Staff Members
Dr Ian Spencer, PhD M.Phil BSc(Hons) RGN RMN Cert. Ed.
(email at i.h.spencer@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
Dr Ian Spencer was born in London in 1961. After leaving school he trained as a psychiatric and general nurse in Surrey. As a mature student, he went on to read Sociology and Political Economy at City University, before completing a Certificate in Education at Thames Polytechnic. Later, as a Glasgow University post-graduate, his Masters dissertation was a comparison of the concept of human nature in the works of Marx and Freud. This helped to inform his doctoral thesis, which was a study of the political abuse of psychiatry in the former USSR. Ian then worked as a research assistant at the Glasgow University Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine where he studied the history of obstetric ultrasound in Scotland from 1954-76.
Ian has lectured in medical sociology at Queen’s University, Belfast and Staffordshire University. He was appointed Senior Tutor of Grey College, Durham University, in October 2008. Ian’s current research interests include mentally disordered offenders and he is currently working on two projects; an evaluation of a new psychiatric in-patient facility in Middlesbrough and a pilot study into the effectiveness of psychological interventions in a Sunderland probation service hostel.
In his spare time, Ian is a nursing officer in the Territorial Army, a cyclist and long-distance runner.
From Oct 2009 Senior Tutor Grey College
2001-2009 Senior Lecturer, Medical Sociology, Staffordshire University.
1997-2001 Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy, Queen's University, Belfast.
1994-2001 Research Assistant - The History of Obstetric Ultrasound in Scotland 1954-1976, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, Glasgow University.
1990-1996 Post-graduate studies - The Political Abuse of Psychiatry in the USSR, Glasgow University.
1988-1989 Certificate in Education (FE) Thames Polytechnic, London.
1984-1988 BSc (Hons) Sociology and Political Economy, City University, London.
Selected Publications
- Spencer, I., Fleming, J. & Nicolson, M. (2002). 'Scenes from the History of Ultrasound: British Medical Ultrasound Society'.
- Spencer, I., Fleming, J. & Nicolson, M. (1996). A Scan Through the History of Ultrasound, shown at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the British Medical Ultrasound Society, December, 1996 and 1997.
Articles: review
- Spencer, I. (1997). The Politics of Nursing Knowledge (1996). Social Science and Medicine 45(5): 801-2.
- Spencer, I. (1993). Soviet and Western Psychiatry: A Comparative Study. Europe-Asia Studies 45(3): 550-551.
Books: sections
- Fleming, J., Spencer, I. & Nicolson, M. (1999). Medical Ultrasound – Germination and Growth. In Clinical Diagnostic Ultrasound. Baxter, G., Allan, P. L. P. & Morley, P. Blackwell Scientific. pp.1-17.
- Fleming, J., Spencer, I. & Nicolson, M. (1997). Forty Years of Ultrasound. In Advances in Perinatal Medicine. Cockburn, F. Carnforth: Parthenon Publishing. 92-99.
Conference papers
- Spencer, I. (2007), What Can Sociology Tell Us About Service Mental Health? A Discussion Paper, Defence Mental Health Conference. Gosport, England..
- Spencer, I. (2000), From the Saliva of Dogs to Poetry: Soviet Psychological Debates of the 1920s and 30s, Irish Association for Russian and East European Studies. Belfast, Northern Ireland..
- Spencer, I. (2000), Moral Control in Psychiatry: the missing link in Andrew Scull’s historiography, BSA Medical Sociology Group conference. The University of York, England..
- Spencer, I. (1999), R.D. Laing: A Reactionary Against the Status Quo, Society for the Social History of Medicine Annual Conference. Glasgow, Scotland..
- Spencer, I. (1998), Measure for Measure: Quantifying the Foetus, British Sociological Association Annual Conference. Edinburgh, Scotland..
- Spencer, I (1998), Ultrasound and the Rights of Mother and Foetus, Social History Society Conference. Nottingham, England.
- Spencer, I. (1997), Medical Ultrasound: A Question of Safety, British Sociological Association, Medical Sociology Group Annual Conference. York, England..
- Spencer, I. (1997), The Aesthetics of Medical Technology: Ultrasound - Clyde Built, Wellcome Trust Regional Forum. Glasgow, Scotland..
- Spencer, I. (1997), The Rights of Soviet and British Psychiatric Patients: A Comparison, The Right to Health in Modern Society Conference, The Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine. Oxford, England..
- Spencer, I. (1997), The Search for Certainty: The History of an Electronic Contraceptive, The Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine Seminar. Glasgow, Scotland..
- (1996), Medical Ultrasound and Inter-Professional Rivalries, Society for the History of Technology Conference. London, England..
- Spencer, I. (1996), Medical Ultrasound and the Abortion Debate in Scotland, British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Group (Scottish Branch) Conference. Kinlochrannoch, Scotland..
- Spencer, I. (1994), Soviet Psychiatry Revisited, Irish Association for Russian and East European Studies Conference. Belfast, Northern Ireland..
Journal papers: academic
- Wood, V.J., Spencer, I.H., Curtis, S.E., Gesler, W., Close, H.J., Mason, J.M. & Reilly, J.G. (2012). Creating 'therapeutic landscapes' for mental health carers in inpatient settings, a dynamic perspective on permeability and inclusivity. Social Science and Medicine
- Nicolson, M., Fleming, J. & Spencer, I. (2005). Hyaline Membrane and Neo-natal Radiology – Ian Donald’s first venture into imaging research. Scottish Medical Journal 50(1): 35-7.
- Spencer, I. (2004). From the Saliva of Dogs to Poetry: debates on Soviet psychology. Critique 35: 97-113
- Spencer, I. (2000). ‘Lessons from History: The Politics of Psychiatry in the USSR’. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 7(4): 355-361.
- Spencer, I. (2000). ‘Psychiatric Nursing in a Disintegrating System’. Mental Health Nursing 20(1): 11-14.
- Spencer, I. (1995). ‘Lev Vygotsky: A Neo-Stalinist Myth’. Critique 27: 203-208.