Graduate social work program leaders’ perceived support and barriers to integrating spirituality in the curriculum

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the qualitative responses of a national survey of 56 Master Social Work (MSW) program leaders concerning their perceptions of factors that support or hinder the integration of religion and spirituality (RS) into the MSW curriculum. The overarching themes regarding what supports the inclusion of a RS course or infusion of RS content include faculty interest, religious affiliation of the university, and student interest. Themes describing what hinders the inclusion of a RS course or infusion of RS content include lack of time, lack of resources, and lack of faculty experience. Implications for MSW programs and future curricula development are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Religion
• spirituality
• social work education
• faculty development
• training

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the Garland School of Social Work for supporting this project, as well as the participants for their time and willingness to complete the survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.