What Role Does Religion Play In Social Work

NASW, or the National association of Social Workers, has six core values of the social work code of ethics. Service, Social Justice, Dignity and Worth of the person, Importance of Human Relationships, Integrity, and Competence.

Social work is a profession which has the objective to improve the quality of life of other individuals. The NASW code of ethics is used as a guideline for social workers and the interaction they have with their clients. In addition, within the code of ethics, there are six values, which include service, social justice, dignity and worth of a person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. Therefore, going into the social work field it is important to understand that your

Social work professions need to understand the importance of how individuals interact both with other people and their environment, to have an understanding how individuals are affected by these interactions (Rogers, p. 2). According to Rogers (2016), “Social workers are knowledgeable about human behavior across the life course; the range of social systems in which people live; and the ways social systems promote or deter people in maintaining or achieving health and well-being. Social workers apply theories and knowledge from the liberal arts to understand biological, social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual development (p. 2). Their work with clients begins with assessments to evaluations of intervention and is based in and supports of the core value system of the profession.

A career in Social Work requires conviction to personal values that reflect and uphold the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. Professional ethics are the foundation of social work, as the trade has an innate obligation to endorse ethical principles and basic values to advocate for the wellness of others. The core values adopted by all social workers, as distinguished by NASW, are service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. As a Clinical Social Worker, I will honor the NASW Code of Ethics in addition to my personal values of respect, self determination, responsibility, motivation, and wisdom. My personal values complement the NASW Code of Ethics and will resonate in my work as a social worker.

The NASW stands for the National Association of Social Workers. The NASW has made a code of ethics for all social workers to follow. The mission of practicing social workers is social justice for everyone, service to anyone in need, treating everyone with dignity and recognize their worth, understand the importance of human relationships, integrity in everything we’re involved in, and competence in the field. The NASW code of ethics has 6 purposes for social workers.

Therapists are in the business of people, couples, and families. In order to best serve the clients, the therapist live by the motto of “meet your clients where they are”, In order to accomplish this the diversity of the client must be considered and embraced. One aspect of diversity that appears in therapy is religion. 95% of married couples recognize a specific theology and would identify as religious(Duba). Religion and spirituality are often used interchangeably. Spirituality is often referenced when speaking of therapy instead of religion even though a high majority of individuals acknowledge a religious affiliation(Faiver). The negative connotation may influence a clinician's willingness

Taking into consideration that Li is an immigrant, this would mean that she had to assimilate to her newfound husband and country. This created a number of cultural changes for including religion. Being alienated from her family and having to adjust to a new husband and nation would have added stress to the client, perhaps changing her religion to Christianity was a way from her to feel more accepted by her new culture and husband. Little is known about her life in Saigon, but this writer draws the thought that Li valued religion before she meets her husband and moved to America. Perhaps her switching religion was more of a way for her to freely express this part of herself that would be accepted in her new home. After all, if she continued to practice her old religion’s customs she would have been further estranged from her support system. And from the case, it is known that Li has not contacted her family in Saigon for years. The thought of losing another family could have influenced her change in religion. As the Social Worker on this case, Carolyn would benefit from referring to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics discusses the value that Social Workers uphold the dignity and worth of a person (National Association of Social Workers 2008). This value may offer some guidance to the situation.

My understanding of the social work profession and its core values is that social workers are caregivers, they provide assistance to people in need, and they address social problems. The social worker goal is the improvement of society to ameliorate the lives of individuals in need. The social work profession mission is to enhance the well-being of people and to assist them in meeting their basic needs, with particular emphasis on the needs of the poor, and the vulnerable individual. The Social Work profession has six core values. These core values are the foundation of the social work profession. The social worker incorporates these core values into his daily practices. Service to others is one of the fundamental values of social work. Social workers goal is serving others and putting the needs of their clients ahead of their own. Social justice is another core value of social work. Social workers aim at improving the lives of the disadvantaged, vulnerable people who are less fortunate or unable to advocate for themselves. Social workers understand the essential value of every human life, regardless of ethnic background, cultural differences or religious beliefs. Their goal is to respect the dignity and worth of every person. Another key value of social work is integrity. The social workers conduct themselves in a trustworthy, honest, and responsible manner at all times. Competence is another important core value of the social work profession. The

Researching for the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers as they are called heavily reminds me of Social Work. Their core beliefs and values correlate very closely to Social Work’s own core beliefs and values. For my paper, I will discuss Quakerism, their practices, beliefs, values, and how Quakerism supports human rights and equality.

Well, even though there seem to be a lot of empirical precedents that suggest a “positive association between religious involvement and beneficial outcomes, existing outcomes research in faith-based settings have treated the faith in faith-based services as a contextual factor rather than a programmatic one” (Ferguson, Wu, Spruijt-Metz, & Dyrness, n.d.). According to Fisher and Ragan (2003 & 2004), there are multiple studies conclude that faith-based services are effective, yet relatively few aim to identify the specific faith components related to successful outcomes . It is crucial for us to operationally and conceptually delineate what the faith

Unfortunately for this counselor, her religious beliefs cost her employment with the agency. According to the facts of the case presented in the excerpt from Corey, Corey, and Callanan (2007), “a court case involving a therapist’s refusal to counsel homosexual clients” (pp. 138-141), Bruff should be held liable for any emotional harm she caused to the client. As set forth in the National Association of Social Workers, Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers, (2008), social workers are ethically required to help people in need and address any social setbacks or problems.

First, let us take a look at religion all together. According to the Introduction to Social Work & Social Welfare

There is no denying that the social work profession has changed throughout the past 50 years. In this time, the social work profession has begun to limit the impact of the church and religion on the profession while becoming a more scientific profession involving quantitative empirical data. More importantly, we must acknowledge the foundation of “Social work has deep and honorable religious roots. The profession grew out of the 19th-century efforts, many of them church based, to address social problems associated with poverty, urbanization, and immigration” (Reamer, 2013). Additionally, in the past Christians had a major role in establishing moral and social justice with this major role continuing

I agree with you that churches/religious beliefs can be considered a social problem. I like that you pointed out how religious social problems can be analyzed on a micro and macro level. People have their own thoughts and beliefs within a religion and different religions have different thoughts and beliefs as a whole. I also like that you pointed out that mental institutions can be considered a social problem. I did not know that two major mental health institutions were recently shut down and I see where this could be considered a huge problem. People who are in need of mental health care are being put back into society because of the lack of funding, which could put others and the people in need of mental health care at risk. Furthermore,

I work at Catholic Charities, and we do not support same-sex adoptions here. I can emphasize with couples when religion is a barrier to an already difficult situation. My agency takes a pro-life choice and does not counsel persons on planned parenthood. The traditional family is supported by the Catholic Church beliefs. The church only recognizes the first marriage and does not believe in divorce. I feel my job is limited by religious barriers. I have client’s I refer out, and hope they can receives the services they desire.