What happens after a disaster?

By John Drury and Selin Tekinguven. One of the things that sometimes happens after a disaster is that the people affected by it campaign. They campaign about the disaster itself, about the social conditions that led to the disaster, and

Posted in Uncategorized

Why do bystanders justify the use of violence by protesters?

By Patricio Saavedra Morales. Recently, the UN Human Rights Office published an extensive report about human rights violations and abuses during protests occurring in Venezuela from 1st of April to 31st July 2017.  In the document, UN officers accused the

Posted in Uncategorized

علم النفس الاجتماعي في الحج

علم النفس الاجتماعي في الحج بمكة المكرمة في هذا الأسبوع من كل عام يقام الحج الذي يعدّ من أكبر فعاليات الحشود في العالم (الإحصائيات الرسمة للعام الماضي ذكرت تواجد ١,٨٦٢,٩٠٩ حاج). يوصف الحج بأنه أكبر تجمّع عالمي كون المسلمين يأتون

Posted in Uncategorized

The social psychology of the Hajj

By John Drury, with help from Sanjeedah Choudhury. This week, the annual Hajj takes place in Mecca (Makkah) and the other holy places nearby. This Muslim pilgrimage is one of the world’s largest crowd events – the official figure for

Posted in Uncategorized

How do street actions strengthen social movements?

By John Drury. There is evidence that recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, which saw a mass mobilization of white supremacists, Ku Klux Klan, and Nazis have served to embolden and strengthen these groups, who are now ‘bursting with confidence’. The

Posted in Uncategorized

Emergent social identities in a flood: Implications for community psychosocial resilience

By Evangelos Ntontis. Recently, the small village of Coverack in Cornwall was hit by a flash flood which resulted in damaged properties and possessions, closed roads, disruption, and required the rescue of several people. This was not a one-off event.

Posted in Uncategorized

Escape to Limbo, and how refugees help each other

By Khalifah Alfadhli. Every year on June 20th (World Refugee Day), UNHCR updates their report on “global trends of forced displacement”. This shows how, in one year (2014/2015), five million people lost their homes  and joined the diaspora nation that reached

Posted in Uncategorized

The life-changing experience of participation in collective action

By Sara Vestergren. Since Donald Trump became the president-elect last week, people in the USA have taken to the streets, demonstrating for days to show their discontent, possibly even attempting to change society. The aim for most protests and collective

Posted in Uncategorized

What is the role of shared identities in the aftermath of floods?

By Evangelos Ntontis. As a PhD student at the School of Psychology of Sussex University, I recently had the honour of winning the 2016 PhD poster conference. Of course winning is accompanied with writing a blog for the School’s website,

Posted in Uncategorized

Southern Rail and the psychology of crowd safety

By John Drury. I was asked today to appear on BBC Radio to comment on a report from the Association of British Commuters which described the recent experiences of passengers on Southern Rail trains and platforms. These testimonies painted a

Posted in Uncategorized