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Article Excerpt
Since passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-193), including section 104 (also known as Charitable Choice), social work scholars have responded by increasing their attention to spirituality and religion as areas for research that are important for social work practice. As a case in point, in a search of the Social Work Abstracts database before 1996, only 56 articles or books were published that included the terms "spirituality" or "religion" in their tides, keywords, or abstracts. In the past 10 years, however, the number increased nearly 300 percent to 153 publications (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/search? vid=1&hid=120&sid=51b7556220f4-4bb2-b519-d577f55c20d8%40sessionmgr108). Despite the increase, the literature is void of articles that specifically investigate when services delivery is consistent with ethical social work practice and when it becomes an opportunity for proselytizing.
This article uses an in-depth case study of a faith-based organization hoping to acquire federal funding to explore the question: When does services delivery cross the line and become an opportunity for proselytizing? For present purposes, proselytizing refers to efforts to induce someone to join or convert to a certain religious faith. In the context of social work practice, proselytizing refers to social workers using their professional roles and relationships with clients to create unwanted opportunities for discussion about converting to their religious beliefs. Although the case study is of a Christian nonprofit agency, the findings warrant caution for social work practice in any religious setting.
LITERATURE REVIEW
There are three main categories of social work literature on spirituality and religion--emergence of spirituality as an important aspect of direct social work practice, role of religious organizations in developing and delivering services, and approaches of social work educators to prepare students. Here we review the first two as the most relevant for the current study.
Emerging Importance of Spirituality in Direct Social Work Practice
Spirituality has emerged from a marginalized subject to a prominent topic for social work practice. Spirituality and religion have a range of meanings in social work literature and are discussed in educational settings in a variety of ways (Bullis, 1996; Canda & Furman, 1999; Ellor, Netting, & Thibault, 1999). For our purposes, we understand religion to be a category for understanding the context of broad and diverse spiritual and sacerdotal practices engaged in by individuals and communities, and the organizations they form for these purposes (for example, congregations, denominations, religiously affiliated organizations). On the basis of the work of Sheridan and Bullis (1991), we define spirituality as a person's search for, as well as the expression or experience of, that which is ultimately meaningful. We primarily discuss spirituality to include religion because so many spiritual practices traditionally developed within the context of a religion; yet because we also recognize that so many contemporary spiritualities are practiced outside the confines of a specific religion, we are attentive to the role of spirituality apart from religion.
A few articles in the 1980s set forth the possibility that social workers should at least recognize and appreciate spirituality as a component of client functioning with certain populations. Social work scholars did not even write the first few articles. Instead, Marty (1980), a professor of religious history, shared his concern that religious influences were becoming less recognizable in social work. Humphrey (1980), a professor of religion, highlighted the importance of religion for people living in Appalachia. He posited that social workers needed to respect how vital religion was to the identity and security of people living in that part of the country. A few years later, the same type of article set forth a similar thesis for social workers working with black families (Devore, 1983). Up to this point, however, client spirituality was not considered a vital component for social work assessment or intervention.
Then a few prominent scholars began drawing attention to spirituality as a dimension of life that all social workers needed to consider. Siporin (1985) suggested that a major discrepancy existed between the spiritual beliefs, practices, and memberships of clients and the neglect of this dimension in social work assessment and intervention. He urged the profession to include spirituality as a major factor of individual, family, and community functioning. A few other social work scholars agreed, adding that spirituality was the missing dimension of practice (Cox, 1985; Joseph, 1988).
Attention then shifted to how social workers could include spirituality in direct practice. Canda (1988) put forth the concept of spiritually sensitive practice that involved moving away from pathology and clinical diagnosis to exploring the meanings of life events for clients. A decade later, in his text with Leola Furman, they described a range of practice techniques that were specifically designed for spiritual growth with clients (Canda & Furman, 1999). Hodge (2005) focused on using spiritual life maps and spiritual ecograms as important components of assessment and intervention. He also advocated for the use of spiritually informed cognitive therapy (Hodge, 2006). Derezotes (2006) described spiritually oriented practice as "spiritual activism" in which social workers assist clients to understand their interconnection with everything else in the world. Although the specifics of each strategy may differ, scholars agree that spirituality in practice begins with self-awareness of spiritual growth and transcendence (Derezotes, 2006; Hodge, 2005). As Canda (1988) first explained, "social workers should examine their beliefs, motivations, values, and activities and consider the impact of these factors upon the client's spirituality" (p. 245).
Role of Religious Organizations in Developing and Delivering Services
Along with the emergence of spirituality in practice, social workers have increased their attention to the role of religious organizations as services providers. Religious organizations can encompass a wide range of sizes and organizational structures from small congregations with fewer than 50 people to international organizations with millions of people operating in many different countries (Cnaan, Wineburg, & Boddie, 1999).
Religious organizations have a long history of working with the government to provide social services. Coughlin (1965), in his seminal study, found that governmental resources were contributing to as much as 80 percent of the...
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