Faith and Its Application to the Practice of Social Work

Abstract

While previous studies investigated the level of spirituality and religiosity of social workers, it is unclear how these beliefs influence choice of social work as a career and subsequent interactions with clients. Current findings of a qualitative study of 20 geriatric social workers suggest an intertwining of the values of social work, such as social justice and client empowerment with private religious and spiritual beliefs. In dealing with the rigors of the profession, these beliefs were used as a source of support and grounding for social workers and were rarely discussed with clients.

KEYWORDS:

• Religion and spirituality
• social work
• mental health
• elderly

Ellen Wagenfeld-Heintz, Ph.D. was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Gerontology, University of Michigan when this research was carried out. Her work was supported by a postdoctoral training grant (T32 AG0014).

The author wishes to thank Drs. Lois Verbrugge, Ruth Dunkle, Amy Wagenfeld, and Morton Wagenfeld for their assistance with the study and comments on the manuscript. She is grateful to the social workers who participated in the study.