The Psychologist Magazine October 2011 (The Psychologist 2011 Book 10)

People were burying their relatives. Homes and businesses smouldered. The nation grabbed blindly for explanations for the riots that had ripped through England. Where were the psychologists?

They were there, if you looked, and we did. The Research Digest blog collected links to comment and analysis, and the Society’s website encouraged comment. Yet much of it seemed almost ‘meta’ or ‘anti’ science: explanation about explanation, or views on what the riots weren’t and what we shouldn’t do, rather than what they were and what we should.

The riots cried out for the discipline: for once there genuinely seemed to be multiple, interacting causes. Yet we seemed quiet, perhaps wary that honest uncertainty would appear weak or that the media were in no mood to listen.

This month, an extended ‘Letters’ section presents comment on the riots. Providing a forum for discussion across the discipline is central to The Psychologist, and we hope to offer new opportunities (in print and online) in future. Your views, as always, are welcome.
Dr Jon Sutton

This month's issue includes:
Letters - personality disorder; Milgram; NHS reform; benchmarking; and more

The riots: a comment special - What was behind England’s riots, and how can psychology contribute going forward?

News - brain imaging; the ‘difference in differences’ error; dance company ‘scientist in residence’; ‘Any Qualified Provider’; and more

Digest - Nuggets from the Digests

Media - disorder, distortion, and the Society response to the riots, with Fiona Jones

Mindfulness in schools - Can habits of mind boost the well-being and resilience of the nation’s children? Dan Jones investigates

Workaholism: a 21st-century addiction - Mark Griffiths with a behavioural addiction perspective

Life’s long and winding roads - Jon Sutton talks to Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin about their longevity project

Why might innocents make false confessions? - Kim Drake suggests a fruitful avenue of investigation into vulnerability

Methods - Kate Hefferon and Elena Gil-Rodriguez on interpretative phenomenological analysis

Book reviews - Jung in the city; Freud on coke; positive psychology at work; and more

Society - disaster, crisis and trauma in the President’s column; honorary awards; test use register; history prize; new subscriber grades; BPS journals

Careers - life in the West London Mental Health Gender Identity Clinic; from the blues to CBT

New voices - the power of suggestion: Krissy Wilson with the latest in our series encouraging budding writing talent

Looking back - the strange case of Margery Kempe, by Alison Torn

One on one - with Gail Coleman, Honorary Lecturer, University of Sheffield

The Psychologist, the monthly publication of The British Psychological Society. We aim to provide a forum for discussion and debate amongst members of the Society and beyond, and ‘to promote the advancement and diffusion of a knowledge of psychology pure and applied’. The Psychologist is supported by www.thepsychologist.org.uk, where you can view this month’s issue, search the archive, listen, debate, contribute, subscribe, advertise, and more.

The British Psychological Society is the representative body for psychology and psychologists in the UK. We are responsible for the development, promotion and application of psychology for the public good. For more information, see www.bps.org.uk.