Defence and Security Annual Conference

In 2010 there were daily news reports about the conflict in Afghanistan.  These included regular reports about British military personnel being killed, and many others returning to the UK with life-changing physical and psychological injuries.   Discussion about these news events motivated a small number of us to organise a military psychology conference to discuss research and good practice for those working with the military.  These conferences became annual events and led to the setting up of a new Defence and Security Psychology Section, in 2018.

Psychology plays many important roles in defence and security, and we believe that the BPS should have a greater hand in supporting the way in which professional psychologists contribute to this area of practice.  As all of our communities can be affected by the many ongoing security challenges, including economic, environmental, social-justice, terrorism, cyber-crime, as well as conflicts overseas.

To some, psychologists working in defence and security may seem mysterious, fraught with political and ethical issues, and rather off-putting.  Yet, I am reminded about a conversation I had with a former BPS President, who was from the clinical psychology discipline.  He was struck by how many healthcare and clinical psychological practices seen in society today grew from the varied research and clinical work within the defence and security sector. Other areas that have benefited include psychological assessment and selection of personnel, psychological strategies for optimum organisational leadership, adult education and training methods, and effective healthcare for personnel in traumatic environments. 

Wherever there is a human keeping people safe, there are psychologists working to support them.  The field is broad, from government work on the security of our transport networks, to academic and clinical investigation of mental health in our Armed and Security forces and everything in between.

The Defence and Security Psychology Section aims to further the understanding of the psychological issues in defence and security; to promote appropriate research; to provide a forum for discussing scientific, practical and ethical issues; and bring together researchers and practitioners. 

This year, we are excited to be holding our Annual Conference in Birmingham on Tuesday 22 November and we hope to see many of you there.   The conference theme is: 'Delivering Resilience' and we are accepting abstracts for oral presentations on two broad sub-topics: 1) the importance of partnerships for resilience and 2) Building, maintaining, and restoring resilience at the individual, organizational or societal level.  Information on submitting abstracts (deadline is 8 September 2022) and registration can be found on the website. 

In addition, we are delighted to invite Masters and Doctoral (PhD or DProf) psychology students to apply to present their research at the Early Career Specialist (ECS) workshop, which will be held the day before the conference. The ECS is part of the BPS 'Early Career Specialist Programme' aimed at developing talent.  Successful applicants will receive financial support to attend and the opportunity to develop networks with fellow ECS, academics, researchers, and industrial professionals working in Defence and Security, as well as receive feedback on their research.   Full details about the application process, (deadline is 4 October 2022), can be found on the Conference website.