Department Of Psychology

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Guidance and Counseling

Psychology Assignment Work

Submitted by: Shah Ali Faisal

B.A Hons. English
Psychology (Subsidiary)
Sem VI

Submitted to: Dr. Fatima Shanawaz,

Department of Psychology, JMI
 First Assignment Work
Ques. Define the concept of Guidance. Discuss the need for Guidance.

Ans. Guidance involves personal help given by someone; it is designed to assist a person to decide
where he wants to go, what he wants to do, or how he can best accomplish his purpose; it assists him to
solve problems that arise in his life. It does not solve problems for the individual but helps him to solve
them.

Example-

According to Ruth Strang -  “Guidance is a process of helping every individual, through his own efforts, to
discover and develop his potentialities for his personal happiness and social usefulness.”

According to A.J. Jones - “Guidance involves personal help given by a competent person; it is designed to
assist a person in deciding where he wants to go, what he wants to do, or how he can best accomplish
his purposes; it assists him in solving problems that arise in his life. It does not solve problems for the
individual, but helps him to solve them. The focus of guidance is the individual and not the problem; its
purpose is to promote the growth of the individual in self-direction.”

According to Knapps - “Learning about the individual student, helping him to understand himself,
effecting changes in him and in his environment which will help him to grow and develop as much as
possible – these are the elements of guidance.”

According to Secondary Education Commission, 1952 -  “Guidance involves the difficult art of helping
boys and girls to plan their own future wisely in the full light of all the factors that can be mastered
about themselves and about the world in which they are to live and work.”

According to Crow and Crow - “Guidance is assistance made available by personally and adequately
trained men or women to an individual of any age to help him manage his own life activities, develop his
own points of view, make his own decisions and carry his own burdens.”

According to John Brewer - “Guidance is a process through which an individual is able to solve his
problems and pursue a path suited to his abilities and aspirations.”

According to Woodworth - “Guidance helps an individual to develop his personality and enables him to
serve the society to the best of his capabilities and talents.”

According to Kitson - “Guidance is ‘individualized education’. Each student is to be helped to develop

himself to the maximum possible degree in all respects.”

V.M. Proctor. “Guidance is a process through which an individual or groups of individuals are helped to
make necessary adjustment to the environment – inside or outside the school.”
Need of Guidance

1. Different stages of development. The bringing up of the human beings can be divided into the
stages of infant, childhood, pre-adolescent, adolescence and manhood. One needs different
types of help to adjust with every stage. The maximum problems are faced at the time of
 adolescence, when there are problems due to physical development, mental development,
emotional development and social development.

2. Differences among persons. Psychology reveals that no two persons are alike and no two
people get similar opportunities in life. Hence, every individual needs the help of guidance
service, in order to know the particular kind of profession for which he is most suited.

3. Changing conditions of work. Gone are the days when a child was supposed to take up the
profession of his father for earning his livelihood. Now-a-days professions or occupations have
become so varied and so complex that everyone has at first to get general education and then
to undergo a long training for the profession to be adopted. He has also to get a special
education pertaining to that profession.

4. Educational growth. Guidance is needed for development of abilities and skills facilitating

learning and achievement, and habits and skills for lifelong learning.

5. Career Maturity. Guidance is required for the development of healthy and positive attitudes,
habits, values, etc. towards work through broadening aware of the world of work, planning and
preparing for one’s career.

6. Psycho-social development. Guidance is required for assistance for understanding and

developing a positive self-image and development of social skills for learning an effective and
satisfying personal-social life.

7. Guidance for good family life. It includes working with parents and children for understanding
of family relationship, attitudes towards home and role of family for healthy growth.

8. Guidance for good citizenship. Guidance creates an understanding of socio-cultural values and

awareness of social issues, concerns and problems, overcoming prejudices, developing right
attitudes and values of co-operation, tolerance, righteousness and social justice for peace and
equality. Promoting ideas and values of democratic and secular constitution and promoting
unity and national integration.

9. Guidance for channelization of manpower requirements. Efforts at development and

channelization of individual potential with a view to meeting manpower and social requirements
for national growth and betterment of society.

10. Proper use of leisure time. Today many individuals waste their precious time with a lot of
unhealthy activities. People need to be guided to use their leisure time profitably. Proper
balancing of work and family is also important. Many youngsters roam around the streets with
nothing to do, having no purpose in life, waste away their health and time through drugs,
alcohol, gambling etc. Guidance will help them to make use of their leisure time to achieve
happiness, to enhance their education and career advancement.

11. Lack of Instructions at home. There is a lack of guidance for the young ones at home. In the
past, home acted as the most important agency of informal education. The children followed
the instructions given by parents and elders. Today, many parents are failed in this
responsibility. They are too busy in their work and transfer this responsibility to the teachers
 who are also not in a position to guide them with their own responsibilities. So there is a need
for guidance cell in schools.

12. Improvement in the status of women. Due to the influx of women in almost all spheres
including active defense services, more and more women are taking up jobs. Because of the
double responsibility of home and office, women are facing all kinds of trauma, anxiety and
stress. They need guidance to adjust to this changing scenario, especially in a male dominated
society.