St. Catherine University SOPHIA Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers School of Social Work 5-2012 Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice David M. Allick St. Catherine University Follow this and additional works at: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Allick, David M.. (2012). Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/msw_papers/137 This Clinical research paper is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Social Work at SOPHIA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers by an authorized administrator of SOPHIA. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running head: Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice 1 Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice Submitted by David M. Allick May 11, 2012 MSW Clinical Research Paper The Clinical Research Project is a graduation requirement for MSW students at St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas School of Social Work in St. Paul, Minnesota and is conducted within a nine-month time frame to demonstrate facility with basic social research methods. Students must independently conceptualize a research problem, formulate a research design that is approved by a research committee and the university Institutional Review Board, implement the project, and publicly present their findings. This project is neither a Master’s thesis nor a dissertation. School of Social Work St. Catherine University and University of St. Thomas St. Paul Minnesota Committee Members: Katherine Hill, Ph.D., Chair Stacy Husebo., MSW, LICSW Kevin Hanke LMFT Student Running head: Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice 2 Abstract What are the attitudes that social workers have toward religion and spirituality and how does it affect their practice? What affect does religion and spirituality have on clients in therapy and how big of an impact is it making in their lives? How much education are social workers receiving in their undergraduate and graduate curriculum? These questions and a few others are all addressed in this research. In this qualitative study the researcher interviewed seven Licensed Independent Clinical social workers (LICSWs) with at least seven years of experience, serving in diverse areas of social work. Social workers attitudes toward religion and spirituality do affect the way they practice. Those social workers who are more educated are also more comfortable when dealing with clients who are practicing some type of religion and or spirituality. Clients are being positively affected by workers ability to engage in religious and spiritual conversations in area such as but not limited to depression and end of life issues. Running head: Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice 3 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..4 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………6 Social Workers Views of Religion and Spirituality……………………………….........6 Relevance to Social Work…………………………………………………………….......7 Social Work Ethics and Values…………………………………………………………..9 Spirituality, Religion and Interventions……………………………………………......10 The Importance of this Study……………………………………………………………13 Research Question…………………………………………………………………….....14 Conceptual Frame Work……………………………………………………………......14 Methods………………………………………………………………………………......16 Researcher’s Personal Lens…………………………………………………………......17 Respondents………………………………………………………………………………17 Data Collection…………………………………………………………………………...18 Analysis Technique………………………………………………………………………19 Findings…………………………………………………………………………………...20 Religious and Spiritual Background and Career Field Choice…………………….....21 Social Work Education in Religion and Spirituality………………………………......25 Integration of Religion and Spirituality into Practice…………………………...........26 Benefits and Detriments of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice……………………………………………………………….....31 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………34 Future Research………………………………………………………………………….41 Strengths and Limitations of Study………………………………………………….....42 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………......43 References…………………………………………………………………………….......44 Running head: Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice 4 Introduction Defining religion and spirituality can be difficult because some see them as the same thing while others see them as separate entities. For the purposes of this study, religion will be defined as an external social construct of spirituality; it is a set of institutionalized beliefs, behaviors, and rituals practiced by a larger group or community with similar beliefs (Carrol, 1998). Some examples of religions are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Casico (1998) & Gilbert (2000), state that religion and religiosity are defined by a person’s involvement in a particular denomination or place of worship. With religion being defined by social construct and practice, spirituality on the other hand is defined as being more personal and internalized (Carroll, 1998). Spirituality is specific to the person, self-defined and deals with how that individual interacts with and experiences their “God” or ultimate reality (Hodge 2003). Spirituality is a fundamental belief about how people view humanity, how a person finds meaning, and a moral framework of how one should relate to others (Larsen, 2010). Spirituality can be shaped in a person life in many ways by gender, ethnicity, age, religious or spiritual background and socioeconomic standing (Larsen, 2010). Religion and spirituality play such important roles in our lives and it is vital for social workers to understand how it affects their clients and how it can be used to help them in their personal growth and progress in their mental health. The foundation of social work theory and its practice is deeply rooted in religion and spirituality (Day, 2009). Miley, O’Melia, and DuBois (2011) indicate that social workers are interested in working with the person as a whole; the mental, emotional, spiritual, and the systems that affect their lives. Even though social work historically Running head: Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice 5 placed significant value on religion and spirituality, social workers struggled to find a place in the professional world. As social workers moved toward a more professional approach, they began distancing themselves from religion and spirituality, by adopting more secular approaches (Kaplan & Dziegielewski, 1999). Kaplan & Dziegielewski (1999) suggests that this happened in order to fit in with the science-based professions of psychology and psychiatry; which state that spiritual beliefs are not by nature empirical. She goes on to say that this is a significant problem since one of the cornerstones of social work is that it recognizes the whole person and the influences in their lives; spirituality being a major component (Kaplan & Dziegielewski, 1999). Although social work had started distancing itself from spirituality and religion, the world has not. With the constant, rapid change and increasing unrest in the world today many people are seeking religion and spirituality to help them understand the meaning of life and how to explain what is going on around them. A number of polls have consistently reported that between 92% and 97% of Americans say that they believe in God, or a higher power, and 87% report that religion is either very or fairly important in life (Gallup, Lindsav, 1999). Spirituality is on the rise in the United States and even though it was once a predominantly Judeo-Christian society, many new nationalities and people groups have settled here, with more coming daily, which has impacted the standard beliefs and practices. These newcomers will bring with them their religions and spiritual practices and the United States will become far more diverse than it is currently. Sheridan (2003), states that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have been the dominating religions with the highest number of followers in the US. However, there are approximately 35 million Hispanics and African Americans, 10 million Asians, and 2 million indigenous peoples such as Native Running head: Attitudes toward Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice 6 Americans, Alaskans and Native Hawaiians – each group with its own religion, spiritual ideas and practices. This is not to say all these people groups have the same religion and spiritual practices. It is only to say, the United States is the first country in the history to be a major microcosm in the world regarding race, ethnicity, and religion (Hutchison, 2003). Eck (2001) agrees that America has become the most diverse country in the world in terms of religion and spirituality. Since the United States is such a diverse nation and with religion on the rise, it seems inevitable that social workers will be working with people of faith, whether it is one of the three major religions or any one of the other religions. Literature Review Social Workers Views of Religion and Spirituality There are social workers today who believe that religion and spirituality have no place in social work and believe that they are completely separate domains (Larson, 2010). Canda & Furman (1999) say that some social workers are uneasy in combining