Factors Unique To The Muslim Population In Terms Of Psychological Assessment - Term Paper Example

? and Introduction With the growth of the society and the massive growth of activities that people are involved in, the need for psychological assessment has also increased. These needs extend worldwide as people try to seek for answers and even advice on different issues affecting them. Worth noting is the fact that different cultures have really grown and changed, and this growth has resulted to changes in peoples beliefs, practices, norms and taboos. Different people in different cultures and environments behave and conduct themselves differently, usually as a result of the norms, mores and ideological beliefs that govern them. Having said this, it is therefore important for psychologists to give paramount importance to the fact that in their assessments and psychological therapies, they deal with people from different backgrounds, with different views regarding how they see and conceptualize different aspects (Raiya and Pargamen, 2012). In the recent past, the number of Muslim clients seeking psychological assessment services has greatly increased, and it is very important for the psychologists to know the Muslims norms, beliefs and culture and their unique characteristics in terms of psychological assessment (Muna, 2011). This work will focus on the Muslim clients, by discussing the Muslim culture and then explaining some of the unique factors and issues that make them different from other clients, factors that any psychologist should understand if they are to be successful when working with Muslim clients. Muslim Culture, norms and mores The bigger part of the world population has embraced massive changes in their cultures and way of life. However, the Muslim population was and still, to a great extent continues to be a little conservative (Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011). There haven’t been many radical changes in their norms and beliefs, their way of life and their conduct, their mores and traditions. The Islam Community is a fast growing one, forming about a sixth of the world’s population and spread widely over approximately 85 countries (Adis, 2010). This population is not only found in parts of Africa, but it’s of late increasingly relocating to other parts of the world, including America. But wherever they are found, the Muslim population is quiet keen on following their cultures and way of life. Some of their most observed norms are on their dress code, their marriage laws, their religion, roles and responsibilities among the different family members, relationships with other people among others. For example, for them, the family is a basic and main building block in the society. This means that the Muslim population is keen on preventing disintegration and splits in families (Saba, 2011). Dress code in many Islam populated countries is also given paramount importance. They do not allow provocative and silhouetted clothing. Some of the countries, especially in the Arab World have made it mandatory for the women to always have their veils on and always be aptly covered, especially when in public. The conduct and norms on the Islamic population further extend to the roles of the women, especially in marriage, which are to provide warmth, companionship and beautify the marriage for the husband (Saba, 2011). Muslim women in some countries are not supposed to drive or to undertake a journey of more than three days unless accompanied by a close and responsible relative. The Muslim population allows and gives room for Muslim men to marry non Muslim women, the women of the book (Christian and Buddhist women). On the other hand, as Hanan and Jan (2011) collectively note, the Muslim women are not allowed to get married to non Muslim men. Rape, incest, homosexuality and premarital sex are among some of the many don’ts that are heavily condemned in Muslim culture. In addition, the use of contraceptives is not prohibited in majority of Islam countries, but it is highly discouraged (Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011). The Muslims also have a strong belief in Allah and the Quran, and they base most of their laws on the same. The fact that the Muslims are rapidly becoming widespread in the world necessitates the need for polished information about their do’s and don’ts. This is because they have their own regulations regarding interactions and other aspects of the society. The intersection of identity among the Islam does further necessitate the need to learn about them for proper and successful interaction, especially at the professional angles. The Muslims have moved into the American land, where the cultures and norms can be termed as a little ‘loose’ (Adis, 2010). To the western cultures, there are no major restrictions with men and women interacting socially, even when the two are not related. It’s common for people in America to meet and shake hands, even share meals or coffee. However, such is not the case in the Islamic culture. It is always important, therefore to take time and learn their worldview, and get to know their views and perception regarding different concepts. This way, psychologists will be able to tell on how to deal with their Muslim clients concerning their psychological assessment. This is because at such, the intersection of identity has happened, and great wisdom should be applied when handling the Muslim clients to avoid confrontations and disappointing the clients. Multicultural concerns and therapeutic needs There are multicultural concerns among people regarding the intersected identity between the Muslim and other cultures. In America, for instance, after the 9/11 attacks, the Muslims were treated with a lot of suspicion, (Islamophobia)and as a result, many of them had to seek psychological counseling to be able to cope with the situation and the environment (Muna, 2011). A portion of the Muslims