RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY
INDIGENOUS AND CULTURAL CONTEXT

(October 14th, 2010)

[Inaugural Ceremony] [State of the Art Lecture] [Paper Presentations] [Panel Discussion] [Closing Ceremony] [Preconference Workshops]

Since the very inception of National Institute of Psychology, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad is the premium institute that has been organising International Conferences to address varied and relevant fields/issues in Psychology that were acclaimed and appreciated as successful ventures and professionally highly rewarding too. All those International errands were not only well received but were also very well attended and deliberated. This was the first National Conference that we organised on “Research in Psychology: Indigenous and Cultural Context”. Objective was to focus on research in the field of Psychology with indigenous and cultural aspects in its back drop.

Delegates from all the five provinces of Pakistan were invited with the hope for their active participation in the event of national significance. Ms. Nuzhat Sadiq (Member National Assembly, Member Standing Committee for Education) graced the occasion as the chief guest. Dr. Sohail Naqvi (Executive Director, Higher Education Commission) and Dr. Syed Mehmood Raza (Advisor Quality Assurance & Learning Innovation HEC) were the most prominent figures who graced the inaugural and closing ceremonies, respectively. Dr. Anila Kamal (Director NIP) and Dr. Masoom Yasin Zai (VC, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad) received the guests as the host on behalf of NIP.

The conference helped in evaluating the status of psychological research in comparison to international standards. It facilitated to deliberate on issues and challenges that researchers face during the process of conducting research and while publishing their research work. This conference assisted in deliberating about establishing linkages at university and departmental levels to strengthen and to build upon each others strength for capacity building. For this it was suggested that researchers in the field of Psychology can establish a common website where they can share our achievements and can benefit from each others strengths for example in the field of testing, developing theoretical frameworks etc. This conference helped in underpinning collaboration among psychological institutes/organizations/departments to promote indigenization and cultural perspective in psychological research with the hope to generate ‘we feeling’ among us. This proved to be an important forum in which researchers and psychologists aspired towards need of present time to devise and revise our guidelines for conducting research at various levels in indigenous and cultural context to find solution to our problems. Finally the main focus of the conference turned up on:

1. Indigenous and cultural analysis/ adaptation of theories, models, concepts, and knowledge.
2. Development and adaptation of research tools.
3. Indigenization of research methods and research design.
4. Application of indigenous and cultural knowledge to promote societal development like family,education, organizations, health, and others.
5. Cultural diversity as a source of creativity, knowledge, and innovation.
6. Intergroup relations, intercultural contact, and acculturation.

NIP being Centre of Excellence comes under Ministry of Education and Quaid-i-Azam University which is a public sector university. For organising conferences, Higher Education Commission (HEC) provided financial assistance to organise this conference. HEC has been our collaborator in all the conferences that NIP has organised in the past under its programme related to “Grants for Organising Seminars, Conferences, Symposiums, Workshops”. NIP has always tried to fulfil the HEC’s strict criteria for getting funds to organise such events and has disseminated the related information through Abstract Book, Proceedings, and Souvenir of the Conference with due acknowledgement for HEC. Having good experience with each other is making this relationship long lasting.

PAPERS PRESENTED

SUMMARY OF CONFERENCE EVENTS

INAUGURATION CEREMONY

After recitation of the Holy Quran, Dr. Anila Kamal (Director NIP) delivered the inaugural speech in which she highlighted the accomplishment of NIP and the agenda of the conference. She also announced the upcoming International Conference going to be organised by NIP on “Status of Industrial and Organizational Psychology in Pakistan” in Oct 2011. Dr. Masoom Yasin Zai, VC Quaid-i-Azam University highlighted the accomplishments of faculty of social sciences of QAU and requested HEC and riches of the Country to financially contribute in educational sector. Dr. Sohail Naqvi (Executive Director HEC) appreciated the role of psychologists to study human behaviour and help the humanity. He encouraged the youth to step up and serve the nation. Further he assured the assistance in future for researchers to organise such events and stressed on the need of indigenization in research to combat extremism.

