1. Spirituality and Social Work
Spirituality resource package aimed
primarily at new social workers to provide
them with a starting point in regard to
traditional spirituality and its role in practice
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2. The role of spirituality in social work practice
“Whatever practitioners’ own beliefs, experiences and feelings, it is essential
to study the implications of spirituality as part of the whole person”
(Crompton, 1998 as cited in Henery, 2003)
“
• Social work is based on respect for the inherent worth
and dignity of all people; and the rights that follow from
this (GSCC, 2002).
• Social workers need to be able to respond
appropriately to the needs of all their clients, and are
ethically mandated to develop their knowledge of
spiritual diversity (Hodge, 2005).
• “Culturally competent” practice depends on an
understanding and appreciation of the impact of faith
and religion (Gilligan and Furness, 2006).
Spiritually Sensitive Practice Skills
(Client Centeredness)
• In such an approach, the social worker comes across
as hearing what the person is saying, which is a vital
and sometimes underrated quality of direct social work
practice.
• If one is seeking to create a spiritually sensitive
context for practice the need for the skill of client
centeredness is especially critical.
• So often people are expecting us to not be listening for
it.
• People are not expecting us to respect that part of
them.
(R. BOLTON, 1979 as cited in Hewitt and Hewitt, 2007)
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3. •
Recognition of benefits of This resource package has been designed due to demands from
previous research, which highlights the importance of spiritual
Spiritual intervention beliefs in the lives of many service users and carers (Gilligan and
Furness) and the vital influence these beliefs can have on human
behaviour (Hugen and Scales, 2002).
• The professions’ lack of attention to spiritual diversity may be
affecting its ability to provide effective services to clients
(Hodge, 2005)
• Research from the US demonstrates how social work students
commonly report that, in their mainstream social work
practice, they are frequently work with clients who have spiritual
beliefs. However, they had not received any training in these issues
• The section 104 Charitable Choice provision of the
1996 welfare reform legislation enabled religious leaving them unequipped to deal with them in a professional social
organisations to receive government funding for the
work context (Nash and Stewart, 2002).
delivery of social services (Center for Public
Justice, 1999)
• Research indicates that many clients desire to integrate their
•The Central Council for Education and Training in
spiritual strengths into therapeutic settings (Bart, 1998 as cited in
Social Work (CCETSW) has recogised the importance
Hodge, 2005).
of training material available to social workers in
handling spiritual issues and working with people with
a faith background, by providing a training pack on
• Furthermore, support is growing for these therapeutic interventions
children and spirituality (Bowpitt, 2000).
that actively utilise clients spiritual beliefs and practices as
•The Council of Social Work Education already includes therapeutic tools (Bergin, 1980 as cited in Harris et al, 1999)
spirituality as one aspect of clients lives to which social
workers are to be sensitive to and knowledgeable
about (Abels, 2000), however, contradictory to
• These spiritual dimensions embrace a holistic conception of the
this, the BASW code and the General Social Care
person, recently recognised as the bio-psycho-social-spiritual
Council (2002) code of practice excludes any mention
perspective. This perspective reintroduces spiritual issues as a
of spirituality (Gilligan and Furness, 2006).
legitimate focus for social work practice, leading to development of
•In the Practice Guidance associated with the new theoretical frameworks and practice models, such as
Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need
assessment tools and intervention strategies (Hugen and
and their Families (DOH, 2000), it is emphasised that
Scales, 2002).
“spirituality is an issue for all families” (Gilligan and
Furness, 2006).
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4. Common Spiritual Interventions
“Traumatic events shatter our sense of an orderly world where human
interactions proceed along agreed-upon lines. It is often as a result of
these events, that people turn to spirituality as a means of finding
solace” (Wilcke, 2002)
• Spiritual values and beliefs can be powerful forces that clients draw upon when faced with traumas that they need to
overcome (Baskin, 2002 as cited in Wilcke, 2002). Just by listening to their clients recount their experiences and opening up
a dialogue about the spiritual strengths they perceive as helpful to them, social workers can assist them in empowering
themselves to face the challenges in their lives with stronger resources (Wilcke, 2002)
• Tools for spiritually sensitive practice (as took from Human Behaviour Theory and Social Work Practice)
• Harris et al (1999) identified a number of spiritually orientated health intervention, including
1. Adapted cognitive behavioural interventions
2. Meditation
3. 12 – step fellowships
4. Forgiveness interventions
5. Prayer
Gilligan and Furness (date) found that national intervention trends including “praying or mediating with clients”; recommending
participation in spiritual programmes or referring them to a spiritual counsellor.
Matthews (2009) when speaking about spiritual activities bringing change to fractured communities emphasised a more informal
approach to intervention, but still carried a spiritual basis such as the use of art. He states how the use of art can be a
creative process which is often undertook in the presence of other people, and is frequently seen as having therapeutic
value. Again, many studies have demonstrated that music can be therapeutic and has a number of positive effects on
peoples psychological,, physical and emotional well-being (Stacy et al, 2002 as cited in Matthews, 2009).
The interventions mentioned above are just a general overview of common ones used, however, the intervention used always
depends on the service user’s spiritual nature. Social work in modern society requires practitioners to be culturally and
spiritually sensitive (Matthews, 2009), as reflected in the Council of Social Work Education, which includes spirituality as
one aspect of the clients lives to which social workers are expected to be sensitive to and have knowledge about
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(Abels, 2000).