Steve Reicher

Stephen D Reicher (Steve Reicher) is Professor of Social Psychology and Head of the School of Psychology at the University of St Andrews.

His research is in the area of social psychology, focusing on group processes such as crowd behaviour, tyranny and leaderhsip. Reicher completed his undergraduate degree and PhD at the University of Bristol. He held positions at the University of Dundee and University of Exeter before moving to St Andrews in 1998. He is a former Associate Editor of the "Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology" and Chief Editor (with Margaret Wetherell) of the "British Journal of Social Psychology". Reicher is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and consultant editor for a number of journals including Scientific American Mind.

Reicher collaborated with Professor Alex Haslam of the University of Exeter on the BBC television programme The Experiment, which examined conflict, order, rebellion and tyranny in the behaviour of a group of individuals held in a simulated prison environment. The experiment (which became known as the BBC Prison Study) re-examined issues raised by the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) and led to a number of publications in leading psychology journals. Amongst other things, these challenged the role account of tyranny associated with the SPE as well as broader ideas surrounding the 'banality of evil', and advanced a social identity-based understanding of the dynamics of resistance.

Most influential publications

Books

Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). "Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory." Oxford: Blackwell.

Reicher, S. D. & Hopkins, N. (2001). "Self and nation: Categorization, contestation and mobilisation." London: Sage.

Journal articles

Reicher, S. D. (1984). The St. Pauls riot: An explanation of the limits of crowd action in terms of a social identity model. "European Journal of Social Psychology", "14", 1–21.

Reicher S. D., & Hopkins, N. (1996). Seeking influence through characterizing self-categories: An analysis of anti-abortionist rhetoric. "British Journal of Social Psychology", "35", 297-311.

Reicher S. D., & Hopkins, N. (1996). Self-category constructions in political rhetoric; An analysis of Thatcher's and Kinnock's speeches concerning the British miners' strike (1984-5) "European Journal of Social Psychology", "26" 353-371.

Reicher, S. D., & Haslam, S. A. (2006). Rethinking the psychology of tyranny: The BBC Prison Experiment. "British Journal of Social Psychology, 45", 1–40.

Reicher, S. D., Haslam, S. A., & Hopkins, N. (2005). Social identity and the dynamics of leadership: Leaders and followers as collaborative agents in the transformation of social reality. "Leadership Quarterly. 16", 547–568.

Links

The official website of the BBC Prison Study: http://www.bbcprisonstudy.org