Industrial and Organizational Psychology Help the Vulnerable ─ Serving the Underserved

Industrial and Organizational Psychology Help the Vulnerable documents a new direction for industrial and organizational psychology. The chapters are written by psychologists who have used the methods, procedures and theories of industrial and organizational psychology to help the vulnerable people of the world. They are personal stories of psychologists using their expertise in some of the most dangerous and complex parts of the world in order to help those more vulnerable in society. The authors describe their motivation for undertaking such activities, their application of the disciplines methods and procedures, their successes and failures, what they personally gained from their experiences and how their experiences impacted their discipline. They described their work in Afghanistan at a time when war lords were battling each other for dominance, poverty stricken parts of South Africa, Haiti after the earthquakes, New Orleans after the hurricane and Lesotho Africa where girls sold their bodies to support siblings as a result of the death of parents from AIDS. Authors describe how they persuade governments to include the principles of 'decent work' into their poverty reducing program that was to be supported by the World Bank. A graduate student describes how his emotions at discovering a dual salary system for local and foreign college teachers motivated his research agenda and life's work. Psychologists teach entrepreneurship and turn job seekers into job providers. As a result of their experiences the boundaries of industrial and organizational psychology have been expanded. Young people entering the field will have choices of venues in which to work. And no longer will this branch of psychology be perceived as a servant of powerful organizations with the only goal of making them more successful and more powerful. Industrial and organizational psychology will have a humanitarian side as well that will serve the needs of the vulnerable.

Walter Reichman is Vice President and Partner of the management consulting firm, OrgVitality, and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, USA. He chaired the psychology department at Baruch College for 17 years where he also taught undergraduate, Masters and PhD courses. Walter is also the main NGO representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations from the International Association of Applied Psychology. He holds an Ed.D and MS from Columbia University and an MBA and BA from the City College of New York, USA.