Building shalom: Integrating social work, peacebuilding and Catholic Social Teaching for transformational change

ABSTRACT

This article argues for greater integration between peacebuilding and social work, based on shared values, complementary practices, and congruence among key underlying theories in both fields. The article also describes how principles of Catholic Social Teaching align with and enhance both social work and peacebuilding. The implications of the ecological model for the three commonly accepted domains of social work practice—micro, mezzo, and macro—find equivalent expression in dimensions of conflict transformation, as well as in Catholic Relief Services’ approach to building social cohesion by working iteratively at individual, intragroup, and intergroup levels. Three case studies illustrate this approach.

KEYWORDS:

• social work
• peacebuilding
• Catholic Social Teaching
• religion
• ethics
• group
• community
• advocacy
• mental health
• group
• counseling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The authors would like to thank Michelle Nuñez, Catholic University School of Social Work intern at Catholic Relief Services, and Rebeka Martensen, Publications Manager, for their assistance with this article.

2. UNHCR (2016) reported that 65.6 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes due to conflict, violence, persecution, or human rights violations.

3. The economic costs alone of violence containment were estimated in 2014 to be $9.46 trillion, or 11% of Gross World Product. The United States, for example, spends over 10% of its Gross Domestic Product on violence containment, including national defense, policing, and personal security, but also responding to the consequences of violence. (Institute for Economics and Peace, 2014).

4. For a richer description of these principles, see also: https://www.crs.org/about/guiding-principles. CRS’ guiding principles are derived from the major themes of CST outlined by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops here: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.cfm.

5. See also: https://socialworklicensemap.com/macro-mezzo-and-micro-social-work/.

6. For more on the rationale underpinning the inclusion of “binding” as a critical element of peacebuilding, we recommend consulting Craig Zelizer, “Trauma Sensitive Peace-Building: Lessons for Theory and Practice” in Africa Peace and Conflict Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2008, https://activity.scar.gmu.edu/article/trauma-sensitive-peace-building-lessons-theory-and-practice, as well as the work of Eastern Mennonite University’s Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) program: https://emu.edu/cjp/star/.