Oliver James (psychologist)

After studying Social Anthropology at Magdalene College, Cambridge, James trained as a child clinical psychologist at the University of Nottingham and worked for six years at the NHS Cassel Hospital in Richmond, London, in a clinical psychologist post.

Speaking on Channel 4's 2013 "Psychopath Night", James described the credit crunch as a "mass outbreak of corporate psychopathy which resulted in something that very nearly crashed the whole world economy".[1]

During his career in psychology, James has attracted controversy with his views on the nature versus nurture debate.[2]

Stuart Ritchie, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, wrote a strongly critical review of James's book Not In Your Genes. He described the book as a "straw man made flesh", "a compendium of psychological myths and legends", and "bending over backwards to avoid awkward conclusions". Ritchie wrote, "Few books risk such damage to the public understanding of science as those by Oliver James", and accused James of "scientific illiteracy".

Ritchie described the book's thesis as "children are born with brains of soft clay, their mental makeup unaffected by genes and infinitely mouldable by their parents", and that "DNA has no effect on the mind or mental health, whereas parenting reigns supreme". Ritchie described a variety of evidence which contradicts this view.[3]

Ritchie also responded to a letter from James in The Psychologist magazine,[4] following which James and Prof Richard Bentall of the University of Liverpool engaged him in argument.[5]

James responded to Ritchie's criticisms in an article in The Guardian in March 2016.[6]

• James, Oliver (1995). Juvenile Violence in a Winner-Loser Culture. Free Association Books. ISBN 1853433020.

• James, Oliver (1998). Britain on the Couch – Why We're Unhappier Compared with 1950 Despite Being Richer. Arrow Books. ISBN 0-09-924402-0.

• James, Oliver (2002). They F*** You Up: How to Survive Family Life. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-8478-8.

• James, Oliver (December 2007). Affluenza. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-190011-3.

• James, Oliver (January 2008). The Selfish Capitalist. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192381-5.

• James, Oliver (November 2009). Contented Dementia: 24 hour Wraparound Care for Lifetime Wellbeing. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-190181-3.

• James, Oliver (January 2010). Britain on the Couch (updated). Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192984-8.

• James, Oliver (June 2010). How Not To F*** Them Up. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192391-4.

• James, Oliver (2012). Love Bombing - Reset your child's emotional thermostat. Karnac Books.

• James, Oliver (February 2013). Office Politics: How to Thrive in a World of Lying, Backstabbing and Dirty Tricks. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192394-5.

• James, Oliver (January 2014). How To Develop Emotional Health. School of Life/Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9780230771710.

• James, Oliver (March 2016). Not In Your Genes: The Real Reasons Children Are Like Their Parents. Vermilion. ISBN 9780091947668.

• James, Oliver (2016), Upping Your Ziggy: How David Bowie Faced His Childhood Demons - and How You Can Face Yours, Karnac Books, ISBN 1782204903

• Affluenza
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder controversies
• Narcissism in the workplace
• Machiavellianism in the workplace
• Psychopathy in the workplace

• "Oliver James: How to have a sane New Year". The Independent. London. 6 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 January 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2008.

• Author website
• Bloomsbury author page
• Oliver James at IMDb