This volume of the Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought begins with an article that examines an under-researched area of religion and spirituality in social work, that is, the influence social work practice has on the spirituality of the social worker. In their study of a random sample of social workers taken from the NASW membership list (N = 527), Rinkel and colleagues found that 40% of respondents found their social work practice had a significant impact on their own personal spirituality. Types of positive impacts included a broadening of their perspectives on religion and spirituality and an affirmation of their own beliefs based on shared experiences with clients. The authors also offer insight into the responses of those who felt their practice had no influence on their personal spirituality. This is an important study because it recognizes the bidirectionality of the helping relationship as it relates to spirituality and religion, and it lays further groundwork for future research on this topic, particularly as it relates to retention in practice, vicarious trauma, and the role of religion and spirituality in the supervisory relationship.
The next three articles focus specifically on questions that examine the role of religion and spirituality within the African American community. In the first of these articles, Hays notes the abundance of literature examining the importance of religion and spirituality as protective factors in the health and mental health well-being of African Americans. Given this evidence, she observes the importance of church-based initiatives to promote health and mental health programs. Building on the current literature, Hays challenges those who are interested in church-based programs to consider Social Action Theory as a foundation for thinking about church-based interventions that improve community-level outcomes versus the traditional focus on individual-level outcomes.
In the next two articles, authors address the importance of spirituality within African American couples and African American women who are HIV positive. In the first of these articles, Skipper and colleagues report on a qualitative study of 33 African American, heterosexual couples that examined the influence of intercessory prayer in their lives. Intercessory prayer is prayer that invites God to intervene on behalf of another. In this study, the authors found that intercessory prayer helped to build personal strength within individuals, strengthened marital bonds, and helped to unify communities. In their study of African American women who are HIV positive, Runnels and colleagues found that participants identified faith and spirituality as important mechanisms for coping with HIV and finding meaning in their suffering.
This issue concludes with an inspiring article by Chi, who examined the writings of Jane Addams, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jean Vanier, and Mary Jo Leddy to explore how each person drew on their faith to seek change in the social environment. In her analysis, Chi found six “operational elements” that were common among them, including: experiencing God within and in other people, whole relationships, community, hospitality, nonviolence, and change-making. She concludes this manuscript by discussing the implications of this study for a faith-inspired praxis of love for contemporary social work.
In addition to these five articles, this volume also includes reviews of three books that might be of interest to our readers. Jewell reviews Restorative Justice Today: Practical Application. Restorative justice is a topic of growing interest in the field of social work, particularly in school-based and juvenile justice settings. Miller reviews David Hodge’s book, Spiritual Assessment in Social Work and Mental Health Practice, which may help readers discern the appropriateness of this text for courses on clinical social work. Finally, McMillin tackles the macroside of social work with his review of Social Justice and Social Work: Rediscovering a Core Value of the Profession. We believe the readers will find much to ponder in the various works presented in this final volume of 2018.