Oliver James (psychologist) explained

Oliver James
Birth Date:26 October 1953
Birth Place:Marylebone, London, England
Nationality:British
Discipline:Psychologist
Sub Discipline:Relational Psychoanalyst
Website:Author website

Oliver James (born 26 October 1953) is a British psychologist, author, journalist, television producer and broadcaster.

Career

James was educated at Eton College[1] [2] and Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating with a degree in Social Anthropology. He trained as a child clinical psychologist at the University of Nottingham, then worked for six years at the NHS Cassel Hospital in Richmond, London, in a clinical psychologist post. He was registered as a Relational Psychotherapist at the Bowlby Centre, and as a Chartered Psychologist at the British Psychological Society.

Speaking on Channel 4's 2013 "Psychopath Night", James described the credit crunch as a "mass outbreak of corporate psychopathy which resulted in something that very nearly crashed the whole world economy".[3]

As of February 20 2024, James is not registered with either the Bowlby Centre or the British Psychological Society.[4] [5]

Reception of work

During his career in psychology, James has attracted controversy with his views on the nature versus nurture debate.[6]

Stuart J. Ritchie, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, wrote a strongly critical review of James's book Not In Your Genes. He described the book as a "straw man made flesh", "a compendium of psychological myths and legends", and "bending over backwards to avoid awkward conclusions". Ritchie wrote, "Few books risk such damage to the public understanding of science as those by Oliver James", and accused James of "scientific illiteracy".

Ritchie described the book's thesis as "children are born with brains of soft clay, their mental makeup unaffected by genes and infinitely mouldable by their parents", and that "DNA has no effect on the mind or mental health, whereas parenting reigns supreme". Ritchie described a variety of evidence which contradicts this view.[7]

Ritchie also responded to a letter from James in The Psychologist magazine,[8] following which James and Prof Richard Bentall of the University of Liverpool engaged him in argument.[9] James responded to Ritchie's criticisms in an article in The Guardian in March 2016.[10]

Works

Television

James produced The Last Day episode of the Channel 4 documentary short TV series Short Stories, which was released on the 1 June 1990.[11] [12] It documented The Mail on Sunday on their final day working at Fleet Street.

James co-produced the Wot U Lookin At? (also known as Wot You Lookin At?) episode of Horizon with David Malone, which was released on the 24 May 1993.[13] [14] [15] It looks at the reasons for why men are seemingly violent, and why violence seems to be on the increase.

James produced the Prozac Diary special episode of The Late Show, which was broadcast on the 1 May 1995.[16] [17] [18] It was broadcast as part of the States of Mind season. It follows the creative artists Michael Bracewell, Alice Thomas Ellis, Alan Jenkins, and Bernard Sumner, over 4 weeks to see if or how the Prozac that they've been given to take, affects their creativity.

James produced and presented the 7 episode talk show The Chair for BBC Two.[19] It was first broadcast on the 21 May 1997, starting with Vanessa Feltz as the first guest.[20] [21] The other 6 guests included: Paul McKenna,[22] [23] Peter Mandelson,[24] [25] Patsy Palmer,[26] [27] Julian Clary,[28] [29] David Icke,[30] [31] and George Graham.[32]

Books

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Oliver James: It's all about you . 6 June 2022 . The Independent . 29 May 2010 . en.
  2. News: Oliver James learnt all about office backstabbing politics at Eton - . Evening Standard . 25 February 2013 . en.
  3. Psychopath Night, Channel 4 (2013).
  4. Web site: BPS > Psychologist search > Directory of Chartered Psychologists . 2024-02-20 . portal.bps.org.uk.
  5. Web site: Therapist Locator . 2024-02-20 . The John Bowlby Centre . en-GB.
  6. Web site: Oliver James is wrong to blame parents for their children's mental illness . Orr. Deborah. 12 March 2016. The Guardian. en. 17 March 2018.
  7. Web site: Stuart Ritchie . On genetics Oliver James is on a different planet to the rest of us . Spectator Health (Health.spectator.co.uk) . 8 March 2016 . 8 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190720081426/https://life.spectator.co.uk/articles/on-genetics-oliver-james-is-wrong-about-everything/. 20 July 2019.
  8. Web site: Not in your genes | The Psychologist . Thepsychologist.bps.org.uk . 28 December 2015 . 8 April 2017.
  9. Web site: Jump the gun and you will be shot down . Thepsychologist.bps.org.uk . 8 April 2017.
  10. Web site: Oliver James . Sorry, but you can't blame your children's genes . The Guardian . 30 March 2016 . 8 April 2017.
  11. Web site: The Last Day (1990) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220531185626/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7aaba6e2 . dead . 31 May 2022 . 31 May 2022 . BFI . en.
  12. Web site: The Last Day . 31 May 2022 . BFI Collections.
  13. Web site: Wot U Lookin At? (1993) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220531185632/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c8e5aad . dead . 31 May 2022 . 31 May 2022 . BFI . en.
  14. Web site: Wot U Looking At? . 31 May 2022 . BFI Collections.
  15. Web site: 24 May 1993 . Horizon - Wot U Lookin At? . 31 May 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  16. Web site: Prozac Diary Late Show Special (1995) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220531185635/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7e4a5a51 . dead . 31 May 2022 . 31 May 2022 . BFI . en.
  17. Web site: The Late Show - Prozac Diary . 31 May 2022 . BFI Collections.
  18. Web site: 1 May 1995 . States of Mind: Prozac Diary . 31 May 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  19. Web site: The Chair . 1 June 2022 . BFI Collections.
  20. Web site: Vanessa Feltz (1997) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223915/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8051a5f1 . dead . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  21. Web site: 21 May 1997 . The Chair - Vanessa Feltz . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  22. Web site: Paul McKenna (1997) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223906/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8058873f . dead . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  23. Web site: 28 May 1997 . The Chair - Paul McKenna . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  24. Web site: Peter Mandelson (1997) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223924/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b805a9b33 . dead . 1 June 2022 . 2022-06-01 . BFI . en.
  25. Web site: 4 June 1997 . The Chair - Peter Mandelson . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  26. Web site: Patsy Palmer (1997) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223912/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8061c348 . dead . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  27. Web site: 11 June 1997 . The Chair - Patsy Palmer . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  28. Web site: Julian Clary (1997) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223918/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b807db3e6 . dead . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  29. Web site: 23 July 1997 . The Chair - Julian Clary . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  30. Web site: David Icke (1997) . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601223921/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8081c583 . dead . 1 June 2022 . 1 June 2022 . BFI . en.
  31. Web site: 30 July 1997 . The Chair - David Icke . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.
  32. Web site: 31 July 1997 . The Chair - George Graham . 1 June 2022 . BBC Programme Index.

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