The counseling needs of youth in the Arab countries

✍ Scribed by Abdalla M. Soitman

• Book ID: 104626866
• Publisher: Springer US
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 671 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0165-0653
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00116435

✦ Synopsis

Arab countries are comprised mainly of young people. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the counseling needs of youth in the Arab countries. To understand the needs of young people, institutions which play an important role in the socialization of youth were analyzed. Specifically, the role of family, school and peer group was discussed. The youth needs for independence, affiliation and social relationships, education and career were examined within the context of the Arab culture. The role of individual and group counseling was discussed, and the need tor social action to make the environment more responsive to the needs of youth was stressed.

Young People are the hope and the future of every society. In the Arab countries there is a special concern for young people. For one reason, youth in the age bracket 15-24 years comprise 19°70 of the total population in three Arab countries in the Gulf (Ismail, 1984), and young people below the age of 15 years constitute 45°/o of the citizens of the Arab countries (Ibrahim, cited in Melikian & Al-Issa, 1982). The number of young people all over the world is increasing. It is projected that in the year 2,000 the young population will reach over 1,000 million, of which 900 million will be in developing countries (Mitchell, 1983). Mitchell proposed that unemployment in developing countries means youth unemployment which 'will be compounded by other factors: a high rate of illiteracy, inadequate training facilities for coping with rising demands and aspirations, rural/urban migrations, and poor living conditions for large numbers of these young people ' (1983: 308). Because the Arab countries are developing countries, such projections should reinforce our concern for Arab young people.