ABSTRACT
Poverty can be found as far back as the Old Testament: “… but the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow that the poor of thy people may eat” (Exodus 23:11). Used as a precursor for the modern welfare state, the term poor has remained with us ever since, never leaving society's agenda. More specifically, we should mention the Poor Laws of 1598 and 1601 and the development of Marxist ideas and ideology to combat poverty and social injustice. Through the centuries, different approaches have been used, but it was only during the second part of the twentieth century that systematic, scientific, and clinical attention was given to this issue.
