It’s not about imposing what I believe or what I value”
Social workers’ personal reflections on religion and spirituality and their influence on practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15434717 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Buetta Warkentin (Booth University College, corresponding author), Cynthia Akorfa Sottie (0009-0000-4634-4675, Booth University College), Alexander Sawatsky (Booth University College) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 393-410 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work Social Thought (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1542-6432 • E-ISSN: 1542-6440 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/15426432.2023.2255154 |
| OpenAlex | W4386791016 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 21 |
A growing body of work has identified the impact of spirituality and religion in the life of the client and the significance it has for how social workers approach and understand their work. This study, based on qualitative interviews with social work practitioners, contributes to this literature by exploring how social workers' beliefs impact their motivation to enter the profession, their willingness to explore spirituality and religion with clients, and the role that their own sense of spirituality or religion has in supporting or challenging them in the face of a difficult profession. We found that participants expressed a nuanced understanding of their spiritual or religious identification, offering a critically reflexive stance that demonstrated a fluidity in beliefs that for several also correlated with a willingness to initiate exploration of the significance of spirituality and religion in their clients. Our findings indicate that social workers are motivated to enter a profession that aligns with their values, and that more education and training are needed to better equip social service agencies to understand the significance of spirituality and religion, and to support social workers to engage in exploration of spirituality and religion in their work with clients.KEYWORDS: Religionspiritualitysocial workerssocial work practice Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)
Political science · Public relations · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Spirituality · Value (mathematics · Workplace Spirituality · Medicine · Psychology · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology · Workplace Spirituality and Leadership · Social Work
The Discovery of Grounded Theory
Christianity and social service in modern Britain
Namaste Theory
Workplace spirituality in social services departments
Why Child Welfare Supervisors Stay
Teaching About Organized Religion in Social Work
Making Sense of Their World
What does religion and spirituality mean to a racially diverse group of social work practitioners
Teaching About Organized Religion in Social Work
Ethical Issues in the Use of Spiritually Based Interventions in Social Work Practice
The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice
Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Curriculum
It Never Came Up
How Unreligious are the Religious 'Nones'? Religious Dynamics of the Unaffiliated in Canada
Spiritual But Not Religious? Beyond Binary Choices in the Study of Religion
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |