Subjective well-being, social work, and the environment: The impact of the socio-political context of practice on social worker happiness

Abstract

The environmental context of direct social work practice has been found to impact social worker subjective well-being. Most research focus on the geographic and cultural characteristics of that practice environment. To expand this knowledge domain a qualitative inquiry has been undertaken to understand what aspects of the socio-political environment impacted social worker well-being.Findings: This qualitative study, with a sample of social workers (n ¼ 19), found three themes related to the socio-political environment that can contribute to practitioner well-being. Respondents identified that their subjective well-being is impacted by: (1) perceptions of practitioners by community members, (2) conflict with social work program mandates, and (3) changes with the social welfare system.Applications: Possible methods of addressing these issues to improve workplace functioning for social workers are discussed along with areas of future research.

Green Environments and Happiness Level in Housing Areas toward a Sustainable Life

“…Many countries, including England, China, Australia, Germany, and Belgium, have explored healthy city planning, in which green environments play a vital role in enhancing quality of life and urban livability [19]. Green environments provide diverse positive values for humans, including the values of amenity, social cohesion, neighborhood satisfaction, physical activity, and stress reduction [5,11,[21][22][23]. These values consequently affect their overall life satisfaction and well-being, which critically influences the construct of individuals' happiness [21].…”

“…Well-being: A green environment is beneficial for residents' positive evaluation of their lives, Communal garden in housing complex Small-scale communal garden to share among residents Landscaped garden Diverse flora for aesthetic and aromatic purposes that form an artificial garden to be experienced by residents Green environments provide diverse positive values for humans, including the values of amenity, social cohesion, neighborhood satisfaction, physical activity, and stress reduction [5,11,[21][22][23]. These values consequently affect their overall life satisfaction and well-being, which critically influences the construct of individuals' happiness [21]. Many researchers have explored green environments with a focus on the quality of human life and investigated the various related valuable factors influenced by green environments, as shown in Table 2.…”

“…The objective dimension examines factors such as level of wealth, provision of education, and social welfare. In contrast, the subjective dimension of well-being is measured by individuals' evaluation of their lives from their own perspectives [4,21,34,35]. Subjective well-being is directly associated with the construct of happiness, and the critical focus in regard to this type of well-being is on how individuals evaluate their lives through their life experiences [21].…”

“…In contrast, the subjective dimension of well-being is measured by individuals' evaluation of their lives from their own perspectives [4,21,34,35]. Subjective well-being is directly associated with the construct of happiness, and the critical focus in regard to this type of well-being is on how individuals evaluate their lives through their life experiences [21]. Therefore, the notions of happiness and well-being denote the same value, which can be measured through individuals' evaluation of their quality of life from either the subjective or the objective dimension [36].…”

“…Well-being: A green environment is beneficial for residents' positive evaluation of their lives, including emotion, satisfaction, and social engagement, which consequently affects the construct of happiness [2,5,11,15,16,20,21,24,30].…”