The Chief Guest, Ms. Nuzhat Sadiq (Member National Assembly, Standing Committee for Education) commended the efforts of the Director and Faculty of NIP for organising first National Conference that would help to understand cultural diversity and intergroup dynamism. She further assured support from the government for uplift of research in Psychology. All the honourable guests acknowledged the efforts and intellectual input from NIP in research and stressed in the importance of conducting researches on various psychological phenomenon existing in our culture to rectify our problems. Lastly, Ms. Humaira Jami (Organiser of the Conference, Lecturer NIP) shared the further proceedings of the day and thanked all the distinguished guests for their presence on the occasion.

STATE OF THE ART LECTURE

After inauguration, the day began with the State of the Art Lecture. Dr. Najma Najam (VC, Karakorum International University, Gilgit Baltistan), an esteemed psychologist, shared her views on status of research in Psychology. She stressed on need to find our own niche in the world by indigenizing research in Psychology. She gave the understanding of indigenous psychologies and suggested to use Korean Model of Bottom to Top approach to study indigenous phenomenon in Pakistani context. Further, she gave the view of Pakistani Psychology.

PAPER PRESENTATIONS
During the conference, 26 papers were presented by our young and senior fellows who shared their findings of empirical research. These papers were presented at three halls in two consecutive scientific sessions.

In the Hall A, in which Coordinator was Ms. Shaista Waqar (Assistant Professor NIP), 8 papers were presented. In the first session, Prof. Dr. Seema Pervez (Ex-Director NIP) was the session chair and the theme for papers was Mental Health. The papers were presented by leading psychologists. A new eporoductive health related phenomenon of Dhat syndrome was introduced by Dr. Rukhsana Kausar. Dr. Riffat Zaman shared the findings related to kidney sellers in Sargodha region and she reported that increased incidences of kidney selling is to pay debt or participants used kidney as a commodity to get money. Dr. Yasmin Farroqi highlighted the significance of traditional healing practices followed by Muslims during the course of any ailment. Depression among young adults and scale development on disordered eating patterns were other prominent papers presented by our young PhD psychologists namely Dr. Sobia Aftab and Dr. Amina Muazzam, respectively. Severe depression was reported among male than female participants in nuclear family system and vice versa for female participants in joint family system. In the end, Dr. Seema Pervez appreciated the research work by all the participants and critically evaluated the work.

In Session II, Dr. Riffat Zaman (Clinical Psychologist, Agha Khan University Hospital, Karachi) was the Session Chair. Theme of the session was Special Population. Mr. Mudasssr Hussain discussed his findings related to psychological distress and coping strategies that family of victims of suicidal attacks experience. This is the most relevant research in the context of problems that Pakistan is badly facing these days. Mr. Salman Shahid shared findings on socio-demographic characteristics of male heroin addicts. He stressed the legal authorities to formulate certain strategies and policies to prevent high incidences of addiction. Ms. Huma Shahid discussed the role of social support and marital satisfaction among infertile couples through qualitative analysis.

In Hall B, Ms. Irum Naqvi (Lecturer NIP) was the coordinator. Nine papers were presented in two consecutive sessions. In the first session Dr. Jamil Malik was the convenier and Dr. Farhana Jahangir (VC, Frontier University, Peshawar) was the Session Chair. Theme of the session was Qualitative Approach. All the papers presented based on qualitative researches were from faculty and students of Government College University, Lahore under the supervision of Dr. Asir Ajmal (Foreign Professor, GCU). These researches gave a new way of studying contemporary issues in an indigenous way. In the end of the session Dr. Farhana Janhangir appreciated the qualitative research being indigenous in understanding culture based phenomenon.

In Session II, Dr. Yasmin Farooqi (Department of Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab) was the Session Chair. Theme of the session was Belief System. Ms. Bushra Hassan discussed his findings based on interviews with famous Sajjada Nashin in Pothhohar region in reference to Piri-Muridi phenomenon. Ms. Tafseer Zahra shared findings on religious orientation and locus of control in Madrassa settings. Ms. Mahwish Rabia discussed beliefs related to visiting shrines. Lastly, Ms. Humaira Jami shared her findings in reference to attitude towards Hijra Community and highlighted the statistical significance of gender, gender role attitudes, religiosity, and extremism in effecting the attitudes. In the end, Dr. Yasmin Farooqi critically evaluated the papers and appreciated the research work being highly indigenous.

