizational project that
is to have unified psychological tests in the Muslim world, considering the
cultural, social and moral values. In the first stage of the project, there is a
need to consult the cultural Atlas of the Muslim World including the "Far
Eastern Region, South Asia, the Gulf Region, Fertile Crescent, North Africa,
West Africa, Central and East Africa and Muslim Minorities." (Saqeb, 1990).
Implementing this major civilizational project and shouldering this heavy
responsibility fall within the task assumed by the Islamic Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization and its sister organizations, institutions
and bodies operating within the framework of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference, in addition to similar organizations throughout the Islamic World
(Altwaijri, 1994).
Psychology gives tools, techniques and methods
that can engineer and shape our behaviour and can contribute to the development
of the Umma. Ummatic psychologists, who understand the needs of the Umma, will
use psychological knowledge properly according to the Umma's heart and mind. If
we achieved this, then we could validate our ummatic psychology and make it
reliable without universal isolation. Practicality in method and approach and
dynamism in administration and application are also needed. There is a need for
dynamic ummatic psychology that can reflect the spirit of the ummatic cultural
system, its needs, beliefs, values and identity : psychology that can promote
effectively the productivity of both individuals and groups toward a high level
of development. Here we emphasize a need for creative and innovative psychology
that can contribute positively to both the ummatic cultural system and to the
advancement of mankind in general.
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