Poverty: third wave behavioral approaches

Abstract

This article will review the literature related to poverty and third wave behavioral approaches. It will specifically focus on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and the wider field of Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS). Having outlined CBS and poverty, this article will begin by highlighting evidence where people with psychological or physical health problems, who also live in poverty, are treated with ACT. It will then explore the possibility of tackling poverty itself and consider some limitations of traditional therapeutic approaches in this regard. Finally, it will review the potential for the CBS movement to deliver wider cultural change that reduces poverty itself. This article will speak to poverty that occurs in both the developed and developing world, although much of the evidence in relation to ACT and CBS is currently in the former.Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS), Poverty. AbstractThis article will review the literature related to poverty and third wave behavioral approaches. It will specifically focus on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and the wider field of Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS). Having outlined CBS and poverty, this article will begin by highlighting evidence where people with psychological or physical health problems, who also live in poverty, are treated with ACT. It will then explore the possibility of tackling poverty itself and consider some limitations of traditional therapeutic approaches in this regard. Finally, it will review the potential for the CBS movement to deliver wider cultural change that reduces poverty itself. This article will speak to poverty that occurs in both the developed and developing world, although much of the evidence in relation to ACT and CBS is currently in the former.

Using a Transdisciplinary Interpretive Lens to Broaden Reflections on Alleviating Poverty and Promoting Decent Work

“…Poor people have fewer choice options and often have a limited understanding of choices, which means that they are unlikely to choose appropriately from the choices available ( Chakravarti, 2006 ). Likewise, poverty has a negative influence on people’s ability to adapt ( Schmitt and Pilcher, 2004 ; Blustein et al, 2014 ; Osborne and Weiner, 2015 ; Thompson, 2015 ), on their ability to enjoy life and to avoid pain ( Andrews and Withey, 1976 ; Kahneman et al, 1999 ), and on their ability to realize their potential and use their resources and strengths optimally ( Vázquez et al, 2006 ; Ryff and Singer, 2008 ). Moreover, poverty limits people’s ability to assess the severity of threatening situations ( Jacobson, 1991 ; Schneier, 2008 ), condemns them to membership of isolated groups with a similar status ( Gylfason and Zoega, 2003 ; Blackford, 2006 ), and diminishes their quality of life and self-perceptions (in terms of, for example, their position in life in the context of their culture and value systems and with respect to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns) ( World Health Organization [WHO], 2002 ).…”