1st Edition

The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Spirituality and Social Work

Edited By Beth R. Crisp Copyright 2017
    400 Pages
    by Routledge

    398 Pages
    by Routledge

    This international volume provides a comprehensive account of contemporary research, new perspectives and cutting-edge issues surrounding religion and spirituality in social work. The introduction introduces key themes and conceptual issues such as understandings of religion and spirituality as well as definitions of social work, which can vary between countries. The main body of the book is divided up into sections on regional perspectives; religious and spiritual traditions; faith-based service provision; religion and spirituality across the lifespan; and social work practice. The final chapter identifies key challenges and opportunities for developing both social work scholarship and practice in this area.

    Including a wide range of international perspectives from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Malta, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and the USA, this Handbook succeeds in extending the dominant paradigms and comprises a mix of authors including major names, significant contributors and emerging scholars in the field, as well as leading contributors in other fields of social work who have an interest in religion and spirituality.

    The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Spirituality and Social Work is an authoritative and comprehensive reference for academics and researchers as well as for organisations and practitioners committed to exploring why, and how, religion and spirituality should be integral to social work practice.

    PART I

    Introduction

    1 Religion and spirituality in social work: creating an international dialogue

    Beth R. Crisp

    PART II

    Regional perspectives

    2 Australia: it’s complicated

    Beth R. Crisp

    3 Korean social welfare’s approach to spiritual diversity

    Edward R. Canda, Jungrim Moon and Kyung Mee Kim

    4 The absent presence of religion and spirituality in mental health social work in Northern Ireland

    Patricia Carlisle

    5 Spirituality and religion in Maltese social work practice: a taboo?

    Claudia Psaila

    PART III

    Religious and spiritual traditions

    6 The constructed ‘Indian’ and Indigenous sovereignty: social work practice with Indigenous peoples

    Arielle Dylan and Bartholemew Smallboy

    7 The sacred in traditional African spirituality: creating synergies with social work practice

    Raisuyah Bhagwan

    8 Studying social work: dilemmas and difficulties of Ultra-Orthodox women

    Nehami Baum

    9 Western Buddhism and social work

    Caroline Humphrey

    10 Achieving dynamic balancing: application of Daoist principles into social work practice

    Celia Hoi Yan Chan, Xiao-Wen Ji and Cecilia Lai Wan Chan

    11 Celtic spirituality: exploring the fascination across time and place

    Laura Béres

    12 Material spirituality: challenging Gnostic tendencies in contemporary understandings of religion and spirituality in social work

    Russell Whiting

    13 Social work with Muslim communities: treading a critical path over the crescent moon

    Sara Ashencaen Crabtree

    14 Religious and spiritual perspectives of social work among the Palestinians

    Alean Al-Krenawi

    PART IV

    Faith-based service provision

    15 Partners in service and justice: Catholic social welfare and the social work profession

    Linda Plitt Donaldson

    16 Residential childcare in faith-based institutions

    Mark Smith

    17 The background and roles of The Salvation Army in providing social and faith-based services

    Michael Wolf-Branigin and Katie Hirtz Bingaman

    18 South Asian gurus, their movements and social service

    Samta P. Pandya

    19 Reclaiming compassion: Auschwitz, Holocaust remembrance and social work

    John G. Fox

    20 At a crossroads: the Church of Sweden and its role as a welfare provider in a changing Swedish welfare state

    Eva Jeppsson Grassman

    PART V

    Religion and spirituality across the lifespan

    21 Spirituality: the missing component in trauma therapy across the lifespan

    Heather Marie Boynton and Jo-Ann Vis

    22 Spirituality as a protective factor for children and adolescents

    Linda Benavides

    23 Responding to child abuse in religious contexts

    Philip Gilligan

    24 Queer meaning

    Mark Henrickson

    25 From entanglement to equanimity: an application of a holistic healing approach into social work practice with infertile couples

    Yao Hong and Celia Hoi Yan Chan

    26 Life’s end journey: social workers in palliative care

    Martha Wiebe

    27 Social work and suffering in end-of-life care: an arts-based approach

    Irene Renzenbrink

    PART VI

    Social work practice

    28 Religious literacy in public and professional settings

    Adam Dinham

    29 Spirituality and sexuality: exploring tensions in everyday relationship-based practice

    Janet Melville-Wiseman

    30 Mindfulness for professional resilience

    James Lucas

    31 Spiritual competence: the key to effective practice with people from diverse religious backgrounds

    David R. Hodge

    32 A spiritual approach to social work practice

    Ann M. Carrington

    33 Critical spirituality and social work practice

    Fiona Gardner

    34 Spiritually informed social work within conflict-induced displacement

    Malabika Das

    35 Holistic arts-based social work

    Diana Coholic

    36 Ethical principles for transitioning to a renewable energy economy in an era of climate change

    Mishka Lysack

    37 The spiritual dimensions of ecosocial work in the context of global climate change

    Fred H. Besthorn and Jon Hudson

    38 Ultimate concerns and human rights: how can practice sensitive to spirituality and religion expand and sharpen social work capacity to challenge social injustice?

    Fran Gale and Michael Dudley

    39 Addressing spiritual bypassing: issues and guidelines for spiritually sensitive practice

    Michael J. Sheridan

    PART VII

    Conclusion

    40 Developing the agenda for religion and spirituality in social work

    Beth R. Crisp

    Index

    Biography

    Beth R. Crisp is a professor in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University, Australia, where she is the discipline leader for social work. She has extensive experience in the international social work arena, having previously been Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Glasgow, and more recently was the Australian lead of a consortium of eight Australian and European universities that explored curriculum development in social work at an international level. In addition to her PhD from La Trobe University, she has undergraduate degrees in social work (La Trobe University), political science (University of Melbourne) and theology (Melbourne College of Divinity). Beth has contributed around 100 major articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as having written numerous research reports, book chapters and a number of books including Social Work and Faith-based Organizations (2014) and Spirituality and Social Work (2010).

    'There is increasing interest in social work about how the profession understands issues of religion and spirituality. This very well structured book, written by international experts in the field, comprehensively identifies the knowledge base and points towards new directions in this growing area of practice. It is an essential source for academics, practitioners and students.' – Jim Campbell, University College Dublin, Ireland