Psychology has focused more on personalities in poverty -- pathologizing
-- than on contexts for poverty reduction (Pick & Sirkin, 2010). As a
result, the discipline has inadvertently sequestered and isolated
itself, and its potential contribution, from poverty reduction
initiatives - globally and locally. In recent years, there have been
major developments in both the scope and depth of psychological research
on global development issues. Some of the key developments include
significant advances in understanding of what motivates teachers in
schools, on designing community interventions to promote health, and on
managing the development of human "capacity" in aid and development
projects. The Psychology of Poverty Reduction is poised to capture such
advances in the understanding of 'what works' - and what does not.