Humanitarian Work Psychology and the Global Development Agenda ― Case Studies and Interventions

In recent years, a new movement has emerged within organizational psychology, transposing the established principles of the field onto arenas of more pressing humanitarian need, including the humanitarian treatment of all workers in all work settings. Humanitarian Work Psychology (HWP) stretches the parameters of the discipline to focus on regions, communities, and groups of workers that can potentially benefit most from its research and insights.

Humanitarian Work Psychology and the Global Development Agenda is the first book to provide a collection of case studies of HWP in action. Edited by some of the leading scholars in the field, it benchmarks HWP against the developmental goals set out by the United Nations at the start of the century as the most pressing issues of our age, ranging from the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger and the achievement of universal primary education, to gender equality and empowerment, the reduction of child mortality, greater environmental sustainability and global partnership-building.

Including findings from interventions conducted in Nigeria, India, Ghana, Hong Kong and Sierra Leone, the book examines how the latest research from organizational psychology can be used to support people working in developing economies, as well as in humanitarian work itself. The collection concludes with a section on how this exciting new field will develop in the future, particularly in reference to the forthcoming United Nations goals for global sustainable development.

Humanitarian Work Psychology and the Global Development Agenda will be a fascinating read not only for all students and researchers of Organizational Psychology, but also those working and studying in the related fields of Development Studies, Environmental Sustainability, International Politics and International Economics.

Ishbel McWha-Hermann is Early Career Fellow in International Human Resource Management at the University of Edinburgh Business School in the UK.

Douglas C. Maynard is Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz in the USA.

Mary O’Neill Berry is former Executive Vice President at Sirota Consulting, and NGO representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).