A Comparative Survey of Aotearoa New Zealand and UK Social Workers on the Role of Religion and Spirituality in Practice
Posted: 15 Mar 2010
Date Written: March 2010
Abstract
Increasingly, social work is being challenged to consider the role of spirituality and religion in practice and education as the profession has witnessed an expanding interest in the integration of spirituality, motivated by the recognition of spiritual diversity as an important component of human experience, cultural competency and anti-racist social work practice. In response to the lack of international empirical research in general, and relating to spirituality in particular, cross-national survey research was conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ) and the UK as part of a larger multi-national study of social workers' attitudes about the role of spirituality in their practice. Although the two countries share some cultural similarities due to the impact of secularization, British settlement and colonization in ANZ, there are also significant differences related to the unique multicultural make-up of ANZ, emphasizing the indigenous Maori and the centrality of spirituality within a Maori worldview.
Keywords: Spirituality, religion, social work education, social work practice
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