Week 9:Spiritual Development

Week 9:Spiritual Development, Throughout your coursework in HBSE, you have explored many factors that influence an individual’s behavior. This week, you focus on spirituality, a factor that contributes significantly to the way individuals view themselves and find meaning in their lives. Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2016) stated, “The spiritual domain is an important means by which many people organize their view of the world” (p. 132).

As you explore the topic of spirituality this week, consider how a client’s spirituality might influence your approach with that client. In addition, consider how your own spirituality might influence your work and why your awareness of spirituality is essential to your effectiveness as a social worker.

Learning Objectives

Week 9:Spiritual Development

Students will:

• Analyze the role of spirituality in social work practice
• Apply awareness of spirituality to social work practice

Week 9:Spiritual Development

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

• Chapter 3, Section “Relate Human Diversity to Psychological Theories” (pp. 130-132)
• Chapter 7, Sections “Review Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development,” “Critical Thinking: Evaluation of Fowler’s Theory,” and “Social Work Practice and Empowerment Through Spiritual Development” (pp. 350-354)
• Chapter 15, Section “Spotlight on Diversity 15.2: Spirituality and Religion” (pp. 694-696)

Barker, S. L. (2007). The Integration of spirituality and religion content in social work education: Where we’ve been, where we’re going. Social Work & Christianit, 34(2), 146–166.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Crisp, B. R. (2011). If a holistic approach to social work requires acknowledgement of religion, what does this mean for social work education?. Social Work Education, 30(6), 663–674.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Day, J. (2010). Religion, spirituality, and positive psychology in adulthood: A developmental view. Journal of Adult Development, 17(4), 215–229.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Furness, S., & Gilligan, P. (2010). Social Work, Religion and Belief: Developing a Framework for Practice. British Journal of Social Work, 40(7), 2185–2202.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Oxhandler, H. K., & Pargament, K. I. (2014). Social work practitioners ‘integration of clients’ religion and spirituality in practice: A literature review. Social Work, 59(3), 271–279.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Stirling, B., Furman, L., Benson, P. W., Canda, E. R., & Grimwood, C. (2010). A comparative survey of Aotearoa New Zealand and UK Social Workers on the role of religion and spirituality in practice. British Journal of Social Work, 40(2), 602–621.

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Document: Wagenfeld-Heintz, E. (2009). Faith and its application to the practice of social work. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 21(3), 182–199. (PDF)(PDF)

Faith and its application to the practice of social work by Wagenfeld-Heintz, E., in the Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 21/3. Copyright 2009 by Haworth Pastoral Press. Reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis Informa UK Ltd- Journals via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., Brocksen S. (Eds.). (2014). Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore, MD: Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].

• “The Logan Family” (pp. 9-10)

Document: Life Span Interview (PDF)

You will use this document for your Life Span Interview Assignment In Week 10.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Logan family: Episode 3 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

 

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.

Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

Credit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.

Optional Resources

Use the link below to access the MSW home page, which provides resources for your social work program.
MSW home page

Atchley, R. C. (2006). Continuity, spiritual growth, and coping in later adulthood. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 18(2/3), 19.

Hodge, D. R., & Bushfield, S. (2007). Developing spiritual competence in practice. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 15(3-4), 101–127.

Linzer, N. (2006). Spirituality and ethics in long-term care. Journal of Religion and Social Work, 25(1), 87–106.

Nelson-Becker, H., & Canda, E. R. (2008). Spirituality, religion, and aging research in social work: State of the art and future possibilities. Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging, 20(3), 177–193.

Nelson-Becker, H. (2005). Religion and coping in older adults: A social work perspective. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 45(1/2), 51–67.

Week 9:Spiritual Development

Discussion: Spiritual Development

Furness and Gilligan (2010) stated, “There is a growing body of literature written predominantly for health professionals and more recently for social workers about the importance of developing and incorporating cultural and spiritual sensitivity and awareness in their work with others” (p. 2187). Spirituality, which may or may not include involvement with an established religion, contributes to human diversity and influences human behavior. An individual’s spirituality may be an important factor in his or her social environment. As a social worker, your awareness of a client’s spirituality may help increase your understanding of the client and his or her needs.

Sensitivity to and respect for your client’s spiritual dimension reflects your appreciation of diversity. As you consider the potential impact of your clients’ spirituality on their perspectives and behavior, you must also consider how your spirituality might influence your interactions with a client.

For this Discussion, you consider the impact of spirituality on your interactions with clients.

By Day 3

Post a Discussion in which you explain how considerations about clients’ worldviews, including their spirituality or religious convictions, might affect your interactions with them. Provide at least two specific examples. In addition, explain one way your own spirituality or religious convictions might support your work with a client, and one barrier it might present. Finally, share one strategy for applying an awareness of spirituality to social work practice in general.

By Day 5

Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts.

Respond to at least two colleagues in one of the following ways:

• State how your colleague’s examples of spirituality’s influence in client relationships resonate with you. Provide support for your perspective.
• State whether you are likely to use your client’s strategy in your own social work practice, and explain why.

Be sure to support your responses with specific references to the resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 9 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 9 Discussion

Week 9:Spiritual Development

Assignment: Spirituality and Social Work Practice

Being culturally sensitive by respecting your clients’ spirituality and religious traditions, in general, is an important professional competence (Furness & Gilligan, 2010). Applying your spiritual awareness to a specific client case, however, may require even greater skill. In this assignment, you consider how you might address a client’s crisis that includes a spiritual or religious component.

To prepare for this Assignment, review this week’s media about Eboni Logan’s visit with her school social worker.

By Day 7

Submit a 2- to 4-page paper that answers the following questions:

• As Eboni’s social worker, would you include spirituality and religion in your initial assessment? Why or why not?
• What strategies can you use to ensure that your personal values will not influence your practice with Eboni?
• How would you address the crisis that Eboni is experiencing?

Support your Assignment with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.

Submission and Grading Information

Week 9:Spiritual Development

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK9Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 9 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 9 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK9Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 9 Assignment Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

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Submit your Week 9 Assignment draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7

To submit your Assignment:

Week 9 Assignment

Week 9:Spiritual Development

Looking Ahead: Week 10 Life Span Interview

In Week 10, you will interview an individual over 65 years old using the questions in the Life Span Interview document (located in the Required Readings area in weeks 9 and 10). You are encouraged to reach out to a senior center, adult living facility, or nursing home to locate an interviewee. When interviewing an individual, please consider how to show respect to an individual of this age within their cultural value framework.

Week 9:Spiritual Development

Week in Review

This week you analyzed the role of spirituality and applied that awareness to social work practice.

Next week you will select a theory of life-span development and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses as it relates to social work practice.

To go to the next week:

Week 10