Defence and Security Psychology Section
Defence and Security is considered to be a domain of overlapping concerns arising from military, political, economic, criminal and legal activities affecting the well-being of the nation.
About
Wherever there is a human keeping Britain safe, there are psychologists working to support them, and the purpose of the Defence and Security Section is to provide a platform for psychologists working in these areas to share their experience, knowledge and best practice.
The field is broad, from government work on the security of our transport networks, to academic and clinical investigation of mental health in our Armed and Security forces and everything in between.
Primarily, the section seeks to:
- Bring together practitioners and researchers from the Defence and Security areas in order to share knowledge and expertise.
- Develop and promote a community of Defence and Security Psychologists by increasing the membership of the section.
- Identify areas of interest to the community in order to direct our focus.
News
Events
Guidelines
Resources
This is an initial set of resources that may be of interest to section members It is not comprehensive but hopefully there will be something of interest to everyone.
If you have additional resources you would like to see added, please contact the committee.
Useful links
- Ministry of Defence Science and Technology Strategy 2017
- National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015
- Defence People Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy
- Joint Service Publication 536: Ministry of Defence Policy for Research Involving Human Participants
- Joint Service Publication 912: Human Factors Integration in Defence Systems
- Joint Service Publication 822: Defence Direction and Guidance for Training and Education
- Human and Social Science Research Capability (HSSRC)
Other organisations
Articles of interest
Psychology can be applied to a broad range of defence and security questions and so there is a vast amount of published research. Below is a small selection of recent artciles that may be of interest to section members:
- Barrett, E. (2019). Performance and coping under stress in security settings: Workshop report. CREST
- Butcher, R. (2018). Role of research psychology in defence and security. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 165, 113-115. doi: 10.1136/jramc-2018-001045
- Cornes, K. R., Boardman, M., Ford, C. & Smith, S. (2019). Adopting a multidisciplinary approach to maximising performance during military visual search tasks. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 165, 120-123. doi: 10.1136/jramc-2018-001051
- Fenster, R. J., Lebois, L. A. M., Ressler, K. J. & Suh, J. (2018). Brain circuit dysfunction in post-traumatic stress disorder: from mouse to man. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 19, 535 – 551
- Hacker Hughes, J., McCauley, M. & Wilson, L. (2019). History of Military Psychology. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 165, 68-71
- Kane, E., Evans, E., Mitsche, J., Jilani, T., Quinlan, P., Cattell, J., Khalifa, N. (2018). Police interactions and interventions with suspects flagged as experiencing mental health problems. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 28. doi: 10.1002/cbm.2078
- Knight, S., Woodward, K., & Lancaster, G. L. J. (2017). Violent versus nonviolent actors: An empirical study of different types of extremism. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management, 4(4), 230-248. doi: 10.1037/tam0000086
- Lehavot, K., Katon, J. D., Chen, J. A., Fortney, J. C. & Simpson, T. L. (2018). Post-traumatic stress disorder by gender and veteran status. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 54. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2017.09.008
- Norris, R. & McCauley (2019). Defence Clinical Psychology Service: an overview of clinical psychology in the UK Ministry of Defence. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 165(2), 71-73
- Norris, R., Renwick, S., Siddle, R. & Westlake, P. (2019). Leadership in 21st Century Military Healthcare: what did clinical psychologists ever do for us? Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 165(2), 74-79
- Pearce, J. M., Parker, D., Lindekilde, L., Bouhana, N. & Rogers, M. (2019). Encouraging public reporting of suspicious behaviour on rail networks. Policing and Society. doi: 10.1080/10439463.2019.1607340
- Sturgeon-Clegg, J. & McCauley, M. (2019). Military Psychologists and Cultural Competence: exploring implications for the manifestation and treatment of psychological trauma in the British armed forces. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 165(2), 80-86
- Verrall, N. (2019) Psychology, risk, health and deployed military operations. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 165, 116-119. doi: 10.1136/jramc-2018-001043
Committee
Chair: Simon Bowyer ([email protected]) (Dec 2023 – 2025)
Appointed Members
- Antoinette Caird-Daley (Oct 2022 – 2025)
- Camilla Braine (Oct 2022 – 2025)
- Catherine Hitch (Oct 2022 – 2025)
- David Hancock (Nov 2024 - 2027)
- Elizabeth Edgar (Nov 2024 - 2027)
- Fiona Butcher (Oct 2022 – 2025)
- Gabriella Sherry (Nov 2023 - 2026)
- Iain Reid (Dec 2022 – 2025)
- Lorraine Falvey (July 2024 – 2026)
- Pam Richards (July 2024 - 2027)
Join
- Apply to join the section (students, affiliates, e-subscribers)
- Apply to join the section (graduate, chartered, and in-training members)
Membership of the Defence and Security Psychology Section is only open to members of the British Psychological Society.
If you are not already a BPS member, you can join the Section at the same time as applying for membership of the society.
Benefits of belonging
Benefits of Defence and Security Psychology Section Membership
- Full access to our website
- Opportunities to influence and take part in the development of the section
- Opportunity to voice your opinion, either at the Section's AGM and/or by becoming a member of the section's committee
- Regular updates via our membership announcement e-mail list
Member Announcement Email List
The Defence and Security Psychology Section uses its membership announcement email list to inform its members of activities and initiatives that are relevant to their interests and to make requests for engagement on topical issues.
By becoming a member of the Section you are automatically added to the announcement list.
To receive these emails you will need to:
- become a member of the Defence and Security Psychology Section
- opt into receiving email communication and provide a working email address
These preferences can be updated by logging into your member portal.
If you have any queries, please contact Member Network Services.
To assist us in responding to your query please make sure to include your membership number and quote 'Defence and Security Psychology Section announcement email' in the subject line.
Getting involved with the Defence and Security Psychology Committee
The Defence and Security Psychology Section relies on a wide range of people getting involved, and the work of the Section is largely achieved through the dedication of unpaid volunteers.
Our volunteers come from a wide range of different backgrounds, whether they be practitioners or academics, or full members or student members, and together form an open and inclusive community.