This exploratory qualitative study examined the intrinsic definitions of spirituality and religion across three different religious or ethnic groups of older adults – Jewish, African American Protestants and Caucasian Protestants. The study explores how older adults from these various backgrounds self-identify with the terms religion and spirituality. Because both African-Americans and Jewish older adults are underrepresented in the research on spirituality and religion, their inclusion lends insights to this topic and helps to anchor the findings in a cross-cultural context. Focus groups were employed to understand how these groups characterize their relationship to spirituality and religion. Social work professionals can utilize these findings to work more effectively with the diverse and complex issues of older adults.
The traditional approach to substance-abuse treatment involves the disease model, as promulgated through Alcoholics Anonymous. In this model, the message for relatives and friends of substance users is that their behavior cannot influence the user to either enter treatment or to reduce their substance use. The main emphasis instead is on helping relatives concentrate on their own lives and cultivating a sense of detachment from the drinker. However, a beginning empirical literature has developed on treatment with the relatives of substance users, which indicates that the relative may be able to affect the behavior of the substance user, although the effect of such treatment on the relative may be less consistent. This article will discuss findings of studies, which are organized according to whether relatives are treated alone or in a marital therapy context. Suggestions for further research in this area and implications for social work are discussed.Alcohol and drug abuse represent a serious social issue. The dire social consequences of substance abuse include its devastating impact on health, criminal behavior, work productivity, and traffic-or employment-related accidents. The total economic cost of these negative consequences in the United
Through this qualitative study the author explores the resiliency processes demonstrated by older African American Hurricane Katrina survivors who relocated in the aftermath of the storm and were consequently faced with difficult challenges. In-depth interviews were used to assess the multidimensional characteristics of resiliency that enabled these older adults to deal with adversity. These findings highlight distinct processes reflecting resiliency: (a) Trusting in a higher power, and the importance of (b) living in the present, (c) activating resources, (d) creating community, and (e) doing for others. The author concludes this study with suggestions on how these findings may inform social work practice with older adults.
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