CFP: Ethics and Social Welfare: Understanding Well-Being in Policy and Practice

Guest editors: Dr Gillian Brock (University of Auckland, New Zealand); Professor Steve Smith (University of Wales Newport, United Kingdom).

Rationale:  The enhancement and measurement of well-being, as well as its meaning and value, has been scrutinised considerably in recent years, and from various quarters. In academia, disciplines such as philosophy and applied ethics, psychology, and social policy analysis, have been discussing and researching well-being, and other related concepts. Also, in public policy and social welfare practices, the well-being of populations has become the focal point of Government policy and professional goals and objectives.

Given these developments, and others beside, the special issue will provide a timely critical evaluation of four main areas of interest concerning well-being: (a) theoretical and practical issues regarding well-being’s meaning, value, relevance and usefulness in policy and practice  (b) ethical issues associated with the methodological processes of measuring well-being (c) lay normativity concerning well-being’s meaning and how it is negotiated in reciprocal relations, and (d) the enhancement of well-being in public policy and practice, for both individual service-users and wider populations.

Brief for contributors: Individual papers will pay particular attention to contemporary aspects of at least one of the above areas. The editors especially welcome academic papers which apply wider ethical questions concerning well-being, to practical considerations concerning social policy and professional practice. They also welcome personal accounts of the views and experiences of service-users, practitioners and carers, especially as they focus on what promoting well-being means for service-users and/or carers. Academic papers should be between 4-7,000 words long, and practice papers should be between 750-2,500 words long, following the style rules laid-out on the journal’s website.

Interested colleagues are requested to submit abstracts of up to 200 words on or before 1st April 2013 toboth: Dr Gillian Brock, e-mail: [email protected]; and Prof Steve Smith, email: [email protected].

Abstracts should contain a short statement detailing:

• The essential information of the submission
• The submission’s aim, results and conclusions

The abstracts will be considered by the 29th April 2013 and submitters will be informed about the outcome asap after this date. 

Timeline for completion of papers:

Deadline for receipt of first draft of papers November 1st 2013

Final revised pieces received and edited mid June 2014

View to publication September 2014.