The arts, well-being and society

There is a long association between the arts and mental well-being, but this can also be an area of contest and debate. In this commentary on the issues raised by the papers in this special arts and mental well-being issue of the journal, James Oliver and Paul Murray question the attempt to impose scientific measures of outcome on arts participation, and ask if we should not, instead, regard access to opportunities for creative expression as a legal right and moral duty owing to those whom we, as a society, have excluded from the mainstream through incarceration or labelling.