Intersecting Social Work Practice, Education, and Spirituality: A Conceptual Model

The relationship between spirituality, social work, and social work education is complicated and often difficult to teach. Though social work has significant religious roots, it distanced itself at the turn of the 20th century in pursuit of professionalism and scientific respectability. Today the National Association of Social Work (NASW) and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) recognize spirituality and religion as aspects of client diversity; however, few strategies exist for integrating this content into social work curriculum. This presentation offers a conceptual framework for understanding the spirituality-social work relationship based on the Ecological Model and the concept of person-in-environment. Educators can use this framework as a tool for teaching spirituality and religion content across core Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) courses