Readings on the Psychology of Place: Selected Works of David Canter

In the World Library of Psychologists series, international experts present career-long collections of what they judge to be their most interesting publications - extracts from books, key articles, research findings and practical and theoretical contributions.

In this fascinating volume, Professor David Canter refl ects on a career that has earned him an international reputation as one of the U.K.’s most eminent applied social psychologists and a pioneer in the fi eld of environmental psychology, through a selection of papers that illustrate one of the foundational themes of his research career: the psychology of place. Split into four parts, each with a new introduction written by the author, the book provides insights into theories, methods and applications of place psychology. Covering a range of publications from early research in the 1960s up to recent explorations, this volume provides the unfolding research that elaborates this seminal theory, offering rich perspectives on how places gain their significance and meaning.

Featuring specially written commentary by the author contextualizing the selections and providing an intimate overview of his career, this collection of key publications offers a unique and compelling insight into decades of ground-breaking work, making it an essential resource for all those engaged or interested in the study of places.

Professor David Canter is one the UK’s most eminent applied social psychologists, being one of the few to be appointed as an Honorary Fellow of the British Psychological Society and having been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the American Psychological Association, and the Royal Society of Medicine. Although he is internationally known for his development of the discipline of Investigative Psychology, bringing scientific precision to ’offender profiling’, his earlier and continuing work centres on the development of Architectural/Environmental Psychology, establishing the well-respected Journal of Environmental Psychology in 1980 and the International Association for People-Environment Studies (IAPS). He has worked as a management consultant to major UK companies on risk reduction, amalgamations and briefing for new building complexes, and has given advice to government inquiries into disasters. He wrote and presented a six-part documentary series, Mapping Murder, which is also published as a widely read book. He is Emeritus Professor at the University of Liverpool, UK.