1 Introduction
Ishbel McWha-Hermann, Douglas C. Maynard and Mary O'Neill Berry
DOI: 10.4324/9781315682419-1
Work plays a central role in the global development agenda, though its importance may not be immediately obvious and can easily be overlooked. For example, when we think about international development, we might bring to mind issues like foreign aid, economics, poverty reduction, human rights, education and healthcare. We might even think about the role of charity organizations and governments in providing money to address some of these issues. But as soon as we scratch the surface, it is clear that work is one of the variables at the very core of this agenda, be it through the work of the organizations attempting to deliver aid (e.g., through improving education or addressing health issues), the work of local communities to generate income (e.g., through agriculture or self-employment) or the work of national and international leaders (e.g., through attempting to shape policy and create good governance). At different levels, all of these types of work aim to lift people and communities out of poverty.
Given this integral role of work in the global development agenda, it is remarkable that this area has only recently become a focus of those who study the world of work. Industrial-organizational (I-O)/occupational/work psychology1 is defined by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) as the “scientific study of the workplace,” and I-O psychologists “apply research that improves the well-being and performance of people and the organizations that employ them” (www.siop.org). I-O psychology, however, has tended to focus on impacting organizational effectiveness and individual well-being within the business context, with little attention to outcomes associated with societal well-being (Olson-Buchanan, Koppes Bryan & Thompson, 2013).
In recent years we have begun to see a shift in this focus. Just as we have seen an emerging social consciousness about issues like fair trade, sustainability and social justice, so too has our discipline begun to expand to embrace these issues, both as business outcomes, but also in recognition of the multiplicity of organizations and workplaces focused on these issues, where the theories and practices of I-O psychology have not yet seen widespread application. This area within I-O psychology has become known as humanitarian work psychology (HWP), the application of I-O psychology to some of the big issues facing society today, including poverty, inequality, social justice and decent work.
The aim of this book is to provide a set of case studies illustrating practical examples of humanitarian work psychology, in both applied and research settings. The backdrop to these case studies is the content of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs; United Nations, 2003). As a set, the MDGs deal broadly with social, economic and development issues that represent the urgent challenges of our age, ranging from poverty and hunger, to education, gender equality and empowerment, health, environmental sustainability, global partnership-building, and decent and productive work.
In this introductory chapter, we give a brief history of the development of HWP, and provide a description of the MDGs, which end in 2015 and will be succeeded by a new set of goals called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is worth noting that scholars and practitioners from many disciplines within and related to psychology have made significant contributions to global development efforts (e.g., Britto, Engle & Super, 2013; Campbell & Murray, 2004; Okpaku, 2014); indeed, as suggested above, it could be argued that mainstream I-O psychology is just now catching up. Because of the emergence of HWP and the increased involvement of I-O psychologists in addressing issues such as poverty, health and education, we have placed the focus of the current volume on these efforts as a way to highlight this important new development in our field, to demonstrate how I-O psychology has and can continue to play an important role in global development and to hopefully foster even greater contributions from the field in the future.
History of humanitarian work psychology (HWP)
Increasingly, there has been a move toward the application of the theories, practices, research and principles of industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology to improving human well-being and solving the most difficult problems facing the people of the world today, including poverty, inequality, discrimination, absence of decent work, lack of educational opportunities and natural disasters. Over the past five years this movement, known as humanitarian work psychology (HWP), has gained momentum, culminating in the establishment of the Global Organisation for Humanitarian Work Psychology (GOHWP) in 2012.
On their website, the Global Organisation for Humanitarian Work Psychology states that HWP
concerns the synthesis of organisational, industrial, work, and other areas of psychology with deliberate and organised efforts to enhance human welfare. This definition includes activities that are not only traditionally associated with humanitarian assistance and international development, but also with the promotion of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) concept of decent work as well as poverty-reduction more generally.
(http://gohwp.org)
Inherent in this definition are two broad areas of HWP, which can be seen to differ in focus according to where the hyphen is positioned. These two areas are described in Table 1.1. The first area, “The Psychology of Humanitarian Work
(HW-P),” focuses on the application of I-O psychology principles to humanitarian work, including disaster relief, poverty reduction and sustainable development. An example of this is examining what motivates people to work in the humanitarian aid and development sector. The second area is “A Work Psychology That Is Humanitarian (H-WP),” which refers to the broad application of humanitarian principles to I-O psychology as a discipline, including promotion of fair and just working conditions for all workers. Conducting research to better understand the impact of a living wage versus minimum wage on worker performance would represent an example of work in this second area.
Humanitarian work psychology's focus on the application of I-O psychology to issues relating to organized efforts to enhance human welfare is a departure from the more traditional avenues taken by those in the discipline, and represents something of an evolution (if not a revolution) in the field. From its inception in 2009 with the convening of the professional organization formerly known as the “Global Task Force for Humanitarian Work Psychology” (now the Global Organisation for Humanitarian Work Psychology), this field of endeavor has taken the precepts and research of I-O psychology to new levels in both international development and aid, as well as generating a renewed humanistic emphasis in the field.
HWP is expanding the boundaries of I-O psychology by applying I-O theories, methods and procedures to business and nonbusiness efforts to enhance human welfare across the globe. Some examples of HWP work include utilizing I-O psychology principles and applications to:
- Promote decent work and social empowerment for workers from marginalized groups, like individuals with disabilities
- Assist aid organizations with poverty reduction initiatives
- Develop disaster response management systems
- Help humanitarian organizations succeed at their missions
- Support sustainable global development
- Promote justice in organizations
As a concept, HWP resonates with many I-O psychologists, who feel that our discipline has a lot to offer the nonprofit sector. In particular, many students of I-O psychology are searching for ways to use the skills they are learning in a more prosocial way. It is important to note that various I-O psychologist...
