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Dissertation DISSERTATION SPIRITUALITY AND ATHEIST SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS: CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CURRICULUM CONTENT ON SPIRITUALITY Submitted by Jo Fjelstrom School of Education In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado Spring 2016 Doctoral Committee: Advisor: Laurie Carlson Co-Advisor: Victoria Buchan Susan Lynham Susan Tungate Copyright by Jo Fjelstrom 2016 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT SPIRITUALITY AND ATHEIST SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS: CONTRIBUTIONS FOR CURRICULUM CONTENT ON SPIRITUALITY The purpose of this constructivist study was to gain information about a criterion sample of atheist social work students concerning their experiences and perspectives of spirituality and curriculum content on spirituality. Most of the twenty-two participants formed their atheist worldviews against the tide of a religious upbringing, primarily due to their assessment of a dissonance between their evaluations of reality and religious beliefs. From the findings and the literature, suggestions are made for curriculum content on spirituality: (a) educators should frame worldviews as constructions and treat mystical elements as cultural phenomena; (b) content should have a professional focus with academically appropriate content; (c) curriculum content should be planned around the goal of training social work students to effectively address issues about worldviews in practice; (d) inclusive language and content should be utilized that covers all worldviews, including atheist and other naturalist worldviews; (e) biases, stereotypes, and privilege should be addressed and countered; (f) specific dialogic techniques should be developed for use in the classroom; (g) educators who will teach content on worldviews should have specific training for teaching material on spirituality and worldviews; and (h) a task force should be formed to create guidelines for curriculum content on spirituality. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sincere thanks to my committee members for their guidance and help throughout the entire process. My advisor Prof. Laurie Carlson provided patience, motivation, and encouragement. Prof. Vicky Buchan offered gentle and probing guidance that caused me to think deeply about key formulations. Prof. Susan Tungate provided encouragement and enthusiasm. Prof. Susan Lynham provided suggestions from her immense knowledge and particularly memorable advice about avoiding “rabbit holes.” Prof. Becky Wentworth provided encouragement and ideas at key times in the process. Dr. Kimberly Bundy-Fazioli, who was my original advisor, taught me through example how to teach with passion and caring. To my participants, who freely gave of their personal narratives and perspectives to create with me this offering for curriculum content on spirituality from an atheist perspective. To the forever friends and family of my nomadic life, who make my life rich and full. Thank you for your support and love. iii DEDICATION For my partner Kate for her love, support, patience, humor, and the sacrifice of precious time together while my attention was focused on academic work. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................ iv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................................... 6 Purpose Statement ............................................................................................................................ 6 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................................. 7 Spirituality in social work education .................................................................................. 7 Atheist contributions ........................................................................................................... 8 Research Questions .......................................................................................................................... 9 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................................................... 9 Atheism ............................................................................................................................... 9 Agnosticism ...................................................................................................................... 10 Naturalism ......................................................................................................................... 10 Religion ............................................................................................................................. 10 Spirituality ......................................................................................................................... 10 Supernatural ...................................................................................................................... 11 Worldview ......................................................................................................................... 11 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................................. 11 Delimitations of the Study ............................................................................................................. 12 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 13 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................... 14 Religion and Spirituality ................................................................................................................ 14 Religion and spirituality worldwide .................................................................................. 16 v Secularization .................................................................................................................... 18 Differentiating religion and spirituality ............................................................................ 18 Formulations of spirituality ............................................................................................... 20 Commonalities in religions and spiritualities ...................................................... 20 Nonreligious spiritualities .................................................................................... 21 Folk spiritualities ................................................................................................. 22 Defining spirituality ............................................................................................. 23 Operationalizing spirituality ............................................................................................. 24 Research on the foundations of human spirituality ........................................................... 26 Evolutionary psychology ..................................................................................... 26 Cognitive science of religion and spirituality ...................................................... 28 Sociology of religion and spirituality .................................................................. 30 Spirituality and the human sciences .................................................................................. 31 Nursing ................................................................................................................. 31 Psychology ........................................................................................................... 32 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 33 Atheism .......................................................................................................................................... 34 Demographics ................................................................................................................... 35 Characteristics ................................................................................................................... 36 Stereotypes and misconceptions ....................................................................................... 37 Invisible atheists ............................................................................................................... 39 Competence in Spirituality ............................................................................................................ 40 National Association of Social Workers competency standards for spirituality .............. 40 Competence for practice around spirituality ..................................................................... 41 The Curriculum and Spirituality .................................................................................................... 42 Council
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