Dr John Hopton

Role

I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Nursinfg. I have been  teaching  on social work programmes  at the University of Manchester since December 1995 and began teaching on  nursing programmes (for the first time since 1995) in 2010. Although I am now a 'teaching focused' senior lecturer I am also a member of the History of Health and Social Care Reseach Group within the School of Nursing Midwifery and Social Work.

Memberships of Committees and Professional Bodies

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Research

My main areas of research are the history of mental health nursing and mental health institutions, the theory and practice of therapeutic communities and critical perspectives on mental health. 

In Summer 2010 I  completed a small scale qualitative  research  project focusing on  the potential usefulness of city parks to mental health promotion strategies.

Postgraduate Opportunities

I welcome enquiries from prospective postgraduate students interested in therapeutic communities, the history of mental health nursing and/or mental health institutions and critical perspectives of mental health, and  the use of green spaces in the management of stress/health promotion .

Methodological Knowledge

Qualitative methods with a special interest in oral history methods.

Teaching

Currently my teaching is primarily focused on mental health, although I also contribute to teaching  on the sociology of health and illness and health promotion

Biography

Prior to coming to the University of Manchester I had always been employed in the NHS. I worked at Prestwich Hospital in Greater Manchester from 1975 until 1981, qualifying as a Registered Mental Nurse (RMN) in 1979. I then went on to do post-registration training as a Registered General Nurse (RGN) with Bury School of Nursing, qualifying in 1983. From 1983 until 1991 Iworked at North Manchester General Hospital as a charge nurse on the mental health unit, a nurse teacher on the mental health nursing team and a staff development officer attached to the personnel department. I qualified as a Registered Clinical Nurse Teacher (RCNT) in 1986. In 1991 I moved to Bolton and Salford College of Midwifery and Nursing where I worked on a curriculum development project with clinical staff at Bolton General Hospital ’s mental health unit before joining the mental health nursing and sociology teaching groups on the pre-registration nurse education programme. During this time I attended Edge Hill College in Ormskirk and was awarded a University of Lancaster Master of Arts degree in Human Rights and Equal Opportunities in 1993. In 1993-1994 I successfully completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Health Professional Education at the University of Huddersfield which made me eligble to become a Registered Nurse Tutor (RNT) and in 1998 was awarded a PhD by the University of Lancaster . The PhD was completed at Edge Hill College and the title of the thesis was “A comparative analysis of the managerialisation of three public sector organisations”.

Since coming to the University of Manchester, in addition to contributing to social work education programmes I have in the past developed and delivered undergraduate social science modules in “Ethics and Politics of Health and Welfare”, “Psychological Approaches to Mental Health”, “The Regulation of Violence by the State” and a postgraduate social science module “Critical Perspectives on Mental Health”.

Qualifications

• RMN 1979 
• RGN 1981 
• RCN Clinical Teaching Certificate (RCNT) 1986
• Certificate in Counselling (University of Manchester) 1989
• MA Human Rights & Equal Opportunities (University of Lancaster) 1993
• Post  Graduate Diploma in Health Professional Education (University of Huddersfield) 1994
• PhD (Thesis: A comparative analysis of the managerialisation of three public sector organisations) (University of Lancaster) 1998

Selected publications

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