Making Sense of Their World: Aspects of Spirituality and Subjective Well-Being of Practicing Social Workers

Abstract

Social science scholarship identifies factors that predict overall subjective well-being (SWB) or happiness. Although religion and religiosity positively affect overall SWB, less attention has been given to spirituality, and no research, to date, has examined the spiritual dimensions of SWB amongst practicing social workers. Research is based on in-depth interviews with 13 social workers possessing the highest SWB, measured by a 2006 survey of 700 randomly selected social workers practicing in Alberta, Canada. Participants identified five different spiritually based aspects of their SWB: familial and childhood background; major life experiences; personal beliefs about existence and life; experiences with work and personal life balance; and professional identity and practice background. The discussion and concluding sections consider how to incorporate the findings into social work practice, theory building, and education.

Keywords:

• identity
• social work
• spirituality
• subjective well-being