In Hall C, Sohema Tahir (Research Associate NIP) was the coordinator. Overall nine papers were presented. Dr. Muhammad Azam Tahir (Head of the Psychology Department, University of Balochistan, Quetta) was the Session Chair of the first session. The theme of the session was Familial Issues. Ms. Shamama shared her views on chaos in Pakistani culture. Ms. Nasreen Akhtar discussed perception of criticism and emotional involvement in Pakistani families. Ms, Raiha Aftab discussed how familial values are imparted to daughters by their mothers. Ms. Noreen Akhtar discussed determinants of negative career thoughts. Lastly, Dr. Muhammad Azam Tahir shared his personal research experiences and critically evaluated the research work.

In Session II, Dr. Ruhi Khalid (Director Department of Psychology, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore) was the Session Chair and the theme of the session was Developmental Psycholpathology. All of the presenters were from NIP, presently it is the pioneer institute in offering this as a specialization at M.Sc. level. Papers focused at mental health issues of children including depression, autism, disruptive behaviours. A scale developed on disruptive behaviours was shared by Mamoona Ismail; Tamkeen shared case study of an ADHD child. Sohema Tahir shared findings on anger, depression, and anxiety among children with autism; and Musarrat Jabeen discussed role of maternal depression in childhood depression. Lastly, Dr. Ruhi Khalid gave critical appraisal of research work.

National Institute of Psychology (NIP), Center of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, is a premier educational and research institution in the discipline of Psychology. The emphasis of its academics and research are areas of national importance. NIP has been carrying out research in fields of Psychology for the last three decades to develop in-depth understanding of human developmental process including Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Educational Psychology, Developmental Psychopathology, and Gender Psychology. Among these, NIP is the pioneer to offer Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Developmental Psychopathology.
Arranging conferences, workshops, and seminars is another prominent area in which NIP excels. Since last three years we have taken the prerogative to organize International Conferences on issues of national importance.
Desirable

PANEL DISCUSSION

Comprehensive pics in which all names mentioned are being covered
A couple of question answer e.g. Dr. Tariq Rehman, Dr. Salma Siddiqui

The theme of the panel discussion was “Research in Psychology: Issues and Challenges”. The senior psychologists who are involved in policy decision making at university and national level were invited as member of the panel to discuss issues and challenges researchers are facing in conducting research in Psychology.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Pervez highlighted the deteriorating quality of education in Pakistan and stressed that until we will not improve the quality of education, research environment cannot be promoted. Prof. Dr. Asir Ajmal emphasized the role of theory building in understanding psychological phenomenon in indigenous context. He stressed that researchers should not hesitate to build their own theory and should stop focusing at western theory only for understanding issue at hand as there is marked cultural differences. Prof. Dr. Mah Nazir suggested that we cannot have indigenous approach without getting away from already established research designs and sampling techniques. We should develop our own methods but in the light of previously established ones. She stressed that by adding up empirical findings on any phenomenon the theory keeps building up.

Prof. Dr. Rukhsana Kausar signified the role of Pakistani researchers and Pakistani research at international level and encouraged young researchers to think positive about themselves being Pakistani and should work together for better Pakistan. She suggested to develop a common website of psychologists to share research related ideas and advancement in the field. Ms. Rubina Feroz stressed upon linkages at departmental and institutional level to build our strengths and to benefit from each others specialised fields. Together we will try to explore some solutions for these problems. Dr. Azam Tahir highlighted that in the present scenario especially the issues in Balochitan cannot be resolved without research in cultural context. He signified the role of ethnic subcultures within the culture that have their unique psychological phenomenon different from each other that needs to be explored. Lastly, Dr. Anila Kamal also stressed on positive role that psychologist are playing to uphold the field of research and stressed on indigenous approach in Psychology. All members of the panel discussion and the participants of the conference agreed to the importance of the focus of the conference. And all vowed to achieve the same in future.

Closing Ceremony
In the Closing Ceremony coordinated by Ms. Ayesha Zubair (Lecturer NIP), firstly Ms. Humaira Jami (Organiser of the Conference) presented the brief summary of the conference and discussed the salient points of the conference. The Chief Guest, Dr. Syed Mehmood Raza (Advisor Quality Assurance & Learning Innovation HEC) appreciated efforts of NIP in organising the conference. He stressed that such events should be organised on regular basis. He requested the researchers to send their carefully formulated research proposal in indigenous context for the research grant from HEC that seriously lack at present. Lastly, Dr. Anila Kamal (Director NIP) gave a note of thanks in the honour of all paper and poster presenters, panel member of panel discussion, resource persons of preconference workshop, and participants of the conference. She offered a note of facilitation to the faculty and the students of NIP who worked day and night to make the event a success.

