Dr Amy Chandler
Senior Lecturer/Chancellor's Fellow

Contact details
- Email: a.chandler@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Doorway 6
Old Medical School
Teviot Place - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9AG
Availability
Monday-Thursday (I work compressed hours over four days)
Background
Appointed as Chancellor's Fellow in Health, through Arts, Design and Humanities in October 2016.
Previously I was Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Lincoln (2015-16), and Research Fellow in the Centre for Population Health Sciences (now the Usher Institute)/Centre for Research on Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh (2010-15).
Qualifications
PhD Sociology, University of Edinburgh, 2010
MSc Research, University of Edinburgh, 2006
MA (Hons) Sociology, University of Edinburgh, 2003
Undergraduate teaching
I contribute to the MA Health Science and Society.
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
I welcome enquiries from students interested in pursuing PhD study that uses qualitative/arts-based methodologies on the following topic areas: sociology of mental health, sociological or anthropological studies of suicide.
Students whose work aligns with the Suicide Cultures research project are especially welcome.
Current PhD students supervised
Hannah Kimler, Health in Social Science, Quality of life for people with Fecal Incontinence
Emily Yue, Health in Social Science, Wellcome Trust Suicide Cultures PhD Student, migrant suicide - https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/emilyyue/
Estibaliz Saenz, Korean Studies, PPLS, Suicide and 'success' among South Korean youth
Valeria Lembo, Health in Social Science, ECRED, Creative leisure activities among people living with dementia
Georgi Gill, Health in Social Science/Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry, Poetry and Multiple Sclerosis Study - https://www.poetryandmsstudy.org/
Catalina Martin, Health in Social Science/Centre for Homeless and Inclusion Health, Meanings of 'home' among LGBTQ Young People
Past PhD students supervised
Liliana Arias Urueña, Usher Institute, Cultural perspectives towards Cleft Lip and Palate in children and impact on mental health (completed 2021)
Annie Taylor, Edinburgh Napier University, Alcohol use in pregnancy (completed 2021)
Research summary
I am a sociologist, specialising in the sociology of health and illness, with a particular focus on suicide, self-harm, mental health and substance use. Much of my current and ongoing work addresses suicide and self-harm.
Current research interests
My research spans two substantive areas: I work primarily on sociological research addressing suicide and self-harm (Suicide Cultures and Suicide in/as Politics are current grants). Alongside this, I maintain interest and activity in drug-use, especially in the context of pregnancy and parenting (currently via the Relations study, led by University of Stirling). I specialise in qualitative approaches, including drawing on arts-based/arts-informed methodologies. Across all of my research I am interested in exploring the meanings of often marginalised practices, among diverse groups. For instance, my research on self-harm has involved working with adults, young people and General Practitioners to examine how social location and context shapes the way that self-harm is accounted for.Past research interests
Previous research has included: Life-story research with men in mid-life, exploring relationships between alcohol use, self-harm and suicide (funded by Alcohol Research UK). Exploring the risks and realities of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Parent and professional accounts (funded by Edinburgh & Lothians Health Foundation), in collaboration with colleagues at Edinburgh Napier University, and NHS Lothian. Qualitative research with young people addressing understandings of self-harm, drug and alcohol use (funded by the Sir Halley Stewart Trust) Research with General Practitioners, exploring understandings of self-harm and suicide (funded by Chief Scientists' Office, in collaboration with Chris Burton (University of Sheffield), Steve Platt (Edinburgh), and Caroline King (Glasgow Caledonian University).Knowledge exchange
I have collaborated with Samaritans on a number of projects, including:
https://www.samaritans.org/dying-from-inequality/report
http://www.samaritans.org/about-us/our-research/research-report-men-suicide-and-society
Affiliated research centres
Project activity
Suicide Cultures (Wellcome Trust): Multi-site, multi-method qualitatively driven study into meanings and practices of suicide across Scotland. https://www.ed.ac.uk/suicide-cultures
Suicide in/as Politics (Leverhulme Trust): Qualitative, interdisciplinary project analysing the construction and contestation of suicide in UK politics and policy, and among ‘private’ citizens.
The Relations Study (ESRC): Relational ethnography of the governance of parental drug use in Scotland and England.
Current project grants
Suicide Cultures (2020-2025) - Funded by a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award
Suicide in/as Politics (2020-2023) - Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant, with co-investigator Dr Ana Jordan, University of Lincoln.
The RELATIONS study (2020-2023) - Funded by an ESRC Large Grant, led by Prof Anne Whittaker, University of Stirling.
Past project grants
2018-2020: Wellcome Trust/University of Edinburgh ISSF Grant 'Suicide Cultures'
2018-2019: British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant 'Creative approaches to self-harm in young people: a collaborative, arts-based inquiry into meaning'
2018-2019: Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland 'Creative approaches to self-harm in young people: a collaborative, arts-based inquiry into meaning' https://www.carnegie-trust.org/alumni/dr-amy-chandler/
2015: Alcohol Research UK. ‘Alcohol Stories: Using the life grid to explore how men in mid-life talk about the relationship between alcohol, mental health, self-harm and suicide’. Principal Investigator.
2014: Edinburgh & Lothian Health Foundation. ‘Risks and realities of neonatal abstinence syndrome’. Co-investigator.
2014: Innovation Initiative Grant, University of Edinburgh. ‘Animating Harm: A Public Engagement Grant – self-harm, drug and alcohol use among young people’. Principal Investigator.
2013: Sir Halley Stewart Trust Fund Grant Award. ‘Exploring understandings about self-harm, drug and alcohol use among young people in diverse socioeconomic contexts’ Principal Investigator.
2013: Chief Scientist’s Office of the Scottish Government. ‘General Practitioner understandings and management of self-harm: a qualitative study’. Co-Investigator.
2013: Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh. ‘Self-harm: Ethical Considerations of an Embodied Practice. Principal Investigator.
-
The politics of LGBT+ suicide and suicide prevention in the UK: Risk, responsibility and rhetoric
In:
Culture, Health & Sexuality, pp. 1-18
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2023.2172614
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Suicide prevention as biopolitical surveillance: A critical analysis of UK suicide prevention policies
(22 pages)
In:
Critical Social Policy, pp. 1-22
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183221142544
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Reimagining suicide research: The limits and possibilities of suicide cultures
In:
Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective (SERRC), vol. 11, pp. 20-28
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Comment/debate (Published) -
Self-inflicted. Deliberate. Death-intentioned: A critical policy analysis of UK Suicide Prevention Policies 2009-2019
In:
Journal of Public Mental Health
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-09-2021-0113
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Critical suicide studies, between methodology and ethics: Introduction
(7 pages)
In:
Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, vol. 26, pp. 3-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13634593211061638
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Editorial (Published) -
The violence of the cut: Gendering self‐harm
In:
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094650
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Masculinities and suicide: Unsettling 'talk' as a response to suicide in men
(11 pages)
In:
Critical Public Health
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2021.1908959
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (E-pub ahead of print) -
Thinking through feeling: Embodied emotions in the study of self-harm and suicide
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Paper (Published) -
The social life of self-harm in general practice
In:
Social Theory & Health, vol. 18, pp. 240-256
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-020-00139-9
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Self-harm as an attempt at self-care
(11 pages)
In:
European Journal for Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy, vol. 10, pp. 110-120
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)