Peter Beresford

Peter Beresford OBE, FAcSS, FRSA (born 1 May 1945) is a British academic, writer, researcher and activist best known for his work in the field of citizen participation and user involvement, areas of study he helped to create and develop.

He is currently visiting professor and senior research fellow in the School of Health & Social Sciences at the University of East Anglia, emeritus professor of citizen participation at the University of Essex and emeritus professor of social policy at Brunel University London.

Much of his work has centred on including the viewpoints, lived experience and knowledge of disabled people, mental health and other long term service users in public policy, practice and learning, and working for a more participatory politics.

Peter Beresford was born in Frensham, Surrey.

After his father died when he was four, he moved to Battersea where he attended school at Wix's Lane Primary School, Battersea and then Emanuel School London, before it became fee-paying.

He was awarded an 'Open Exhibition' to University College, Oxford, where from 1964-67 he studied Modern History.

In 1968 he wrote a dissertation on homeless single people as part of a diploma in social and administrative studies at Barnet House, Oxford University and subsequently did research on vagrancy in Britain.

Between 1975 and 1977 Beresford was lecturer in Social Administration at Lancaster University, but left because of his growing concerns about the non-participatory nature of public policy.

Peter Beresford married Suzy Croft in 1976.

They have worked and written together since that time.

Together he and his partner, Suzy Croft, established a local community project, Battersea Community Action, in 1978 and a national initiative, the Open Services Project, in 1987.

Each of these were participatory projects concerned with advancing the theory, policy and practice of participation through the production of publications, pamphlets and developmental research.

He was appointed senior lecturer in Social Policy at the West London Institute for Higher Education (WLIHE) in 1990.

He was awarded a PhD on Citizen Involvement in Public Policy by Middlesex University in 1997.

WLIHE was absorbed into Brunel University London where he was promoted to Professor of Social Policy in 1997.

In 1997, he founded and began directing the first UK Centre for Citizen Participation.

A major theme of Beresford's work has been the participation of people as members of the public, workers, patients and service users in their lives, communities, society and in services affecting them.

Much of his work has focused on advancing public participation, and the involvement and empowerment of long term users of health and social care.

He is a pioneer of a new participatory approach to social policy as both discipline and public policy based on inclusive public involvement, sustainability and valuing diversity.

He has long term personal experience of using mental health services and also of the welfare benefits system.

This resulted in his close involvement in the disabled people's and psychiatric system survivors movements.

He is also actively involved in Disability Studies and Mad Studies.

Beresford's theoretical policy and practical concern has been how disabled people and other long term health and social care service users can be equally involved in society and have an effective voice in their lives.

This focus has resulted in the exploration of new approaches to occupational practice, policy formation, research and evaluation and the political process.

It has also extended to the development of new approaches to epistemology which highlight the role of service users' lived experience as a knowledge source.

His illustrated pamphlet ‘It’s Our Lives’ anticipated subsequent discussion of ‘epistemic injustice’ and highlighted the way in which the devaluing of experiential knowledge added another layer of discrimination to that already facing groups experiencing oppression and marginalization.

Beresford was also co-founder and chair (and subsequently co-chair) of Shaping Our Lives, the independent, national disabled people's and service users’ organisation and network that is committed to improving the quality of support available to service users and increasing their say and control over their lives.

Shaping Our Lives has pioneered the development of user involvement in professional education and also of user controlled research.

It has been the UK partner of PowerUs, an international partnership to take forward this work.

He was appointed Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in 2006.

He is emeritus professor at Brunel University London, visiting professor at Edge Hill University and the University of East Anglia and Fellow of the School of Social Care Research.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year's honours list, ‘for services to social care’.

From December 2015 until July 202, he was professor of citizen participation at the University of Essex.

She was senior social worker at St John’s Hospice, London, until 2016.

They have four daughters.

He is also a member of the BSA (motorcycle) Owners Club.

In March 2020 Shaping Our Lives was awarded £197,448 by the Big Lottery Community Fund to develop the Inclusive Involvement Movement over four years.

Its aim is to promote the voice of different equality groups who use health and social care services, and other services provided by the public and voluntary sectors to advance the involvement of disabled people and other marginalized groups.

It is carrying out this work in parallel to a partnership research project with King’s College London supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), exploring the principles of Nobel Prize Winner Elinor Ostrom’s for collaborative working.

He has been a trustee of the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the National Skills Academy for Social Care and Skills For Care as well as being a member of government advisory groups and committees.