2002 Conference Summary
Workshop
Session 1: 10:15 - 11.45 Room 4418
Creativity and Spirituality in the Workplace: Rekindling the
Zeal
Many
social workers begin their careers full of zeal and committed to the
values of the profession. It has been our observation that many workers
lose this zeal early in their working lives. Could it be that social
workers find themselves in negative, destructive or unhealthy work
environments where they close themselves off from a core part of their
being? Perhaps social workers have not been provided the opportunity to
nurture the spiritual component and their creative capacities.
In this workshop the facilitators will share activities and material
used in workshops focussing on creativity and spirituality in the
workplace. In this experiential workshop participants will be invited
to explore the application of this workshop format in their workplace.
Linda
Turner, MSW
PhD Candidate,
Memorial University
Brian
Ouellette, MSW
St. Thomas University
Workshop
Session 2: 10:15 - 11.45 Room 4420
Preparing Oneself to Help Others
This
workshop explores the central question facing those who seek to serve
others -- how does one prepare oneself personally to help those in
need? To help participants examine this question and explore their
spiritual development, they will be introduced to an ancient form of
prayer know as lectio divina. This process, divided into four steps
(reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation), helps to integrate
mind with spirit.
Abstract:
This workshop explores the central question facing those who seek to
use their gifts in service to others -- how does one prepare oneself
personally to help those in need? Examination of this question reveals
that those who are called to help must be prepared to discover their
own brokenness. Helping professions such as social work have
concentrated solely on preparing their students academically. In doing
so, however, they have neglected the vital spiritual dimension of a
person's being. In order to help participants examine the central
question and explore their spiritual development, they will be
introduced to an ancient form of prayer known as lectio divina. The
beautifully simple process of lectio divina helps us integrate mind
with spirit. It is divided into four steps or levels: reading,
meditation, prayer, and contemplation. While time contraints will not
allow us to proceed through all four levels, we will read, meditate,
and discuss five key passages of scripture that are relevant to our
theme. The passages focus attention on our gifts, problems or
brokenness, the universality of suffering, our ultimate source of help
for our brokenness, and the need to treat others as we would like to be
treated. We will then tie this material into a discussion on the needs
of those we are helping. It is my thesis that each helper must be
prepared to discover his or her own brock. As Jean Vanier stated, "it
took time for me to discover...my own poverty and my own wounds. Once
you have realized that, either you run away or else you have to come to
terms with it, with the help of brothers and sisters in community and
with the help of God...People may come to our communities because they
want to serve the poor; they will only stay once they have discovered
that they themselves are the poor." We cannot help others with their
problems or brokenness until we are prepared to deal with our own.
Eric
Crowther, MS
Private
Practice,
Haileybury, Ontario
Workshop
Session 3: 10:15 - 11.45 Room 8200
Aboriginal Spirituality: a Foundation for Social Work
Practice
The
aboriginal spirituality workshop will comprise both content and
process, exploring the theoretical and practical issues of aboriginal
spirituality.
This experiential workshop will explore the epistemological and
ontological bases of aboriginal spirituality. Aboriginal spirituality
will be examined within the context of colonization and decolonization,
exploring the paradox of drawing upon ancient spiritual identity and
practices within the modern neocolonial context. Aboriginal
spirituality as a critical aspect of the decolonization agenda will
provide a theoretical framework for the session.
Key concepts of aboriginal spirituality and their relevance to
contemporary social work theory and practice will be explored,
including ‘walking the talk' in spiritual pedagogy, ownership,
responsibility, and accountability, and the power of storytelling
The medicine wheel, as an ideology, philosophy, and tool, will provide
the approach framework for the workshop, encompassing both the
theoretical and practical tools shared with workshop participants.
Traditional protocol will be explained throughout the workshop.
Aboriginal spiritual teachings as a foundation for social work practice
will be translated into concepts relevant for all social work
practitioners and educators.