It was concluded from the conference that lack of national cohesion at intellectual level has brought Pakistan to present difficult impasse in the all avenues of life. At our level, we need to join our professional and intellectual prowess at national level to help emancipating our hapless people out of the troubled waters. Under the aegis of the conference it was stresses to turn cultural diversity in strength, evolving unity of purpose, and harmony in thought and action. Desirable was to start understanding and implementing on diversity in our culture and nation which is our strength.

PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOPS Preconference workshops are regular feature when conferences are organised at National Institute of Psychology, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islambad. These provide an opportunity for those who want to have extensive training courses and for those who want to test their expertise. Such workshops prove to be important for setting pace in organising conference afterwards. In the present conference “Research in Psychology: Indigenous and Cultural Context” on 14th Oct 2010, 8 preconference workshops were organised from 21st September till 13th October 2010. Special focus was on developing technical skills in handling psychological problems and research pursuits. Three workshops were purely focusing at managing childhood developmental problems and problems faced by victim of abuse. Four were targeting at developing technical and analytical skills in quantitative and qualitative research. One was organised to develop expertise in assessment and diagnosis by using psycho-diagnostic tools. Organiser of the preconference workshops was Ms. Nelofar Rauf (Lecturer, NIP) NIP is grateful to all resource persons who put in their efforts and support in making these events possible for NIP. Following is a brief detail about these workshops. Inattention, Hyperactive, and Aggressive Tendencies among Children (September 21st) Humaira Jami & Irum Naqvi (Lecturers and Members of Counseling Center, NIP) This was a one day workshop with the objective to highlight underlying causes and managing techniques for inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional behaviour, and conduct problem in children. Participants were teachers, parents, and students of psychology from various organizations. The focus of the workshop was to improve parents’ and teachers’ interactions with children with disruptive behavioural patterns by psycho-educating, developing social skills, enhancing frustration tolerance, organising and structuring routine, managing behaviour in classroom setting, increasing on-task behaviour, monitoring and disciplining techniques. The objectives were achieved by utilising role plays, analysing real life case studies, sharing views through interaction, group activities etc. During the workshop, it was emphasized if the disruptive behaviours in early stages go unattended/unnoticed, it leads to the development of full blown disorders which promotes not only malfunctioning in the child but also distress in family members and society at large. Management of Emotional and Behavioural Problems of Children (September 22nd - 23rd) Aisha Zubair (Lecturer, Counsellor, NIP) Sohema Tahir (Research Associate/ Clinical Psychologist, NIP) Two days workshop was organized with the focus on enhancing different competencies of the parents that ultimately contribute to manage their children’s problems more effectively. Workshop consisted of short orientation lectures (ten minutes) about the topics followed by practical exercises, like role playing. Real life cases were also discussed with regard to managing emotional and behavioral problems of children. Sessions included bilateral sharing, brainstorming, and were more interactive and participatory. Workshop focused on parental competencies that ultimately contribute to their effective parenting. Participants exercised enhanced interactional communication skills through different activities. Areas that were covered included: Parents’ irrational beliefs about children, understanding young children, stubbornness, argumentativeness, hyperactivity, disciplinary problems, temper tantrums, conduct-related problems, shyness, identity issues, basics of parenting, social skills training, and Stress management. Managing Plagiarism in Academic Research: Pre and Post Controlling Strategies (September 24th) Dr. Muhammad Ramzan Chief Librarian Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) National Institute of Psychology in collaboration with Institute of Research Promotion (IRP) organized a one day workshop on managing Plagiarism in which pre and post controlling strategies were discussed. Plagiarism is quickly becoming part of our educational culture. More and more people are turning to the internet for quick "shortcuts" for writing research papers. Major problem seems to be awareness of the issue. In majority of the cases, academia and researchers even don’t know if they are plagiarizing, and those who do know are often unaware of the seriousness of the offense and its possible consequences. The workshop was designed to address plagiarism issues, policies, and guided participants how to avoid plagiarism. The increased usage of electronic databases has eased to access of knowledge resources which leads to increase risk of plagiarism with unintended carelessness. This workshop helped to turn on the tactics to sustain intellectual copyrights and controlling plagiarism. In the workshop, real examples were shared and their reporting interpretation was discussed. Research Data Analysis by Using SPSS (September 27th – 28th ) Muhammad Usman (System Analyst NIP) Two days focused on enhancing the skills of research statistical analysis more