Rowan Sandle

The present deconstruction of Gilles de la Tourette’s Syndrome introduces this complex disorder using an existential paradigm. An analysis of the history of constructed reason and power highlights the assumptions of ‘disorder’ that infiltrate society and serves to critique predisposed thought with reference to Tourette’s. The review considers the representationalist theory of language and concepts within psychiatric discourse. A brief analysis of previous case studies shows Tourettic energy as part of the individual ‘self’ and introduces a comparison of Tourettic movement to more mutual human experience, such as music and poetry. Past research that explores preventative social interaction is introduced, which show positive advancements in treatment by challenging the conventions of internal etiology and which highlights the importance of reducing attached stigma.

Decolonising psychology curricula faces substantial anti-racist inertia and a history of ‘using data limitations as an excuse not to push ahead’ (NUS & Universities UK, 2019; p.35). We report on a targeted curriculum decolonisation project at a British university. We quantitatively coded the identifiable ‘race’, gender and nationality of the authors set as reading at the beginning (in 2015–16) and three-years after the project began (in 2019–20). Our analysis revealed no significant change in the dominance of Globally Northern (95 per cent), white (95 per cent) and male (57 per cent) authors over time. Indeed, there were more White, male authors named John than BAME-female and male authors, of any name, collectively. We call on organisational bodies to promote decolonisation as part of course re-accreditation converging with staff’s interest.

By focusing on discourses within the ‘cultural economy’ of reality TV, the following considers the wider positioning of waged labor as essential for mental health during a period of austerity. The findings suggest that discourses of mental health and wellbeing construct figures of a ‘good’ welfare-recipient as one who achieves wellbeing through distancing themselves from the welfare state and progress toward waged work. Framed within the landscape of ‘psycho-politics’, wellbeing and unemployment are arguably entangled to legitimize current welfare policy, placing responsibility on individuals for economic and health security and dissolving concerns over austerity’s systemic impact.

This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of high circulation news media sources in the United Kingdom, during the period of Brexit (2016 – 2020). A recent study has found that the type of newspaper read corresponded with a person’s vote in the 2016, Brexit election (Pruitt, 2019). Considering the close link between the media, public opinion and legislation, it is necessary to analyse media discourses to understand the underlying power relations of today’s society and how they influence the average person’s values (Fox et al., 2012; Gabrielatos & Baker, 2008). The dominant discourse found, describes the type of immigrant desired in Britain. The post-Brexit ‘good’ immigrant is described as a hard-working, educated individual willing to adopt British culture and identity, while discussions centre around the need to place a cap on student and work visas to manage immigration. In contrast, low wage workers are seen as ‘bad’ immigrants who are often associated with crime and living off of the welfare system. This article argues that the content of the British Press reflects the current socio-political, neoliberal context where neoliberal values outweigh humanitarian values. This research points out significant contradictions in media discourse regarding immigration. Such contradictions confuse the public whilst also reflecting Britain’s Western supremacist desire of a pick and choose immigration system which only benefits the British economy.

Psychology has witnessed an upsurge in discussions around institutional racism as a response to global anti-racist activism following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 by a police officer in Minneapolis, USA. Within academic institutions, students have been challenging institutional racism for years, highlighting how the whiteness of curricula serves to uphold systems of racial injustice. Such calls are often met with denial and sometimes active backlash. Nevertheless, further reflection is crucial if universities and accrediting bodies endorsing educational and professional courses seek meaningful systemic change. Informed by Critical Race Theory, this study uses original empirical data to uncover how students of colour experience psychology curricula by conducting six face-to-face focus groups with 22 undergraduate and postgraduate students of colour on psychology courses at a UK university. Results from reflexive thematic analysis reveal, first, how the psychology curricula are marked by knowledges that (re)produce racism; second, how students are calling for change; and finally, confusion over where responsibility for change lies. We argue that this analysis has important implications for the perpetuation of institutional racism within psychology, academia in general, and subsequent professional psychological practice.

Karen Barad’s agential realism argues for an ‘onto-epistemological’ position where phenomena occur only during intra-actions with discursive and material apparatus. Applying agential realism to psychological phenomena has potential to overcome an often-met material/discursive divide within the discipline, unlocking important ethical and conceptual possibilities. Despite this, a Baradian approach has been dismissed as unworkable for psychologists due to its lack of explanation for experiential consistency. We re-butt this position while nonetheless noting that to fully realise Barad’s contributions, psychologists must open themselves to new ways of approaching their subjects. Three key tenets of a Baradian approach applied to psychological phenomena are outlined: 1. self-structure singularity 2. spatio-temporality and 3. playfulness and experimentation. Examples of Baradian-inspired qualitative research illustrate these tenets in action, highlighting how Baradian theory can transcend current conceptual and ethical limitations as psychological phenomena is viewed as continuously reconfigured through human-human and human-non-human intra-actions we all have responsibility for.