Eva Surawy Stepney
BA (Hons), MA
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
Research student
- Profile
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Thesis title: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and the foundations of ‘evidence-based’ practice in British Psychology, 1948-1990.
Supervisors:
- Chris Millard (Primary)
- Saurabh Mishra (Secondary)
Period:
Post-1800
Thesis abstract:
In contemporary mental-health care in Britain, Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM)- centred on large clinical trials- is the gold standard for psychological and psychiatric practice. However, the EBM paradigm is facing growing criticism for its reliance on a ‘reductive’ model of mind. The central aim of my research is to historically evaluate the foundations (and implications) of this evidence-based research paradigm in British psychology through an analysis of the formation of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) at London’s Institute of Psychiatry, 1948-1980. I will focus on publications of the experimental psychologist Stanley Rachman demonstrating how OCD in its contemporary form emerged from what counted as ‘valid’ psychological ‘evidence’ at different points in time- and the implications this had for conceptions of mental distress more broadly.
- Qualifications
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- PhD History, University of Sheffield, 2020 - present
- MA History of Medicine, Birkbeck University of London, 2019
- BA (Hons) History, University of Sheffield, 2017
- Grants
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- PhD scholarship: AHRC White Rose College of Arts and Humanities
- British Society for the History of Science (BSHS) Masters Bursary Award (2018)
- Crewe prize in History (2017) - University of Sheffield
- Teaching activities
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University of Sheffield Teaching Assistant 2021-22 academic year:
- HST11012 Land of Liberty? Rights in the USA, 1776-2016
University of Sheffield Teaching Assistant previous years:
- HST117 The Making of the Twentieth Century
- Publications and Conferences
Publications and blogs:
- 'OCD in Society: Making Sense of a Hidden Illness', Conference Review, The Polyphony
- ‘Obstinate Material’: Surgical Intervention and Obsessional Thoughts, The Polyphony
- Guilty Obsessions, The Polyphony
- 'It was a bit like world politics but on a small scale': The Early History of Cheiron-Europe, The Polyphony
Conferences:
- Organiser, 'Medical (Post) Humanities? Reassessing and Reimagining the Human' conference, The Mowbray, Sheffield, 27th April 2022.
- Organiser, 'OCD in Society: Theory and Practice', Peckham Levels, 30th May 2022
- 'From therapeutic aid to pathological behaviour: ‘Seeking reassurance’ in twentieth-century British clinical psychology', 54th Annual Meeting of Cheiron, the International Society for the History of Behavioural and Social Sciences, June 2022.
- 'From Therapy to Pathology: Reassurance in Twentieth-Century British Psychology', British Society for the History of Science Annual Conference, Queen Mary's Belfast, July 2022.
- “Washers’ and ‘Checkers’: The Constitution of Compulsive Rituals in 1970s British Clinical Psychology’, OCD in Society: The Future of Critical OCD Studies, University of Michigan (May, 2021).
- “Visible’ Compulsions: OCD and the Politics of Evidence in Psychology'', WRoCAH Festival of Research (June, 2021).
- 'Exploring the ESHHS archives', 41st Conference of the European Society for the History of the Human Sciences (ESHHS), Sigmund Freud University Berlin, August 30- September 2nd, 2022.