effectively by using computer software SPSS. Workshop consisted of different lecture sessions on the multimedia followed by practical lab activities. Each session included mathematical concept of statistical techniques and how these techniques can be measured by using SPSS software. All lecture sessions and lab activities were more interactive and participatory. Workshop focused on SPSS data analysis competencies that ultimately contribute to the effective research. Areas that were covered included basic concepts regarding research database, management of physical data form, data coding and data entry into SPSS, data screening, data manipulation and data transformation, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, interpretation and reporting of results according to the APA style and graphical representation of data. Two-Day Training Workshop on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS (September 29th - 30th) Dr. Jamil Malik (Assistant Professor, NIP) To entertain skill-oriented thrust of research students and professionals, two-day pre-conference workshop on various applications of Structural Equation Modeling using graphical interface of a latest software AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures) was organised. Purpose was to upgrade research students and professional with the latest data analytic techniques adapted by the advanced world in the research industry. The workshop aimed at developing skill-based independence in professionals and researchers by enabling them to construct their own theory and analyze their own data. The workshop was designed to provide a practical guide to SEM. The workshop covered a variety of complex and advanced level data analytic techniques including confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, mediation analysis, full latent variables model, missing data analysis, multiple group analysis, and latent growth curves. The workshop was organized in four sessions and after each session participants spent an hour of supervised practice in Lab. The practice sessions were aimed to enable participants to find theoretical and statistical solutions to their own research questions. Such skill based intervention programs are essential for research students and professional to enhance quality of their research to meet the international standards. Workshop on Psychological Assessment Report (October 4th – 6th) Dr. Muazzama Abidi (Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychologist, NIP) Saima Ambreen (Assistant Professor, University of Blochistan, Quetta) A three day training workshop on Psycho-Diagnostic Assessment was organised that aimed at assessment of clinical purpose related to emotional problems, academic problems, personal problems, adjustment and social problems of children, adolescents, and adults. The main purpose of workshop was to train professionals for counselling skills, assessment, and diagnosis. These services are helpful in developing awareness related to psychological problems and their interventions/treatment. The participants learnt the element of clinical interview and psychiatric history taking. This workshop gave them exposure to use the most widely used assessment tools including, Human Figure Drawing, Thematic Apperception Test, Standard Progressive Materices, and Colored Progressive Matrices. The participants were trained to administer, analyze, and interpret these assessment tools, as well as how to integrate the findings into accurate diagnoses and appropriate recommendations in the form of Psycho- Diagnostic Assessment Report. Creative Interventions for Survivors of Abuse (October 13th) Dr. Zainab Zadeh (Director) Kiran B. Ahmad (Lecturer) Institute of Professional Psychology (IPP), Bahria University, Karachi Abuse in modern society is not a concept that is limited in application. It is manifested across all age groups and genders and has diverse ramifications in emotional and behavioral disturbances that can appear at various times in an individual's life. The major forms of abuse include neglect, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and incest. NIP organized a workshop on creative interventions that was based on writing techniques, Art therapy, and Drama therapy that have been used successfully with survivors of abuse. These are cathartic in nature and provide individuals with a creative gestalt that encompasses unique problem solving ideas to increase their self-sufficiency and provide opportunities for growth. The workshop focused on the understanding of terminology related to abuse and helped professionals in developing sensitivity to the particular dynamics of clients who have been subjected to abuse earlier in their lives. It provided practitioners best opportunity to learn about possible techniques to be used in conjunction with or separate from their usual therapeutic interventions and those who dealt with clients who reported a past history of abuse. Introduction to Theory Building for Researchers (October 13th) Dr. Asir Ajmal (Foreign Professor, GCU) The importance of framing research topics and designs in well-developed theoretical frameworks has been discussed actively in recent years. This one day workshop created opportunities to learn about issues such as: The understanding of what theory is and the role of theory in research, differences between paradigms, the role of hypotheses in theory-building, building theories, streamlining theoretical frameworks, and units of analysis. The workshop alternated between lectures and in-depth discussions on participants' research projects. The workshop was immensely useful for the researchers working on qualitative research designs in the field of psychology and filled the void that maintains inhibition in conducting qualitative research.