Assignment: Spirituality and Social Work Practice
Because it may be a significant part of a client's social environment, spirituality plays a vital role in your understanding of the client, their needs, and potential treatment. Consider this example: A social worker recognizes a client's strong Baptist faith; the social worker then facilitates services through the Baptist Church so as to build on an already established connection.
Being culturally sensitive by respecting your clients' spirituality and religious traditions is an important professional competence. Applying your spiritual awareness to a specific client case, however, may require even greater skill. In this Assignment, you consider how you might address a client's crisis that includes a spiritual or religious component.
To Prepare:
Access the Social Work Case Studies media in the Learning Resources and explore the case of Najeeb.
Submit a 3 to 4 page paper analyzing the case and applying your perspective on spirituality. Be sure to address the following:
- As a social worker, would you include spirituality and religion in your initial assessment of Najeeb? Why or why not?
- What strategies might you use to ensure that your personal values would not influence your practice with Najeeb? How would these strategies support ethical practice?
- How would you address the crisis that Najeeb is experiencing?
Use the Learning Resources to support your analysis. Make sure to provide APA citations and a reference list.
Required Readings
Zastrow, C. H., Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2019). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
· Chapter, "Spotlight on Diversity: Relate Human Diversity to Psychological Theories" (pp. 112-114)
· Chapter, Sections "Review Fowler's Theory of Faith Development," "Critical Thinking: Evaluation of Fowler's Theory," and "Social Work Practice and Empowerment Through Spiritual Development" (pp. 339-342)
· Chapter, "Highlight 15.2: "Celebration of Life Funerals" (pp. 694-696)
Limb, G. E., Hodge, D. R., Ward, K., Ferrell, A., & Alboroto, R. (2018). Developing cultural competence with LDS clients: Utilizing spiritual genograms in social work practice. Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work, 37(2), 166-181.
Oxhandler, H. K., Polson, E. C., & Achenbaum, W. A. (2018). The religiosity and spiritual beliefs and practices of clinical social workers: A national survey. Social Work, 63(1), 47-56.
Pomeroy, E. C., Hai, A. H., & Cole, A. H., Jr. (2021). Social work practitioners' educational needs in developing spiritual competency in end-of-life care and grief. Journal of Social Work Education, 57(2), 264-286.
Roh, S., Burnette, C. E., & Lee, Y.-S. (2018). Prayer and faith: Spiritual coping among American Indian women cancer survivors. Health and Social Work, 43(3), 185-192.