Youth matters
Lecture 2 prerequisite notes
Overview and limitations of western models in
comparison with the Islamic perspective
Freudian Psychology
The psychoanalysis school of thought is regarded as the oldest
school of thought in Psychology. As many of us know, Sigmund
Freud happened to be it's founder. The psychoanalysis school of
thought is taught up until now due to the fact that it paved
way for other Psychological approaches. Despite it's past
significance, it is not a healthy perspective on human psyche. It
attributes both the normal and abnormal behavior to one's
compulsions and it's based upon Freudian experience as well as
the case studies which he did with his patients. There's no
scientific element to it either due to which it is no longer seen as
significant even by the modern Psychologists. Freudian
Psychology assumes that human behavior is entirely restricted by
impulses and drives. In terms of it's developmental aspect, it's
one dimensional in a sense that one's development is contingent
solely upon Psychosexual stages of development. This
perspective restricts human growth and largely undermines
human potential. In Freudian terms, human beings are driven by
the Id inherently as they are always in need of satisfying
themselves. The Id works on the pleasure principle while the ego
is a rational part of the self which thinks rationally. The super ego
is a mediator between the two as it tries to regulate both the Id
and the ego. Even though Freud mentioned the functions of both
the ego and the super ego, he mostly placed emphasis on the Id
as he thought that a human being is primarily a sexual animal
who unwillingly works on the reality principle at times. Overall, the
Freudian perspective is in conflict with the Islamic perspective on
human psyche. Freud also went on to comment on different levels
of human conscious experience as he suggested that there's a
conscious, pre conscious and an unconscious state. Among all
the three states, he placed emphasis mostly on the unconscious
which he also linked with the Id. The Freudian perspective is
subjective to criticism as it's a deterministic approach to
understanding human Psychology
Behaviorism
The behaviorist school of thought came into existence around the
time of the emergence of psychoanalysis. It's founding fathers are
many unlike psychoanalysis as the behaviorist school of thought
contains various theories that were formed by different
behaviorists. J. B. Watson is regarded as the founder of the
behaviorist school of thought due to his massive contributions.
Behaviorists deny the internal aspects of human beings. They go
as far as claiming that there's no such thing as human nature
since the underlying idea which they adhere to is that the human
beings are like machines as they can be programmed in any sort
of way, provided that the environment is suitable for the relevant
developmental behavior. Behaviorists tend to rely on science as
they focus on the observable behavior entirely. They also assume
that animals are similar to human beings in a sense that both are
a product of their learning experience. The stimulus- response
quadrant is given a great deal of emphasis by them. The
behaviorist school of thought can be viewed as deterministic. It's
not compatible with the Islamic approach to Psychology as Islam
doesn't deny the internal aspects and there's a room for free will
in Islamic paradigm
Humanism
The humanistic perspective on Psychology is largely positive and
optimistic as the underlying belief within the humanistic approach
is that all people are inherently good and capable. The humanistic
school of thought is based on certain philosophies such as the
existentialism. Humanists place their entire emphasis on the
present moment and no significance is given to the history and
future. Humanistic psychology is not based upon Darwinian
evolution but it doesn't explain where the human beings came
from. As such, it's not consistent with the Islamic perspective as
Islam talks about pre existence as well as the hereafter.
Humanistic psychology came about as a response to
psychoanalysis and behaviorism and it's still regarded as a
valuable perspective by modern Psychologists
The Islamic perspective
Islamic paradim on Psychology is based upon the teachings of
the Quran and Sunnah. The Islamic paradigm is complete and
holistic as it neither denies the body nor the soul while also
explains various aspects of existence from our pre existence to
the hereafter. Man wasn't sent to this earth to live a meaningless
existence rather Allah endowed him with both the internal and
external capacities to live a meaningful existence. The rooh or the
soul was given to man for a Devine purpose. While the free will
was given to him to fulfill his purpose in life and to carry out his
duties and responsibilities as Allah made him a vicegerent on
earth and endowed him with amanah or the trust. Man has been
given endless blessings such as the understanding of the good
and evil which he understands through his reason as well as
through the revelation. Furthermore, Allah gave him fitrah to guide
him to the truth and the correct knowledge. Islamic Psychology
promotes a complete understanding on human nature and guides
man to success on all levels