Raven
Pelletier Sinclair,
Ph.D. Student,
University of Calgary
Mariah
Skye Sinclair,
BISW Student,
Saskatchewan Indian Federated College
Workshop
Session 4: 10:15 - 11.45 Room 8201
Intuition
as a Spiritual Tool for Social Work Practice: An Experiential Workshop
The workshop will provide participants with an experiential journey
into the world of spirit, healing and intuition. A combination of
Traditional indigenous ritual, a sharing circle ceremony and
psychodrama method will allow participants to explore and experiment
with the potential for intuitive practice in all social work settings.
Participants will work collectively together, in a spirit of respect
and co-operation to:
- Work in tangible ways with energy
-Connect with the intuitive self
-Explore the potential for a relationship between spirit, healing and
social work
-Explore and identify ways the profession can bridge a gap between
western and holistic paradigms
Experiment with intuitive practice as a bridge between cultural and
spiritual world-views
Julie
West-Hayes , RSW RMT
Julie has been working in the social work field for 20 years in
Australia, New Zealand and Canada. She is presently working on her
Masters Thesis, researching the idea of a holistic paradigm for social
work and healthy leadership criteria for healing initiatives. She has a
private holistic therapy practice, specializing in work that assists
clients to release the stored memory of physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual trauma. Julie works intuitively with her clients and in other
social work settings. She also works with her partner as a community
organizations and corporate consultant, developing needs assessments,
empowerment evaluation designs, as well as organizing and presenting
retreats and seminars. She also offers mediation, facilitation and team
building work that promotes empowerment, co-operation, collective
enterprise, respect and equality within various settings. Julie trained
as a psychodrama director through the Australian & New Zealand
Psychodrama Association and works intuitively as she applies this
method in her seminar work.
Kerrie
Moore
Kerrie has facilitated workshops for twenty-five years within the
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community. She is currently an
undergraduate social work student who has a Certificate in Adult
Learning and a Diploma in Recreation Therapy. She is a Metis woman who
presently works in Aboriginal communities as a Traditional indigenous
healer. She has worked extensively with Aboriginal women suffering from
mental illness or who are going through the correctional services
system. Kerrie's workshops incorporate Traditional teachings as well as
empowerment methodologies. Kerrie is also a consultant and works with
groups and individuals helping to heal the wounded spirit.
Workshop Session 5: 10:15 - 11:45 Room 8220
Searching
for the Spiritual in Self: The Use of Reflective Assignments
Teachers
preparing students to work in the fields of human and social services
believe that self-awareness is the stepping stone to "other-awareness"
and awareness of universal human needs. This is particularly true when
dealing with diverse spiritual issues. Students needs to explore in
structured ways their beliefs and values, and how these impact their
professional ideologies, perspectives and methods.and provide the frame
of reference to give meaning and direction to what we do. In this
interactive session, we will focus on classroom techniques that foster
personal and spiritual understanding - connecting past, to present and
future. We will discuss the use of guided auto-biography, story cards,
the wheel of change assignment, the self-other letter and the personal
genogram, music and journals.. We will present individual and group
exercises we have discovered or developed to foster an awareness of
personal and spiritual development across the life-span, and will
encourage the audience to share tools and techniques they have found
useful in developing spiritual awareness skills for work in the human
services.
Patricia
Slade,
Director,
Social Work Programme,
Redeemer College,
Laura E.
Taylor, PhD
School of Social Work,
University of Windsor
Nancy
Sullivan, PhD,
School of Social Work, .
Memorial University
Workshop
Session 6: 10:15 - 11:45 Room 8280
Mindfulness-based
Pedagogy for Critical Social Work
This
experiential workshop will provide participants with hands-on exercises
of mindfulness meditation to be integrated into their social work
teaching, especially the pedagogy for critical social work. Mindfulness
is the heart of Buddhist meditation practice developed about 2,500
years ago. It is not an abstract concept or a theory or religion, but
rather, a practice of stopping, paying full attention, and looking
deeply into the present moment non-judgmentally. It is particularly
useful in engaging students holistically - spiritually, emotionally,
critically and bodily - in their learning.
