Dr Sarah Riley
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
PhD (Glasgow Caledonian), MPhil BSc (Queen’s, Belfast)
Contact
Email: scr2@aber.ac.uk
Office: Penbryn 5, Room 0.16
Phone: +44 (0) 1970 628482
Responsibilities
Director of Research
Chair of departmental ethics committee
Teaching Areas
Teaching topics include qualitative research methods, identity and postmodern psychology.
Research
Dr Riley’s main research interests are in the areas of identity, such as gender, embodiment and youth culture; qualitative research methods, including discourse analysis, cooperative inquiry and visual methods.
Dr Riley's identity work looks at the meanings we use to make sense of ourselves, through analyses that draw together the relationships between the personal, social and cultural. Dr Riley's identity work has focused on youth culture in terms of electronic dance music culture, leisure as political and social participation, consumption and identity; neo-liberalism Vs neo-tribalism and 'recreational' drug use; Embodiment, including weight, appearance concerns and body art/modification practices; Gender: in relation to employment, embodiment, masculinity and ‘post-feminism’. For an example of such work please click here for the Reverberating Rhythms website.
Dr Riley is also an honorary fellow for the Higher Education Association and on the editorial board for the journal Qualitative Research in Psychology.
Grants
Aber-Bangor Strategic Alliance fund for Pan Wales Sexualities Studies Group. 2012: £500.
Thompson, J., Riley, S. & Griffin, C (2009-12). University of Bath University Research Studentship.
Riley, S., McArdle, K. & Gill, R. ‘Exploring dilemmas of femininity with co-operative inquiry’. Nov 2006-Sept 2009: £7054, British Academy Ref SG-43703
Riley, S. & Griffin, C. ‘Reverberating Rhythms: Social Identity & Political Participation in Clubland’. Oct 2005-Sept 2007: £44, 753 Economic and Social Research Council Ref: RES-00-22-1171
Bengry-Howell, A. Negotiating managed consumption: young people, branding and social identification processes. Oct 2007-2010, FEC £319, 788; Economic and Social Research Council contribution £255, 830, ESRC First grants scheme, S. Riley as named co-mentor, with Prof Griffin and Prof Szmigin.
Riley, S., Griffin, C. & Morey, Y. (2007) ESRC Festival of Social Science exhibition competition £2000.
Forrester, M., Gibson, S., Gordon-Finlayson, A., Riley, S., Shaw, R. & Wiggins, S. 2007-2008. Development of a web-based resource to aid the teaching of qualitative research methods at undergraduate level. Higher Education Academy, £5933.
Riley, S., Hapechi, K. & Jorgenson, B. 2000-2001. Creating and evaluating on-line experiments and research design software for Psychology students: The Landscape Project. £5569. Teaching Development Fund, University of Bath.
Riley, S. British Academy Conference Travel Grant £600 to attend conferences in South Africa in 2005.
Burns, M., Riley, S., Markula, P. & Rodham, K. ‘Weighty Issues: Representation, Identity, and Practice in the areas of Eating Disorders, Obesity and Body Management’ British Psychology Society Research Seminars competition 2004, £1000.
Consultant, 2008-9, Identity, community and selfhood: Understanding the self in relation to contemporary youth cultures. Commissioned by The Future Lab on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills), £1,500.
Additional Interests
External examiner for:
School of Psychology, University of East London
School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
Staff Publications
Books
Evans, A. & Riley, S. (forthcoming, 2013). Technologies of Sexiness: Sex, Identity and Consumption. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Riley, S.C.E., Burns, M., Frith, H. & Markula, P. (Eds). (2008). Critical bodies: Representations, Practices and Identities of Weight and Body Management. London: Palgrave/ MacMillan.
Sullivan, C., Gibson, S. & Riley, S. (forthcoming, 2012). Doing a Successful Qualitative Research Project. London: Sage.
Journal articles
Crawford, J. & Riley, S. (2000). The ESEP Project at Glasgow Caledonian University and the implications for LIS evaluation. Performance, Measurement and Metrics, 1 (1), 55-70.
Evans, A., Riley, S. & Shankar, A. (2010a). Technologies of sexiness: Theorizing women’s engagement in the sexualisation of culture, Feminism & Psychology, 20 (1), 1-18.
