Social Work Field Instructors’ Integration of Religion and Spirituality in Clinical Practice

ABSTRACT

This article describes a national sample of social work field instructors’ responses to a cross-sectional survey of social workers’ orientation toward integrating clients’ religion and spirituality into practice and compares their responses with those of nonfield instructors. Four hundred sixty-nine social workers, including 69 MSW field instructors, anonymously responded to an online version of the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale. Field instructors reported high levels of self-efficacy, positive attitudes, and few barriers to integrating clients’ religion and spirituality, yet fewer reported engaging in behaviors related to this area of practice. Compared with nonfield instructors, few differences emerged across items; however, field instructors reported higher behavior subscale scores, compared with nonfield instructors. Implications and future considerations for social work field education are discussed.

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Notes on contributors

Holly K. Oxhandler

Holly K. Oxhandler, PhD, LMSW, is assistant professor at Baylor University Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.