Sport for Social Inclusion: Critical Analyses and Future Challenges

The open access journal Social Inclusion calls for papers for its special issue on the topic ‘Sport for Social Inclusion: Critical Analyses and Future Challenges.’

Deadline for abstracts is 31 March 2014. Deadline for papers is 15 July 2014.

Information
There is a general belief in the good of sports, which almost 'naturally' leads to the use of sports as an answer to a number of personal and social issues. Besides physical fitness and improved health, the proclaimed potential benefits of participation in sports are improved mental health and psychological well-being (leading to reduction of anxiety and stress), personality development (via improved self-concept, physical and global self-esteem/confidence, self-confidence and increased locus of control), socio-psychological benefits (such as empathy, integrity, tolerance, cooperation, trustworthiness and the development of social skills) and broader sociological impacts (such as increased community identity, social coherence and integration) (e.g., Bailey et al., 2009; Coalter, 2005; Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005, Gould & Carson, 2008; Petitpas et al., 2005). However there is a growing awareness that more knowledge and expertise is needed to raise the alleged social potential of sports.

Incorporating an international and multidisciplinary perspective, the special issue aims to make a comprehensive, critical and state-of-the-art analysis of different aspects that are related to the role of sports towards a more inclusive society, including:

• Experiences and meanings attributed to sport participation from the perspectives of specific excluded groups
• Sport coaching and guidance from a critical sociological or pedagogical perspective
• Organisational, contextual and institutional features of inclusive sport programmes
• Analysis of local, regional, national and transnational (e.g. EU) sport policies and how such policies contribute in social inclusionary and/or exclusionary mechanisms
• Approaches of monitoring and evaluation of inclusive sport programmes.

Please submit abstracts to Mr. António Vieira at [email protected].