Evans, A., Riley, S. & Shankar, A. (2010b). Postfeminist Heterotopias: Negotiating ‘safe’ and ‘seedy’ in the British sex shop space. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 17 (3), 1-19.
Evans, A. & Riley, S (2012). Immaculate consumption: negotiating the sex symbol in postfeminist celebrity culture. Journal of Gender Studies. 10.1080/09589236.2012.658145
Owen, C. & Riley, S. (in press). Teaching visual methods using Performative Storytelling, Reflective Practice and Learning through Doing. Psychology of Learning and Teaching.
Riley, S.C.E. (2001). Maintaining power: male constructions of feminists and feminist values. Feminism & Psychology, 11 (1), 55-78.
Riley, S.C.E. (2002). Constructions of equality and discrimination in professional men's talk. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 443-461.
Riley, S.C.E. (2003). The management of the traditional male role: A discourse analysis of the constructions and functions of provision. Journal of Gender Studies, 12 (2), 99-113.
Riley, S.C.E. & Blackman, G. (2008). Between prohibitions: Patterns and meanings of magic mushroom use in the UK. Journal of Substance Use and Misuse, 43 (1), 55-72.
Riley, S.C.E. & Cahill, S. (2005). Managing meaning & belonging: Young women’s negotiation of authenticity in Body Art, 8 (3) Journal of Youth Studies, 8 (3), 261-279.
Riley, S., Evans, A. and Mackiewicz, A. (2013) Practices of Looking: The New Visual Economy of the Postfeminist Gaze, Gender and Society
Riley, S.C.E. & Hayward, E. (2004). Patterns, trends, and meanings of drug use by dance-drug users in Edinburgh, Scotland. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 11 (3), 243-262
Riley, S.C.E., Griffin, C. & Morey Y. (2010). The case for “everyday politics”: evaluating neo-tribal theory as a way to understand alternative forms of political participation, using electronic dance music culture as an example. Sociology, 44 (2), 345-363.
Riley, S.C.E., James, C., Gregory, D., Dingle, H. & Cadger, M. (2001). Patterns of recreational drug use at dance events in Edinburgh, Scotland. Addiction, 96. 1035-1047.
Riley, S., Morey, Y. & Griffin, C. (2008). Ketamine: The Divisive Dissociative. A Discourse Analysis of the Constructions of Ketamine by Participants of a Free Party (Rave) Scene. Addiction Research & Theory, 16 (3), 217-230.
Riley, S., Morey, Y. & Griffin, C. (2010). The ‘pleasure citizen’: Analysing partying as a form of social and political participation, Young (Special Issue on ‘Emerging Forms of Youth Engagement: Everyday and Local Perspectives’), 18 (1), 33-54.
Riley, S., Rodham, K. & Gavin, J. (2009). Doing weight: Pro-ana and recovery identities in cyberspace. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 19, 348-359.
Riley, S. & Scharff, C. (2012) Feminism Vs femininity? Exploring feminist dilemmas through cooperative inquiry research. Feminism & Psychology. Published online before print August 27, 2012, doi: 10.1177/0959353512454615
Riley, S.C.E., Thompson, J. & Griffin, C. (2010). Turn on, tune in, but don’t drop out: The impact of neo-liberalism on magic mushroom users (in)ability to imagine collectivist social worlds. International Journal of Drug Policy, 21, 445–451
Riley, S., Schouten, W. & Cahill, S. (2003). Exploring the dynamics of subjectivity and power between researcher and researched. Forum for Qualitative Social Research, [On-line Journal], 4 (2). Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-03/2rileyetal-e.htm
Riley, S.C.E , Sims-Schouten, W. & Willig, C. (2007). The case for critical realist discourse analysis as a viable method in discursive work. Theory & Psychology, 17 (1), 137-145.
Siann, G., Riley, S., Wilson, F. & Callaghan, M. (2000). Gender at home and work: Continuities and changes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30 (12) 2491-2512
Sims-Schouten, W., Riley, S.C.E. & Willig, C. (2007). Critical Realism: A presentation of a systematic method of analysis using women’s talk of motherhood, childcare and female employment as an example. Theory & Psychology, 17 (1), 101-123.