Renita
Wong, PhD
York University
Presentation
Session 1: 1:45 - 3:15, Room 4418
The
Black Church as a Social Welfare Institution: Union United Church and
the Development of Montreal's Black Community, 1907 - 1940
Two
distinct interpretations exist in Black Canadian history regarding the
influence of Black churches. Winks (1971) in his classic work "The
Blacks in Canada: A History" maintains that the church possessed a
negative and harmful influence on Black Canadians. He asserts that the
existence of separate Black churches acted as barriers to the ultimate
goal; Black Canadians should have been striving for integration.
James Walker (1975, 1992) in his book "The Black Loyalists: The Search
for the Promised Land in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone 1783-1870"
provides a positive interpretation of the role(s) that Black churches
played in the development of Canada's Black communities. Walker
contends that the establishment of separate Black churches was a
reaction to the racist and exclusionary nature of Canadian society. He
maintains that the creation of these churches represented a positive
and courageous accomplishment. According to Walker, the Black church
offered Blacks a positive identity, a sense of self-worth and
ultimately a base from which to launch attacks against racism and
discrimination encountered by the Black community.
This paper will explore the contribution of Union United Church,
Montreal's oldest Black congregation, as a social welfare institution
to the development and emergence of Montreal's Black community during
the period from 1907-1940. The paper will also incorporate a discussion
of the formation of Montreal's Black community, which will provide the
context for the focus of the paper.
David
Este, PhD
University of Calgary
Presentation
Session 2: 1:45 - 3:15, Room 4418
R.M.
MacIver, E.J. Urwick, and Charles Eric "Chick" Hendry: Three Directors
of the University of Toronto School of Social Work Walking Along the
Road of Secularism.
Using
primary materials from the University of Toronto Archives and the
Archives of Ontario, this paper analyses the lives of 3 directors of
the School of Social Work at the University of Toronto: R.M. MacIver
(director 1918-1920) E.J. Urwick (director 1927-37), and Charles Eric
"Chick" Hendry (director 1950-69). Established in 1914, Toronto is the
country's oldest school of social work, the alma mater of thousands of
graduate professionals, and until the 1980s the country's sole locus of
doctoral education. MacIver, a Scottish-born social scientist, was an
agnostic who appeared to rebel against the Presbyterian piety of his
childhood fishing village in the Outer Hebrides. Urwick, the
English-born son of a Unitarian Minister, was an Oxford-trained
philosopher with settlement house experience in east London, deeply
committed to Plato and the Vedantas, and keenly interested in
spirituality. Hendry, with graduate training in religious education
from Columbia University, could have become an ordained minister, but
settled instead for a career in boys' work, and later in social work
education. More in tune with MacIver than Urwick, Hendry personified a
post-World War II commitment to technology and progress. This analysis
sheds evidence of the enduring place of religion in the lives of each
social work educator, but also the growing presence, and tensions, of
an increasingly secular approach to social work– a pattern that was
neither linear, nor static. Indeed, seen along a historical continuum,
the lives of these social work educators portray an uneven transition
to secularism, and highlight tensions and paradoxes of a religious
background in each of their thinking that reflected, and in some modest
ways helped to shape, this transformation over a 50-year period. The
paper makes a distinct contribution to the Canadian literature. In the
nineteenth century, voluntary philanthropic and religiously motivated
charitable personnel preceded the establishment of a twentieth century
secular profession in Canada (Graham, 1992), the United States (Leiby,
1984) and United Kingdom (Woodroffe 1962), among other advanced
industrialized countries. Recent Canadian scholarship likewise
addresses the transformation of twentieth century social welfare
ideology from religious to secular (Christie & Gauvreau, 1996). Yet
no literature, to date, considers the social work academy's distinct
role in the emergence of a secular approach to social service delivery
in Canada – the subject of the present paper.
John
Graham, PhD RSW
Faculty of Social Work
University of Calgary
Presentations
Session 3: 1:45-3:15 - Room 4420
The
Use of the Hatcher (1982) and Danesh (1994) Paradigm of Spirituality in
Social Work Practice.
The
Hatcher (1982 and Danesh (1994) paradigm of spirituality is introduced
as a framework for addressing the spiritual dimension with social work
clients. This paradigm includes an understanding of human nature
incorporating the spiritual aspects, defines an understanding of
spirituality and further elaborates on a process for developing
spiritual growth.
