This document discusses the role of religion, specifically Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism in social work practice. It provides an overview of the core beliefs, values, and ethics of each faith as well as approaches to working with clients from each religious background. The document also lists several references and resources on the topic of spirituality and religion in social work.

1. • H
Two things we need in life are imagination and inspiration. A life with
no imagination is a life of imprisonment. With the wings of
Role of Christianity in social work practice:
imagination, we must try to fly into the Beyond. A life with no
inspiration is a life of stagnation (Chinmoy, 1971)
• Social work has been influenced by a variety of religious beliefs
throughout its history but primarily in the West, christian beliefs
• Beliefs of Hinduism
have dominated social work with the roots of practice being
embedded within Judeo-Christian traditions.
• Values of Hinduism
• Significant part of our society and plays significant role in providing
• The aim of life is to live a divine life (Chinmoy, 1971). moral rationale and reasoning to our political, social and charitable
institituions.
• Classic Hinduism promotes four different goals.:
1. Dharma (virtue) - has been suggested as the
quot;fundamental unifying principle of traditional • Christian Beliefs
Hinduismquot; (Fitzgerald, 1990, p. 112).
2. Artha (success)
• Forgiveness
3. Kama (pleasure)
4. moksha (release).
• Christian Ethics
Social Work with Christian Clients
Social Work with Hindu clients
• The Christian Social Work Model
• The concepts of individualism, autonomy, materialism, and
secularism that characterize Western, and especially
U.S., culture are subordinate in Hindu society, where the
concepts of community, interdependence, and divinity are
primary, made salient, and implicitly institutionalized.
• Reddy and Hanna (1998 as cited in Hodge, 2004 )
emphasized that practitioner application of typical Western
secular values and related interventions with Hindus in
counselling settings my cause quot;confusion and further negative
affect.quot;
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2. Islamic Values:
• Basis for Islamic faith comes from teachings of Qur’an
Population of Muslim community constantly increasing and Islam is
which, outlines how Muslims should conduct themselves to be
receiving recognition on many levels of society. However, as
at one with God.
the Muslim community grows so do its social problems and
concerns.
• Social work according to the Qur’an - the teachings of the
Qur’an form the basis of the Islamic faith, which gives a
Concerns such as poverty, social readjustment issues (for refugees
blueprint for how Muslims should behave
and immigrants), shelter services for abused and neglected
children and for women suffering domestic violence must be
addressed. • Translations of the meanings of the Qur’an
Major concern is the need to learn ways to raise strong, healthy • Islam and Social Service
Muslim families in a society that often conflicts with Islamic
family values and teachings (Nadir, 2009).
Islamic based interventions
• Social workers need to develop Islamic based interventions
and strategies that address the Islamic communities concerns
from birth to old age (Nadir, 2009).
• Essential for workers engaging with Muslim population to
have knowledge about their faith as in Islam, religion is a way
of life, and not just bound to only rituals (Ad Deen A/-/slam).
Muslims believe that the sole reason they have been created
is to worship Allah, and their role in this life is to live their life
according to Allah’s laws (Ragab, 1997 as cited in
Elias, 2005). Therefore modern counselling where clients are
advised to be true to themselves would not be appropriate with
a Muslim client.
• Counselling in Islam uses an adaptation of cognitive-
behavioural Therapy in the treatment of clients with gender
identity or sexual orientation problems (Elias, 2005).
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3. • The ethics of Buddhism
• The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism
• 1. Dukkha
Core values of Judaism
2. Suffering is a result of our desires
• The ethics of Judaism 3. Suffering can be diminished for ever
• Judaism Customs 4. The Noble Eightfold Path (a plan for health)
• The Ten Commandments
• The Wheel of Life illustrates the essence of the Buddhist
• Introduction to the Torah teachings, including the four truths and gives explanations to the causes of
evil and its effects.
• Working with clients:
• Judaism and Meditation– online meditation with step by • Buddhism views psychotherapy as a “kind of mindfulness , a willingness to
accept the truth of one’s own experience” (Bien, 2004 as cited in
step guidance.
Baker, 2005).
• The use of meditation is mindfulness, and teaching and promoting these
techniques could prove useful in calming a clients mind of stressful and
• Judaism Focuses on the importance of soul traits negative self-talk (Meadows, 2003 as cited in Baker, 2005)
including: • The practice of Dharma
Working with Buddhist clients (Baker, 2005)
1. Patience
•
2. Gratitude Meditation helps calm feelings and thoughts; it reduces self-criticism and
helps the client be more comfortable with their emotions (Rubin, 1999 as
3. Compassion cited in Baker, 2005). Useful in the recovery from addiction as it helps give
the client a sense of peace and comfort (Baker, 2005)
4. Order
• Law of Karma states that pain and suffering in life are due to actions done
5. Honour in the past, therefore social workers need to bear this in mind when
working with Buddhist clients.
• The Four Noble Truths could be a starting point for a treatment plan
• Zen Buddhism – Mindfulness and Nowness can help the client and worker
stay in the moment, by stopping obstacles getting in the way.
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4. Links to Websites etc
• North American Association of Christians in
Social Work
• Canadian Association for Spirituality and
Social Work
• The Centre for Spirituality and Integral Social
Work
• The Society for Spirituality and Social Work
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5. • Abels, S. L. (2000) Spirituality in Social Work Practice, Denver, CO: Love Publishing
• Beckett, C., and Maynard, A. (2005) Values and Ethics in Social Work: An Introduction, London, Sage Publications Ltd
• Bowpitt, G. (2000) Working with Creative Creatures: Towards a Christian Paradigm for Social Work Theory, with some practical Implications, British
Journal of Social Work, 30: 349 - 34
• Carolin, B., and Milner, P. (1999) A Time to Listen to Children, London, Routledge
• Center for Public Justice (1999) A guide to charitable choice: An overview of section 104
• Chinmoy, S. (1971) Yoga And The Spiritual Life. The Journey of India's Soul. Agni Press
• Elias, N. (2005) An Islamic Cognitive-Behavioural Approach for helping clients with Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation problems, Department of
Counselling and Psychology, Faculty of Human and Social Development.
• Gilligan, P., and Furness, S. (2006) The Role of Religion and Spiritual in Social Work Practice: Views and experiences of Social Workers and
Students, British Journal of Social Work, 36: 617-637
• Hugen, B., and Scales, T.L. (2002) Christanity and Social Work: Readings on the integration of Christian faith and social work practice (2d edition).
NACSW
• Henery, N. (2003) The Reality of Visions: Contemporary Theories of Spirituality in Social Work, British Journal of Social Work, 33: 1105-1113
• Hewitt, R., and Hewitt, N. (2007) The Integrated Helping Assessment Model: “ The Eye of the Eagle””, North American Association of Christians in
Social Work (NACSW)
• Hodge, D. R. (2004) Working with Hindu clients in a spiritually sensitive manner. Social Work
• Holloway, M. (2007) Spiritual Need and the Core Business of Social Work, British Journal of Social Work, 37: 265 -280
• Hugen, B., and Scales, L. (2002) Christiantiy and Social Work: Readings on the integration of Christian faith and social work practice, 2nd edition.
NACSW
• Matthews, I.(2009. Social Work and Spirituality. Learning Matters, Univeristy of London
• Nash, M. And Stewart, B. (2002) Spirituality and Social Care: Contributing to Personal and Community Well-being, London and Philadelphia, Jessica
Kingsley Publishers, pp. 256
• Wilcke, M. M. (2002) Crossing Thresholds: A hermeneutic phenomenological examination of the experiences of refugee women from the former
Yugoslavia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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