Dr Benjamin Partridge PhD
Senior Lecturer
Summary
I am a senior lecturer in Psychology in the Institute of Social Sciences. My research focuses on professional experience of death and dying and I also contribute to and lead on aspects of forensic research in the Centre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology (CeBSAP).
About
I completed my undergraduate degree in Psychology in 2009 and MRes Psychology in 2011, both at Sheffield Hallam University, before training as a teaching, gaining a PGCE in 2013. After a break in study, working as a Special Educational Needs teacher, I returned to the university to study for a PhD in Psychology in 2018.
Since 2021 I have worked as a lecturer in Psychology. My main interests are around death, dying and bereavement and the psychology of trauma using experiential qualitative research methods to explore these topics. My specific interests focus on how professionals experience death and bereavement in both educational and wider social contexts.
Teaching
I primarily teach into the BSc (Hons) Psychology along with the MSc Psychology, MSc Developmental Psychology and MSc Forensic Psychology, however some of my teaching is interdisciplinary, delivering taught psychology content in Education, Criminology and Business and Marketing courses.
I currently lead modules in Social Psychology and the Psychology of Trauma.
I am currently the Psychology link tutor for the BA (Hons) in Education with Psychology and Counselling, leading on the psychology element of this course alongside the course leader.
Research
I have 3 strands of interests when it comes to research.
Death, Dying and Bereavement
My PhD research focused on exploring the lived bereavement experiences of SEN teaching and support staff following the death of a child with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties. Since completing my PhD I have continued to conduct research in this area, focusing on other educational contexts, such as the experience of academic HE staff following sudden student deaths but also exploring other death, dying and bereavement experiences.
Forensic Psychology
I also work alongside colleagues in the Centre for Behavioural Science and Applied Psychology to conduct research with a forensic psychology focus. This includes but is not limited to service and intervention evaluation working with youth worker interventions, specialist sexual violence interventions and local violence reduction units. Much of the work I have conducted in this area is focused on domestic and sexual abuse and improving services for victim-survivors, preventing exploitation of young people and taking trauma informed approaches to working with victim-survivors. This work has been conducted in collaboration with Sheffield Violence Reduction Unit, Youth Endowment Fund, Ministry of Justice and other large organisations.
Employing and developing qualitative research skills
As well as the two distinct strand above, I also lend my qualitative research skills to a range of other projects and work with colleagues from a diverse range of fields. This includes work in Social Psychology, Cyber Psychology and more.
In addition to this research focus I am currently the lead for the Qualitative Research in Social Science (QRISS) research support and interest group in the Institute of Social Sciences.
Publications
Journal articles
Dean Marshall, N., O'Shea, A., Akhtar, R., Abbs, T., Fogarty, E., Sajiv Kumar, P., & Partridge, B.J. (2024). “I expect it as part of the kind of package deal when you sign up to these things”—Motivations and experiences of ghosting. Psychology of Popular Media. http://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000504
Dean Marshall, N., Partridge, B.J., Mason, J., Purba, C., Sian, A., Tanner, J., & Martin, R. (2023). “It’s Gone from More of Convenience to Necessity at This Point” Exploring Online Dating Use in the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Analysis. Social Sciences, 12 (10). http://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12100567
Armstrong-Barker, E., Partridge, B., & Staniforth, L. (n.d.). Working in a man’s world – An IPA study of women’s lived experience in the UK construction industry. Psychology of Women and Equalities Section Review.
Reports
Partridge, B., Matkin, D., Whitfield, K., & Coleman, C. (2024). Early Interventions: Understanding and Preventing Violence in First-Time Youth Offenders.
Stevens, A., Partridge, B., Coleman, C., Stiell, B., Demack, S., & Wilcox, A. (2023). The Reach Programme: Feasibility study report. Youth Endowment Fund. https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Reach.-YEF-Feasibility-Study-Report.-March-2023.-1.pdf
Theses / Dissertations
Partridge, B.J. (2024). Exploring Staff Bereavement Experiences Following an SEN ChildDeath: An IPA Study. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Abbott, R., & Furness, P. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00627
Postgraduate supervision
I currently supervise multiple PhD students based on Psychology. The PhD students I supervise usually primarily take qualitative approaches to their studies and currently focus on topics such as death, dying and bereavement, trauma psychology, autism and neurodivergence, social and organisational psychology and the psychology of women and equalities.
I also supervise postgraduate students on the MSc Psychology and MSc Developmental Psychology.