felt that they needed therapeutic advice and counseling, yet records show that not much of these were successful. It is important for a psychologist to have a divergent worldwide view of culture, spiritual beliefs and religion if they are to adequately help in the psychological assessment. Of paramount importance, as noted earlier is that two clients, a Muslim and a non Muslim might be in need of psychological counseling due to the exact similar conditions, but the way that a psychologist will handle this two cases is very different (Johnstone, et al, 2012). This is because of the cultural and multicultural differences among the two; hence the results and the quality of the psychological assessment might be totally different. Muslim women, for instance, due to the nature of their upbringing are usually reluctant to approach a doctor or a psychologist to express their health issues. Sometimes, even when they finally do so, they may fail to completely open up to the psychologist and suffer in silence. This is all as a result of their laws and culture. Raiya and Pargament (2010) collectively assert that diagnosis in Muslims might thus be harder as compared to the people from other cultures, and so might the treatment. A big percentage of Muslims will not share their issues, especially on things that are considered personal, and they, as a result do not get the chance to receive the appropriate therapy, treatment and diagnosis. Psychological assessment becomes even harder, since in most cases, the Muslim men or women do not openly talk out their affairs, especially to people who are not close or blood relatives (Saba, 2011). Factors to consider when working with Muslim clients For the psychologists, dealing with a Muslim client requires specialized care as opposed to any other client from any other cultures. The upbringing and laws that govern the Muslim are observed to the latter, irrespective of the environment that one is in. They have a structure, culture and law that guide the children, women and men regarding their day to day lives, their roles and conduct (Saba, 2011; Sohail, 2005). This therefore translates to mean that there are several unique characteristics that are found in the Muslim culture, and any psychologist with a genuine interest to carry out successful psychological assessment must know them well. First, the Muslims have a very strong faith in their religion (Hanan and Jan, 2009; Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011). It is important for a psychologist to know how the Islamic faith operates, and the importance attached to it. The Muslim faith and relogion is guided and built on five major pillars as Johnstone et al, (2012), Shahram and Joshua, (2011) and Raiya and Pargament (2010) collectively note. The first pillar is Shahada, which requires that one should have a firm belief in God alone, and also believe in Muhammad his prophet. Secondly, the Muslims believe in Salat, the five time prayer that is ritually carried out through the day, every day. The third pillar that guides them is Zakat, which requires Muslims extend their kindness, generosity and charity to the less fortunate in the society. This is demonstrated by the Muslims requirement that they give 2.5 % of their assets, once a year, to the poor. The fourth pillar is Sawm, which refers to the period of prayer, repentance and fating, and is usually reinforced in the month of Ramadan. The last and equally important pillar is Hajj, which requires that every Muslim should make a pilgrim journey to the city of Mecca, at least once in their lives. When a psychologist understands this, he or she is going to be in a position to understand the Muslim clients better. In case of a client seeking treatment, it is wise for the psychologist to know that Muslims believe that Allah is their main source of healing (Hodge and Nadir, 2008), and hence some of the Muslims will decline some of the treatment and diagnoses. An example is given of a woman who sought help from a psychologist concerning some frequently recurring back aches and abnormal bleeding. After talking lengthily and deeply with the patient, tracing dates, symptoms and the common occurring problem, the psychologist realized that the woman had suffered a series of still births. When treatment was recommended, the woman declined, confidently saying that Allah was testing her faith, and He would definitely heal her at the right time (Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011). People from other religions do not have as much faith, and most of them will readily accept the prescribed treatment and therapies. Closely related to this first characteristic is the issue on how Muslims view some form of treatment, medication and therapy. There is no doubt that some Muslims in the Western countries are more exposed and hence are not so hard to deal with. But for Muslims who still embrace their culture deeply and dearly, it might be hard for the psychologists. They do not only discourage the use of contraceptives but they also do not allow child adoption, sperm donation or even abortion (Johnstone et al, 2012; Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011). To them, children are a gift from God and a person should get as many children as they can, so long as they have the ability to provide for them. Resources and a person’s ability to bring up a family sometimes make couples decide not to have any more children. In other cases, couples really want a child but due to one or both partners’ infertility or other reasons, they do not have one. If either of these couples approaches a psychologist, he or she should remember this unique characteristic found in Muslims. When proposing for child adoption, the psychologist should do this very carefully so as not to appear as though advising them for solutions contrary to their faith. If the psychologist will propose the use of contraceptives for family planning, he or she should