Catholic University of Portugal Lisbon  |  30 March – 1 April 2016   

6th European Conference for Social Work Research Reflective social work practices in contemporary societies: dialogues and new pathways between praxis and research

Call for Papers

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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 European Social Work Research Association and Catholic University of Portugal and its national partners are glad to announce the 6th European Conference for Social Work Research on the overarching theme Reflective Social Work Practices in Contemporary Societies: Dialogues and New Pathways between Praxis and Research. We invite social work researchers to submit abstracts for the 2016 European Conference for Social Work Research. The conference seeks to present papers that contribute to high-quality work in the European Social Work research community.

In times of uncertainties and rapid changes, reflectivity emerges as an important strategy for social workers to prevent the bureaucratization of their action, to maintain the quality standards of intervention and to develop the critical thinking necessary to feed creativity, alternative proposals and the exploration of new pathways for intervention, but also for research and the bridging of these two domains.

Standing for a human rights and social justice-based practice is particularly demanding in times of crisis, fierce capitalism and rising instrumentality. The 6th European Conference for Social Work Research, following the previous ones, aims to create a forum for discussion and collective reflection on the ways in which Social Work is responding or ought to respond to such demands.

The call for papers is open to any researcher interested in social work related topics. Proposals from PhD students will be very welcome, as well as from experienced researchers and academics in the field of Social Work. The criteria for proposals’ acceptance will not privilege any particular methodological approach; the organizing committee is engaged with a pro-diversity orientation and will be happy to accept any methodological approach that fits within the following themes.

Notwithstanding, and in order to optimize as many people participating in the conference as possible, there will be a limit to the number of proposals each author can submit. There is a limit of two (2) presenting-author abstract submissions per person, which applies to individual papers, papers within an organized symposium, and workshops. This rule does not apply to posters or to co-authorship of an abstract where someone else is the lead presenting author.

Authors don’t have to be ESWRA members to submit an abstract. However, a special registration fee is applied to members.

The target date for feedback to submitting authors is November 30th, 2015.

CONFERENCE THEMES

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

PROPOSAL TYPES

You are invited to submit abstracts for presentations of one of four types:

(1) Oral paper presentation

(2) Poster presentation.

(3) Symposium (organized by the applicant) of three or more papers on the same topic to be presented in the same session

(4) Workshop

If applying for a paper or poster presentation, please submit an abstract of 500 words or less. If applying for a symposium, please submit an overall abstract (500 words or less) for the symposium session that describes the symposium theme and its importance, along with an abstract (300 words or less) for each symposium paper. Preference will be given to symposia that demonstrate cohesiveness across presentations. Symposia will be accepted or rejected in total, i.e., abstracts will not normally be accepted independently.

If you are proposing a workshop please bear in mind that workshops are intended to be more thoroughly interactive than conference paper sessions, with considerable participation and discussion from those attending. They will deal with recent developments in subjects relevant to the conference theme. They may have an explicit agenda of training participants on a given topic, or of generating an interest group for future collaboration.

Abstracts for workshop sessions should be no more than 500 words in length and include a description of the content and how it will be covered (pedagogical methods, etc.). Note: Image(s) and table(s) are not permitted in your abstract.

The following guidelines for any kind of paper are advisory. If you think there are good reasons to amend them, please feel free to do so.

If your abstract is for a presentation based on one or more empirical research projects, it should be submitted to include the following:

• Background and purpose: description of the problem, study objectives, research question(s) and/or hypotheses.

• Methods: study design, including a description of participants and selection strategies, data collection procedures, measures, and approaches to analysis.

• Results: specific results in summary form.

• Conclusions and implications: description of the main outcome(s) of the study and implications for practice, policy, or further research.

If the research has yet to reach its conclusion, please make clear how it will contribute to the conference themes.

If your abstract is for a Paper or Poster which is not based on primary empirical research, it should include the following:

• Background and purpose of the proposed presentation.

• A summary of the main points of the presentation

• How the proposed presentation addresses one or more of the conference aims and themes.

• Conclusions from and implications of your presentation for practice, policy, or subsequent research.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

All abstracts are to be submitted online using EasyChair online platform. When you are ready to submit an abstract you should go to

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ecswr2016

You will be asked to create an account following which you will login in and click on the ‘Submission’ link.

Submissions will be selected through a peer review panel on the basis of scientific merit and relevance of findings. Decisions will be notified by November 30th, 2015 to the authors’ e-mail address.

Please note that all abstracts are to be submitted online, using the conference online abstract management system, which will be accessible from 13 July 2015.

IMPORTANT DATES

July 13th 2015 | Call for papers opening

October 9th 2015 | Call for papers closing

November 30th 2015 | Acceptance notification

October 19 th 2015 | Early bird registration opening

January 15th 2016 | Early bird registration closing

February 29 th 2016 | Registration deadline

March, 30th – April | 1st 2016 – Conference

Submission deadline: 11.59pm (Lisbon time), October 9th 2015

If you have technical or other difficulties in submitting your abstract please contact us at the following email: ecswr2016@ucp.pt