Sumnall HR, Beynon CM, Conchie SM, Riley S.C.E., Cole J.C. (2007).. An investigation of the subjective experiences of sex after alcohol or drug intoxication, Journal of Psychopharmacology, 21, 525–537.
Book Chapters
Cahill, S. & Riley, S. (2000). Exploring women, body art and self identity. In Banin, M., Guy, A., and Green, E. (Eds.), Personal Collections: Women's Relationships with their Clothes. New York: Berg.
Gibson, S. & Riley, S. (2010) Approaches to data collection. In, Forrester, M. (Ed). Doing Qualitative Practicals in Psychology: A Student Workbook. London: Sage.
Markula, P., Burns, M. & Riley, S. (2008). Introducing Critical Bodies: Representations, Identities and Practices of Weight and Body Management. In, Riley, S.C.E., Burns, M.,
Frith, H. & Markula, P. (Eds). Critical bodies: Representations, Practices and Identities of Weight and Body Management. London: Palgrave/MacMillan
Reason, P. & Riley, S. (2008). Co-operative Inquiry: An action research practice. In, Jonathan Smith (Ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Methods. London: Sage Publications (2nd edition).
Riley, S. (2012). Writing up a qualitative research project. In, Sullivan, C., Gibson, S. & Riley, S., Doing a Successful Qualitative Research Project. London: Sage.
Riley, S.C.E., Brown, R., Griffin, C & Morey, Y. (2011). Tribal gatherings: Using art to disseminate research on club culture. In, Reavey, P. (Ed.), Visual Methods in Psychology: Using and Interpreting Images in Qualitative Research’. London: Routledge.
Riley, S.C.E., Burns, M., Frith, H. & Markula, P. (Eds). (2008). Critical bodies: Representations, Practices and Identities of Weight and Body Management. London: Palgrave/ MacMillan.
Riley, S., Frith, H., Wiggins, S., Markula, P. & Burns, M. (2008). Critical Bodies: Discourses of health, gender and consumption. In, Riley, S.C.E., Burns, M., Frith, H. & Markula, P. (Eds). Critical bodies: Representations, Practices and Identities of Weight and Body Management. London: Palgrave/ MacMillan.
Riley, S., Griffin, C. & Y. Morey. (2013). The Rise of the ‘Pleasure Citizen’: How leisure can be a site for alternative forms of political participation. In, Demetriou,K. N. (Ed.) Democracy in Transition: Political Participation in the European Union. Springer Verlag.
Riley, S. & King, N. (2012). Managing a research project. In, Sullivan, C., Gibson, S. & Riley, S., Doing a Successful Qualitative Research Project. London: Sage.
Sullivan, C. & Riley, S. (2012). Planning and Ethics. In, Sullivan, C., Gibson, S. & Riley, S., Doing a Successful Qualitative Research Project. London: Sage.
Wiggins, S. & Riley, S. (2010) Discourse Analysis. In, Forrester, M. (Ed). Doing Qualitative Practicals in Psychology: A Student Workbook. London: Sage.
Conferences
Evans, A. & Riley, S/. (2012). Pursuing Pleasure. Pornified? Complicating debates about the ‘sexualisation of culture’: An International Conference. 1-2nd December 2011, Institute of Education, University of London
Riley, S. (2012). The Rise the ‘Pleasure Citizen': How Leisure Can Be a Site for New Forms of Political Participation. POLITICAL AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION CONFERENCE, 16 - 17 APRIL, UNIVERSITY OF SURREY, UK
Sarah Riley and Stephanie Stafford Smith (2011). Fixed by Space and Gaze: A cooperative inquiry study with young women on body Image. British Psychology Society Social Section Annnual Conference, 5-7th September, University of Cambridge
Sarah Riley, Mike Forrester, Stephen Gibson, Nollaig Frost, Kathryn Kinmond and Sally Wiggins. (2010). Demonstrating new resources for teaching qualitative methods at undergraduate level. Psychology of Learning and Teaching, Edinburgh 30th June – 2nd July.
Andrew Bengry-Howell, Yvette Morey, Chris Griffin, Sarah Riley, Isabelle Szmigin (2010) “All together at the same thing for the same reason”: A temporary escape from neoliberalism: Intersubjectivity and sociability in a music festival context. Youth 2010: Identities, Transitions, Cultures, University of Surrey, Guildford, 6-8th July.
