Amy Chandler

Amy is a sociologist, specialising in mental health, self-harm and suicide. Gender and intersectionality are core to her research. Amy's projects use qualitative methods to understand the connections between individual experiences and accounts, and broader social structures and cultural processes. Her collaborations include Samaritans Scotland, Penumbra, Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Government, who she works with to improve understandings and responses to suicide and self-harm.  

Recent studies include:

• Gender, self-harm and suicide: Changing the narratives (ESRC Impact Accelerator Award, 2026-2027)
• Discovering Liveability: Coproducing alternatives to suicide prevention (Wellcome, 2024-2031) https://discovering-liveability.ed.ac.uk/
• Suicide Cultures: Reimagining Suicide Research (Wellcome 2020-2027) https://suicide-cultures.ed.ac.uk/
• Suicide in/as Politics (Leverhulme Trust 2020-2024)

Publications

• Helman, R., S. I. Huque and A. Chandler (2025). "Jarring Encounters: Discomfort, Disruption, and Dominant Narratives of Suicide." Qualitative Health Research 35(12): 1297-1310.
• Marzetti, H., Chandler, A., Jordan, A., Oaten, A. (2023) ‘The politics of LGBT+ suicide and suicide prevention in the UK: risk, responsibility and rhetoric’ Culture, Health and Sexuality
• Chandler, A. (2022). ‘Masculinities and suicide: unsettling ‘talk’ as a response to suicide in men’. Critical Public Health, 32, 4, 499-508.
• Chandler, A., & Simopoulou, Z. (2021). ‘The Violence of the Cut: Gendering Self-Harm’. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18.
• Chandler, A. (2019) ‘Boys don’t cry? Critical phenomenology, suicide and self-harm’ Sociological Review 67, 6, 1350-1366