The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Education and Practice

Abstract

This study investigated 208 students from two schools of socia l work on th eir views and experiences with religion and spiritua lit y in education and practice. Results revealed a genera lly favorable stance toward the role of religion and spiritualit y in socia l work practice and relatively high endorsement and utilization of spiritually oriented interventions with clients. These findings are striking given that the majority of respondents reported little exposure to content o n religion and spirituality in their educationa l program, thus raising concern about potential harm to clients. Results from the study are compared with previous resea rch on social work pra c titioners and faculty, and implications for sqcial work educa tion are presented.

Ethical Considerations about Spirituality in Social Work: Insights from a National Qualitative Survey

“…Regional and national survey studies have revealed that the majority of social worker respondents (students, faculty, and practitioners) value the spiritual dimension of their own lives and believe in its importance for their clients (Bullis, 1996;Canda 8c Furman, 1999;Derezotes 8c Evans, 1995;Joseph, 1988;Mattison, Jayaratne, 8c Croxton, 2000;Sheridan 8c Amato-von Hemert, 1999;Sheridan et al, 1992;Sheridan et al, 1994). These studies indicate that most of their respondents reported that they incorporate various spiritually oriented activities into work with clients.…”

“…nterest in spirituality and social work expanded rapidly recently, as shown by a significant increase in the number of articles and books published in the past 10 years (Canda, Nakashima, Burgess, Russel, 8c Barfield, 2003), the recent establishment of a spirituality symposium at the Annual Program Meeting of the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE; Sheridan, 2000) and a Web site on spirituality sponsored by CSWE, the fifty-plus schools that offer Master of Social Work courses on spirituality (R. Russel, personal communication, May 18, 2001), and continuing empirical investigations of the views of social workers about religion and spirituality since the late 1980s (e.g., Canda 8c Furman, 1999;Derezotes 8c Evans, 1995;Dudley 8c Helfgott, 1990;Joseph, 1988;Sheridan 8c Amato-von Hemert, 1999;Sheridan, Bullis, Adcock, Berlin, 8c Miller, 1992;Sheridan, Wilmer, 8c Atcheson, 1994).…”

Islam in the 21st century: Can the Islamic belief system and the ethics of social work be reconciled?

“…In addition to the key volumes that have been devoted to this topic (Bullis, 2013;Canda, 2012;Cnaan, Wineburg, & Boddie, 1999;Hare, 2014;Mathews, 2009;Paloutzian & Park, 2014), scholars have found that even though social work students reported little exposure to content on religion and spirituality in their educational programs, they highly endorse spiritually oriented interventions with clients (Derezotes & Evans, 1995;Furness, 2012;Furness & Gilligan, 2014;Sheridan & Hemert, 1999). The need to respect the religious and/or spiritual identities of clients has been especially salient among Muslim students.…”

The Interconnectedness of Spirituality and Social Development: Themes for Education

“…Despite the burgeoning discourse around spirituality in America (Sheridan, Bullis, Adcock, Berlin, & Miller, 1992;Sheridan & Amato-von-Hemert, 1999), only a few scholars have delineated its relatedness to social development (Chile & Simpson, 2004;David, 2000;Woodruff, 1996). This paper adds to their work by locating spirituality within social development.…”