Reflective social work practices in contemporary societies: Dialogues and new pathways between praxis and research
CALL FOR PAPERS
REFLECTIVE SOCIAL WORK PRACTICES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES:
DIALOGUES AND NEW PATHWAYS BETWEEN PRAXIS AND RESEARCH
6th European Conference for Social Work Research
March 30-April 1st 2016
Submissions deadline: Friday, October, 9th, 11:59 pm (Lisbon time)
The organizing committee will welcome proposals based on research work. This includes
original empirical work, research reviews and theoretical contributions that rely on one or more
of the following eight streams:
1. A Research Agenda for Social Work in contemporary societies: possibilities, constraints and
limitations. This may include issues about its academisation process in different countries, and
how to narrow the dialogue and the relationship between research and practice.
2. Empowering practices. Citizens’ participation in the construction of social work action and
research. This may include how social activism and civil society may assume a critical role in
social intervention.
3. Comparative studies. Features, commonalities and differences of social work across Europe
and across different (social, cultural, political and historical) contexts.
4. Social Work and Social Policy: interrelations, challenges and impacts in times of crisis. This
may include the political dimension of Social Work in times when welfare regimes are being
questioned and modified; the implications of changes in social policy for social work practices;
and the analysis of the intertwined relation between social work and social policy.
5. Research contributions to Human Rights, Social Justice and ethical issues in contemporary
Social Work. This may include research on what ways social work is a human rights and social
justice based-profession; the major ethical debates present in the practices of today’s social
workers; and how is Social Work responding to social inequalities.
6. The quest for quality and service evaluation: New challenges for praxis and research in social
work. This may include New Public Management trends and challenges and issues they pose
for Social Work practice.
7. Historical Studies. Practices, approaches and domains. This may include discussing the faces
of social work action and research that have developed throughout history; how did Social
Work evolve through times; and what kind of historical trends are present in the profession or
re-emerging in present.
8. Research in Social Work education. Models, practices and results. This may include what are
the different education models and practices of research in Social Work and what kinds of
Social Work visions do they sustain. And what can be learned from research about the core
competencies for social work research in present time