Oliver James (psychologist)

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Oliver James (born 1953) is a clinical psychologist, although not registered by the British Psychological Society[citation needed]. He obtained a degree in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and trained as a child clinical psychologist at the University of Nottingham. He worked as a research fellow at Brunel University before occupying an NHS post as a clinical psychologist for six years at the Cassel Hospital in London. He became a journalist, bestselling book author and television documentary producer and presenter. He also frequently broadcasts on radio and acts as a pundit on television. He was an adviser to Jack Straw during his time at the Home Office and was part of the Well-Being Commission during the Cameron Tory years in opposition.

Education and career

He published several academic papers about the organisation of therapeutic communities. He has since published papers in the Psychologist Journal and in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (with Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson).

In 1982 he made his first TV series, for Granada for the ITV network, about childcare (Under Fives). He did two further educational series, one for Channel 4 (Sex With Paula, 1987), one for the ITV network (Men On Violence, 1988, for LWT). He originated, and was Associate Producer of, the ITV First Tuesday documentary about the Man Who Shot John Lennon.

He was the interviewer and producer of the 44 interviews in Room 113 http://www.selfishcapitalist.com/index.php/tv for the two series of the BAFTA-award winning Network 7 youth programme on Channel 4. Audience research revealed Room 113 was the most popular slot in the programme and the interviews were described by Chris Dunckley in the Financial Times as 'The most frank since John Freeman's Face-to-Face in the Fifties`.

In 1990 he produced a documentary for Channel 4 about the Mail on Sunday and in 1992 he contributed three films, two as Producer and one as Producer-Presenter, to the BBC2 Crime and Punishment season. Rape, for 40 Minutes, recorded the meeting of a rapist and a rape victim. Prisoner XYY/334422, also for 40 Minutes, plumbed the psychology of an imprisoned psychopath. Wot U Looking At?, for the science strand Horizon, presented his highly influential explanation (from his monograph Juvenile Violence in a Winner-Loser Culture) for why the poor are more violent than the rich and why violence has been rocketing since 1987 in the UK.

In 1995 he produced, directed and presented a forty minute Late Show documentary for BBC2, Prozac Diary, in which artists took the drug to see how it affected their work. In 1997, he produced and presented The Chair, a 7-part interview series for BBC2, including one in which Peter Mandelson MP famously shed a tear.

In 1998 he was the presenter of a 2-part series about his book, New Britain on the Couch, for Channel 4, followed in 2000 by presenting a one-off documentary about infidelity, Affairs of the Heart. In each of 2004, 2005 and 2006 he has presented a series of programmes about childcare for This Morning, titled Through the Eyes of the Child.

He has published eight books, two of which (They F*** You Up and Affluenza) have sold over 140,000 copies each. His book Contented Dementia has sold over 60,000 and despite opposition of the Alzheimer's Society, it has become widely adopted by both professionals and carers managing people with dementia.[citation needed]

He currently writes an occasional column in the Family section of The Guardian. He has written columns for The Sun, the Sunday Telegraph, the Sunday Express, The Independent and most recently, The Observer magazine. He has also written for several magazines, including Options, Family Circle, Adbusters and Business Life (British Airways). He also contributes regularly to the Comment page of The Guardian, as well as occasional articles for the other broadsheets, daily and Sunday.

Views

Books James, Oliver (January 2014), How To Develop Emotional Health, School of Life/Pan Macmillan 978-0230771710

  • James, Oliver (February 2013). Office Politics: How to Thrive in a World of Lying, Backstabbing and Dirty Tricks. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192394-5. 

James, Oliver, 2012, Love Bombing - Reset your child's emotional thermostat, London: Karnac books

  • James, Oliver (June 2010). How Not To F*** Them Up. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192391-4. 
  • James, Oliver (January 2010). Britain on the Couch (updated). Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192984-8. 
  • James, Oliver (November 2009). Contented Dementia: 24 hour Wraparound Care for Lifetime Wellbeing. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-190181-3. 
  • James, Oliver (January 2008). The Selfish Capitalist. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192381-5. 
  • James, Oliver (2002). They F*** You Up: How to Survive Family Life. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-8478-8. 
  • James, Oliver (1998). Britain on the Couch – Why We’re Unhappier Compared with 1950 Despite Being Richer. Arrow Books. ISBN 0-09-924402-0. 
  • James, Oliver (1995). Juvenile Violence in a Winner-Loser Culture. Free Association Books. ISBN 185343302 Check |isbn= value (help). 

See also

  • Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder controversies

References

    • "Oliver James". London: The Guardian. 2 September 2003. Retrieved 2008-01-06. "So George, how do you feel about your mom and dad? Psychologist Oliver James analyses the behaviour of the American president" 
    • "Oliver James". Resurgence. March/April 2003. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2008-01-06. "Moving the goalposts: Chasing that ephemeral and elusive state of 'happiness'" 
    • "Oliver James". London: The Guardian. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 2008-01-06. "Face the facts: For many people climate change is too depressing to think about, and some prefer to simply pretend it doesn't exist" 

    External links

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