Counseling in Iran: History,Current Status,and Future Trends

As a growing profession, counseling in Iran was first established within the Iranian educational system. Counselors in Iran have provided mental health services during natural disasters and war. The counseling profession in Iran currently faces challenges in addressing the needs of women; ethnic minorities; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. In this article, the authors focus on the historical background, current trends, and future challenges of the counseling profession in Iran.     

Testing a Burnout Model Based on Affective-motivational Factors among EFL Teachers

The purpose of the present study was to explore English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher’s motivations for teaching and testing a model of burnout based on motivations and emotions using structural equation modeling (SEM). For this purpose, a total number of 326 Iranian EFL teachers in different language institutes completed the related scales. Results of the study showed that altruistic and intrinsic factors are the main motivations of EFL teachers. Results of SEM indicated that both motivations and emotions predicted different dimensions of burnout. However, emotions had a stronger effect on burnout dimensions than motivational factors. Finally, the pedagogical implications were discussed based on the results of the study.     

Autonomy and equal right to divorce with specific reference to Shici fiqh and the Iranian legal system

In this article I argue for the equal right of both spouses to divorce, since moral autonomy as embodied in the right to self-determination calls for this. The powerful moral demand of the contemporary human rights discourse has left no choice for Western countries but to allow divorce to be granted when the parties consent. The same factor has pushed many Muslims, including Iranians, to reform their system in favour of women. The problem for Shi^cites, unlike Christians, was not the denial of the right to divorce to both parties, but rather the unilateral privilege of the husband. Their reform was thus to direct the system toward an egalitarian position rather than to establish permissibility. Yet, the compelling factor for both was the same, that is, the appeal to individual autonomy and the right to self-determination. We will see that moral reinterpretation of the Islamic sources can offer an egalitarian right to divorce without diluting fundamental qur'anic teachings. An essential prerequisite for such an achievement is a methodological shift from literalistic interpretation of the qur'anic teachings and authentic sunna to the moral spirit of the textual sources.     

Egg and embryo implantation: a comparative study of shi&art12;ite teachings and Kantian ethics

In this article the issues of egg and embryo implantation are examined in the light of i&art1;ālat al-ibā&art2;a wa-al-&art2;īliyya in Shi&art12;ite teachings and the Kantian principle of autonomy. Textual justification is given for the ibā&art2;a doctrine that what is not explicitly prohibited is permissible. When applied to the issues of egg and embryo implantation this leads to the conclusion that people may freely decide whether or not to engage in these medical processes, taking into account other relevant norms and possible consequences. A similar conclusion is reached through discussion of three particular cases of egg and embryo implantation in the light of an interpretation of Kantian autonomy in which people freely use reason to make right decisions in accordance with universal moral law. Despite the major differences between the two systems several similarities are noted and it is suggested that constructive development could result from interaction between them.     

Comparison of dysfunctional attitudes and social adjustment among infertile employed and unemployed women in Iran

This study aims to compare dysfunctional attitudes and social adjustment in infertile employed and unemployed females. Due to the stresses of infertility, infertile females are faced with a variety of sexual and psychological problems, as well as dysfunctional attitudes that can lead to depression. Moreover, infertility problems provoke women into maladjustment and inadvertent corruption of relationships. In this regard, our goal is to consider the effects of employment in conjunction with education on dysfunctional attitudes and social adjustment among infertile women in Iran. In this work, we employed the survey method. We recruited 240 infertile women, utilizing the cluster random sampling method. These women filled out the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale and the social adjustment part of the California Test of Personality. Next, multivariate analysis of variance was performed to test the relationship of employment status and education with dysfunctional attitudes and social adjustment. Our results indicated that dysfunctional attitudes were far more prevalent in infertile unemployed women than in infertile employed women. Also, social adjustment was better in infertile employed women than in infertile unemployed women. It was shown that education level alone does not have significant effect on dysfunctional attitudes and social adjustment. However, we demonstrated that the employment status of infertile women in conjunction with their education level significantly affects the two dimensions of dysfunctional attitudes (relationships, entitlements) and has insignificant effects on social adjustment. It was revealed that in employed infertile women in Iran, the higher education level, the less dysfunctional were attitudes in relationships and entitlements, whereas in unemployed infertile women, those with a college degree had the least and those with master's or higher degrees had the most dysfunctional attitudes in terms of relationships and entitlements.     

Women and Natural Hierarchy in Aristotle

In this paper, I examine the frame of reference in Aristotle's Politics within which he makes claims about women and their place in his conception of politics.     

Autonomy,Euthanasia and the Right to Die with Dignity: A Comparison of Kantian Ethics and Shicite Teachings

This article engages in a conceptual analysis and discussion of the definition of euthanasia, including a number of inherent distinctions, together with a concomitant examination of various value perspectives that are applied to the way the idea of ‘life’ itself is understood, especially the notion of autonomy. Among a number of considerations, the pro-life and pro-choice controversy and its relevance cannot be ignored in the context of a comprehensive discussion of the issue from a Shi^cite point of view. An attempt is made to show that euthanasia is a sophisticated normative subject with different aspects and categories. An outright normative refutation of the act by many Muslim writers and jurists seems to be a kind of oversimplification of this multi-faceted issue.