Sarah Riley, Christine Griffin & Yvette Morey (2010). Partying and the 'pleasure citizen': Re-appropriating neo-liberal rhetoric to celebrate the social divine. Youth 2010: Identities, Transitions, Cultures, University of Surrey, Guildford, 6-8th July.
Riley, S. (2009). Using cooperative inquiry as a method for examining the ‘dilemmas of femininity’. Presentation at the British Psychology Society Social Psychology Section Annual Conference, Sheffield, 15-17th September.
Owen, C., Riley, S. & Griffin, C. (2009). Stiff Hips: Performing masculinity in dance classes. BSA Sport Study Group Postgraduate Forum. University of Brighton, 9th September.
Evans, A., Riley, S. & Shankar, A. (2009). Safe or Seedy? Ann Summers and the Negotiation of the Sexually Explicit Consumption Space. Paper presented at The British Sociological Association Annual Conference, University of Cardiff, 16-18th April.
Owen, C., Riley, S. & Griffin, C. (2009). How are we training the next generation of ethnographic researchers? Paper presented at The British Sociological Association Annual Conference, University of Cardiff, 16-18th April.
Riley, S., Morey, Y. & Griffin, C. (2008). ‘Loved up or totally bollocksed’: Competing discourses of ketamine at a free party scene. Subjectivity: International Conference for Critical Psychology, University of Cardiff, June 27-29th.
Riley, S., Morey, Y. & Griffin, C. (2007). The Clubbers Kit: Everyday Technology for Everyday Politics. Paper presented at the British Sociology Association Seminar Young People, New Technologies and Political Engagement. University of Sussex, 24-25th July.
Riley, S., Morey, Y. & Griffin, C. (2007) Heading for a party not joining one: Examining electronic dance culture as a site for ‘everyday’ politics. British Psychological Society Social Psychology Section Conference, University of Kent, 5-7th September.
Riley, S., Griffin, C. & Morey, Y. (2007). Reverberating Rhythms: Social Identity and Political Participation in Clubland, Paper presented at the ESRC Identities and Consumption Seminar Series, Seminar Six: Health Identities and Social Policies on Consumption, University of Bath, 3-4th September.
Morey, Y., Riley, S., & Griffin, C. (2006). Ketamine: The divisive dissociative. Paper presented at Club Health 2006, Piran, Slovenia, 20-22nd September.
Riley, S. & Blackman, G. (2006). Patterns and meanings of magic mushroom use in the UK. Paper presented at Club Health 2006, Piran, Slovenia, 20-22nd September.
Riley, S.C.E. & Burns M. (2005). Weighty issues: Gendered representations, identities and practices of weight related embodiment. Paper presented at the International Critical Psychology Conference 2005: "Beyond the Pale", Durban, South Africa, 28th June – 1st July.
Riley, S.C.E . & Sims-Schouten, W. (2005). Critical Realism: A presentation of a systematic method of analysis using women’s talk of motherhood, childcare and female employment as an example. Paper presented at the International Society for Theoretical Psychology, Cape Town, South Africa, 20th-24th June.
Riley, S. (2004). Dance drug use in Edinburgh, Scotland: patterns, trends and meanings. Paper presented at the 3rd International Club Health Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 18-20th April.
Riley, S. & Cahill, S. (2003) Mainstream or underground? Managing meaning and belonging in Body Art. Paper presented as part of a symposium "Dressing the body: Re-presenting visual selves" at the International Conference of Critical Psychology, University of Bath, 27-31st August.
Riley, S.C.E. & Cadger, M. (2002). Pre-Club Drug Use: The "Happy Hours". Paper presented at ClubHealth, Rimini, Italy, 24-27th March.
Cadger, M. Riley, S. & Hayward, E. (2001). Patterns of drug use amongst young people at clubs and pre-club bars in Edinburgh. Paper presented at the European Commission-Project: Elaboration of Concepts for Secondary prevention of Drug-Abuse, Berlin, June 8-11th.
Riley, S.C.E. (2001). Resistance and reconciliation: Women and body art. Paper presented at the British Psychology Society Annual Conference, University of Glasgow, 28-31st March.