Measures of perceived religion and spirituality of undergraduate SWEs and their use of religion and spirituality in social work curriculum.

摘要

This study explored the relationship between measures of perceived experiential spirituality (EPD), religiousness (REL) and cognitive spirituality (COS) of undergraduate social work educators (SWEs) and their reported discussion of religion and spirituality in social work courses. Twenty-six respondents participated in a descriptive exploratory study that used a survey method to collect data. The Expressions of Spirituality Inventory-Revised (MacDonald, 2000) and a demographic questionnaire was used with a convenience sample of 142 undergraduate social work programs throughout the Bible Belt states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The results of this study provided evidence supporting the overall positive attitudes of SWEs towards religion and spirituality, and a positive correlation between undergraduate SWEs discussing spirituality in the classroom and their perceived degree of experiential expression of spirituality was obtained. Additional correlations between EPD, REL and COS scores and SWE perceptions of RS presented and interpreted. The significance of this study involved filling the gap between social work education and social work educators. Additionally, the study involved providing findings that may prove beneficial for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) regarding methods and approaches needed to appropriately assimilate the topic of religion and spirituality into undergraduate social work course curriculum.