not forget that this is strongly discouraged by the Muslims (Raiya and Pargament, 2010). Another unique characteristic and factor that Muslims possess is on cross gender relations (Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011). There are many restrictions among the Muslims, especially those that govern young ladies and women. For the Muslim people, young women are not allowed to freely interact with young men before they are married. This is because the Muslims place a very high value on chastity and purity. They strongly condemn Zina, which refers to sexual relationships before marriage, and adultery among the married. The punishment of this in some countries is being lashed before the public or being stoned to death. In addition, rape is strongly condemned, but the laws that convict rapists are not as strong for the Muslims as compared to the western countries. For them, if a person is raped, their evidence is not admissible unless there was a male witness when the defilement occurred. If the rapist also agrees to marry the victim, then the case dismissed. Muslims therefore, to avoid all the above encourage segregation, which is aimed at reducing illicit relationships (Adis, 2010; Saba, 2011). It is important for the psychologist to understand this unique characteristic since it will guide him or her while dealing with a Muslim client. For instance, if a client has been sexually defiled and had no evidence, and the rapist does not marry her, the patient might go through depressing and stressing times. They may not feel comfortable talking about what happened to them, and as a result, it might be hard for both the psychologist and the client. In addition, the culture does not allow the Muslim women to be privately secluded with people of opposite gender, especially if they are not related. For them, this increases the chances of Zina. The Muslim clients might therefore be uncomfortable and might not even honor their scheduled appointments (Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011; Hodge and Nadir, 2008). It is also important to know the behavioral do’s and don’ts that govern the Muslim culture. These are very important, especially for psychologists who are non Muslims (Muna, 2011). For instance, questioning a Muslim patient too much, too directly and continuously might not auger well with them since it becomes like an interrogation. Women clients are the most affected in this case. There are certain phrases, words or questions that a psychologist should not directly use with Muslim patients (Sohail, 2005). Let’s say patient approaches a psychologist, and is in a way stressed or depressed. Examples of questions that a psychologist may ask are, “How is your life/, do you like what you have achieved so far? How does your husband feel about your achievements? What does your family/your husband’s family think about you and your husband’s achievements? This is an indirect way of trying to identify the root cause of the problem. If the wife is disturbed or depressed due to problems between her and the husband, as she answers these questions, she is most likely to lead the psychologist to her problem. These indirect questions would not produce the same results as when asked directly, for example, are you and your husband fighting? Between you and your husband, who do you think is the problem? What would you do if you and your husband got divorced? The Muslims are very sensitive to issues of divorce, domestic violence, family disagreements leaking outside among others. The psychologist should thus be very careful and take time to deeply evaluate this unique characteristic (Ibrahim and Dykeman2011; Shahram and Joshua, 20110. Lastly, the psychologist should aim at knowing the acculturation, the level of socialization and culture of the Muslim client (Ibrahim and Dykeman, 2011). All Muslims do not have the same cultural beliefs, they vary depending on generation, country of origin and hence their level of understanding of people from other countries might be different. Taking time to know this will help a psychologist avoid the common stereotyping on Muslims that is usually common. Conclusion The Islamic culture remains conservative as compared to the other cultures, especially those adopted in the Western countries. Muslims are very particular on how they conduct themselves, how they relate with others and who they relate with. Their beliefs and cultures, norms and mores are an area that psychologists should study in order to relate better with them. Their religion is somehow stronger than any other religions, and the people in this culture rate among the most abiding in following the laid down norms and codes of conduct (Adis, 2010; Raiya and Pargament, 2010). When it comes to psychological assessment, there is dire need for the psychologists to thoroughly read and study and interact more with the Muslims in order to be able to handle Muslim clients well. Some of their unique factors stem form their beliefs and practices, and they have been explained above. The psychologists should know all the unique factors since of late, the Muslims have also become frequent clients for psychological assessment (Muna, 2011). Learning about the unique factors not only makes it easy for the psychologists but also for the Muslim clients. References Adis, D. (2010). Progressive Muslims. Defining and Delineating Identities and Ways of being Muslim. Journal of Muslim Affairs, 30(11), 127-136. Hanan, H., and Jan, O. (2009). Influences of Religion and Culture on Continuing Bonds in a Sample of British Muslims of Pakistani Origin. Death Studies, 33(10), 890-912. Hodge, D., and Nadir, A. (2008). Moving Towards Culturally Competent Practice with Muslims: Modifying Cognitive Therapy with Islamic Tenets. Social Work, 53(3), 31-42. Ibrahim, F., and Dykeman, C. (2011). Counseling Muslim American: Cultural and Spiritual Assessments. 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