Peter Beresford

Peter Beresford OBE, FAcSS, FRSA (born 1 May 1945) is a British academic, writer, researcher and activist best known for his work in the field of citizen participation and user involvement, areas of study he helped to create and develop. He is currently professor of citizen participation at the University of Essex^[1] and emeritus professor of social policy at Brunel University London. Much of his work has centred on including the viewpoints, lived experience and knowledge of disabled people, mental health and other long term service users in public policy, practice and learning.^[2]

Biography

Childhood and Education

Peter Beresford was born in Frensham, Surrey. After his father died when he was four, he moved to Battersea where he attended school at Wix’s Lane Primary School, Battersea and then Emanuel School London. He was awarded an 'Open Exhibition' to University College, Oxford, where from 1964-67 he studied Modern History.^[3] In 1968 he wrote a dissertation on homeless single people as part of a diploma in social and administrative studies at Barnet House, Oxford University and subsequently did research on vagrancy in Britain. He was awarded a PhD on Citizen Involvement in Public Policy by Middlesex University in 1997.^[4]

Personal life

Peter Beresford married Suzy Croft in 1976. They have worked and written together since that time. She is senior social worker at St John’s Hospice, London. They have four daughters. He is also a member of the BSA (motorcycle) Owners Club.^[5]

Life and Work

Between 1975 and 1977 Beresford was lecturer in Social Administration at Lancaster University, but left because of his growing concerns about the non-participatory nature of public policy. He was appointed senior lecturer in Social Policy at the West London Institute for Higher Education (WLIHE) in 1990. WLIHE was absorbed into Brunel University London where he was promoted to Professor of Social Policy in 1997.^[6]

Together he and his partner, Suzy Croft, established a local community project, Battersea Community Action, in 1978 and a national initiative, the Open Services Project, in 1987. Each of these were participatory projects concerned with advancing the theory, policy and practice of participation through the production of publications, pamphlets and developmental research.^[7][8] In 1997, he founded and began directing the first UK Centre for Citizen Participation.^[9]

A major theme of Beresford’s work has been the participation of people as members of the public, workers, patients and service users in their lives, communities, society and in services affecting them. Much of his work has focused on advancing public participation, and the involvement and empowerment of long term users of health and social care. He has long term personal experience of using mental health services and also of the welfare benefits system. This resulted in his close involvement in the disabled people’s and psychiatric system survivors movements.^[10][11] He is also actively involved in Disability Studies and Mad Studies.^[12]

Beresford’s theoretical policy and practical concern has been how disabled people and other long term health and social care service users can be equally involved in society and have an effective voice in their lives.^[13] This focus has resulted in the exploration of new approaches to occupational practice, policy formation, research and evaluation and the political process.^[14] It has also extended to the development of new approaches to epistemology which highlight the role of service users' lived experience as a knowledge source.

Beresford was also co-founder and chair (and subsequently co-chair) of Shaping Our Lives,^[15] the independent, national disabled people’s and service users’ organisation and network that is committed to improving the quality of support available to service users and increasing their say and control over their lives. Shaping Our Lives has pioneered the development of user involvement in professional education and also of user controlled research.^[16] It has been the UK partner of PowerUs, an international partnership to take forward this work.^[17]

He has been a trustee of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the National Skills Academy for Social Care and Skills For Care as well as being a member of government advisory groups and committees. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year’s honours list, ‘for services to social care’.^[18] He was appointed Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in 2006.^[19] He is emeritus professor at Brunel University London, visiting professor at Edge Hill University and the University of East Anglia and Fellow of the School of Social Care Research. Since December 2015, he has been professor of citizen participation at the University of Essex. He is Executive Editor of the leading disability peer reviewed journal, Disability & Society.^[20]

Awards

Beresford is identified as an award winning leader in social work and social care:

• He was voted 2nd for social care in poll of the "Top 100 people in Health and Social Care" in 2005.^[21]
• He has been identified as one of the "Power 100 Britain’s Most Influential People with a Disability or Impairment" by the Shaw Trust in 2015 and 2016, identified as one of disabled academic^[22][23]
• He is identified as the 2nd most influential person in social care for adults and 9th overall in a Community Care survey of the "Top 20 Most Influential People in Social Care". Beresford’s work was described as ‘extremely useful and inspirational’.^[24]
• He was awareded the FusePR Award for Research of Social Impact for examining the barriers facing disabled people.^[25]
• He was awarded 1st place in the National Conference for University Professors Essay Prize in association with Times Higher Education Supplement in 2004.^[26]

Publications

Beresford has written 23 books, nearly 100 journal articles and 120 book chapters.^[27][28] Beresford is a frequent contributor to the Guardian newspaper writing on social policy, social care and broader social issues^[29][30][31]

His main publications include:

• Beresford, P. and Croft, S. (1978), A Say In The Future: Planning, participation and meeting social need, London, Battersea Community Action.
• Beresford, P. and Croft, S. (1986), Whose Welfare?: Private care or public services, Brighton, Lewis Cohen Urban Studies Centre.
• Beresford P. and Croft, S. (1993), Citizen Involvement: A practical guide for change, 1993, Basingstoke, Macmillan.
• Beresford, P and Turner, M. (1997), It's Our Welfare: Report of the Citizens' Commission on the Future of the Welfare State, London, National Institute for Social Work.
• Beresford, P. Green, D. Lister, R. Woodard, K. (1999), Poverty First Hand, London, Child Poverty Action Group.
• Sweeney, A. Beresford, P. Faulkner, A. Nettle, M. Rose, D. (editors), (2009), This Is Survivor Research, Ross-on-Wye, PCSS Books.
• Beresford, P. (2010), A Straight Talking Guide To Being A Mental Health Service User, Ross-on-Wye, PCCS Books.
• Beresford, P. Fleming, J. Glynn, M. Bewley, C. Croft, S. Branfield, F. and Postle, K. (2011), Supporting people: Towards a person-centred approach, Bristol, Policy Press.
• Beresford, P. and Croft, S. (2012), User Controlled Research: Scoping Review, London, NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Social Car Research, London School of Economics.
• Beresford, P. and Carr, S. (editors), (2012) Service Users, Social Care And User Involvement, Research Highlights Series, London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• Beresford, P. (2016), All Our Welfare: Towards Participatory Social Policy, Bristol, Policy Press.

External links

• http://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/peter-beresford
• http://powerus.se
• http://www.shapingourlives.org.uk
• https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Beresford
• http://www.theguardian.com/profile/peterberesford

References