Individuals of Arab descent residing within the United States currently number between 1.2 million and 3.9 million. These families are characterized by considerable diversity depending upon their nationality, religion, and extent of acculturation to both Western and Arab cultures. More recently, Arab families have immigrated to the United States in response to traumatic events, such as war, a situation that has complicated their subsequent adjustment and acculturation to life in the United States. The growth in the Arab American population suggests that school psychologists are increasingly likely to work with their children and families. However, despite the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP; 2000) and American Psychological Association (APA; 2002) ethical guidelines requiring culturally competent practice, little has been written to guide the school psychologist's work with this population. This article draws on the available literature on Arab cultural values and acculturation to enhance culturally sensitive school psychology practice at the individual and systems levels. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 183–198, 2007.

The literature on child sexual abuse reflects growing recognition of the manner in which culture impacts the conceptualization, experience, and treatment of such cases. Despite heightened visibility of Arab Americans within the United States, population due to recent media attention, little empirical research exists on the occurrence of child sexual abuse within this population. Arab culture is often characterized by an emphasis on collectivism and familial obligations, and such features may prove to either facilitate or impede assessment and treatment of child sexual abuse, depending on how they are manifested. In terms of reporting child sexual abuse, cultural values pertaining to shame and honor as well as the stigma attached to mental health problems may influence the response to abuse. As such, enhancing the cultural competence of the therapist is key to facilitating effective cultural practice. Empirical research is required to investigate and substantiate these concepts as they relate to child sexual abuse in Arab-American populations.

Eshel and Koriat (2001) have suggested that training programs for school psychologists possess both a manifest (`formal') and latent (`informal') curriculum pertaining to the enhancement of both technical competencies and more autonomous professional functioning, respectively. In addition to influencing coursework, the informal curriculum also shapes the manner in which training programs provide supervision. Although effective supervision is believed to lead to more effective school psychology practice, much of the literature has emphasized the technical skills which supervision aims to improve. Little has been written about the nature of group supervision for school psychologists in training, especially from the standpoint of utilizing a more process-oriented approach as a vehicle for realizing the informal curriculum. In organizing the supervisor's approach to running such a group, the following theoretical models may prove effective: attachment theory, object relations theory, group theory and self psychology. Case examples will be discussed in order to illustrate the application of these theoretical frameworks to the supervisory process. Ethical challenges to running supervision groups within a training program will also be discussed.

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