Using
the above paradigm of spirituality, a group intervention was
implemented with a young Mother's support group in a legislated child
protection agency. It was hypothesized that encouraging group members
to explore their spirituality could result in increased psychological
health. The group sessions examined how spirituality is understood, the
impediments to practicing our spirituality, the concept of love, ways
to practice our spirituality and educating our children about
spirituality.
The
group intervention was evaluated using both quantitative and
qualitative methods. The qualitative analysis indicated that
participants were interested and engaged eagerly in exploring the topic
of spirituality. The quantitative measure however suggested little
change in the participants' scores.
The
Hatcher (1982) and Danesh (1994) paradigm offers an unique and
stimulating framework for acknowledging the spiritual dimension of
clients that can easily be applied across different social work
settings. This practicum is part of the beginning exploration of
spirituality within social work practice, promising to be an exciting
endeavor with the potential to discover innovative healing
interventions for the people social work serves.
Cathy Rocke, MSW
Child Protection and Support Services
Government of Manitoba
Department of Family Services and Housing
Presentation
Session 4: 1:45 - 3:15 Room 4420
Are
Ancient Eastern Methods Applicable in the West?
Reflections on Some Hindu Philosophies and Practices
The
proposed presentation originates from our ongoing PhD research among
the Hindu population in Montreal which pursues two general objectives:
1) to know and understand the Hindu culture as lived within the family;
2) to develop a model of intervention in cases of domestic violence
which may be adapted to all cultures. Although our analysis is still
ongoing, our interviews with key informants have so far revealed that
Hindu ancient spiritual concepts and practices such as the search for
balance in ayurvedic medicine, and the practices of yoga, breathing and
meditation, hold some keys to efficiently helping persons with violent
behaviour to develop more appropriate ways of communicating. We have
also participated in courses given by The Art of Living Foundation, in
which we have experienced the soothing and healing capacities of yoga,
breathing and meditation practices. We have yet to experiment such
practices in violent men therapy groups which we are attempting to
achieve between now and mid-May 2002, on time for the conference. Our
proposed presentation aims at presenting our findings and discussing
Hindu spiritual means of helping violent persons overcoming their
barriers to peaceful living.
Margot
Loiselle-Léonard, MSW
Joint PhD program,
Université de Montréal/McGill
Presentation
Session 5: 1:45 - 3:15 Room 8200
Expanding
Spiritual Diversity in Social Work:
Perspectives on the Greening of Spirituality
There is
little doubt that social work has had a strong religious heritage. It
has been associated with a Christian and Jewish sectarian service ethos
from its early years (Canda & Furman, 1999).
While social work went through a fifty-year hiatus when focus shifted
to secularization and professionalization, over the last decades this
has begun to change. Many social workers are finding religion and
spirituality to be important components of personal growth and
professional practice (Sheridan, Bullis, Adcock, Berlin & Miller,
1992). Unlike the earlier period, the focus of this new phase has
tended to be on broadening the definition of the religious/spiritual
construct, making it more inclusive and honoring of diverse religious
and nonreligious spiritual traditions (Besthorn, 2000c; Canda, 1998;
Russel, 1998; Bullis, 1996; Ressler, 1998).
Fruitful new areas of emphasis in this resacralization of social work
are efforts to establish linkages between a deeper ecological awareness
and spiritually diverse practice (Besthorn, 2000a, 2000b). Social work
has always had an ecological vernacular. Yet, social work's
conventional models have never clearly envisaged the deeper connection
between person and the natural environment. And, only recently have
there been explicit attempts to couple a deep ecological sensibility
with a spiritual or religious consciousness (Besthorn, 2000a; Besthorn
& Canda, in press).
This presentation will assess the status of new international efforts
to infuse green consciousness into spiritual and religious traditions.
It will also evaluate the greening of spirituality in social work by
focusing on the emerging partnership between spirituality and a deeper
ecological awareness. It will suggest specific parameters of a new
green spirituality and discuss implications on a range of social work
practice domains.
Fred H.
Besthorn, M.Div., MSW, Ph.D.
Washburn University
Topeka, Kansas USA
and
The Global Alliance for a Deep Ecological Social Work
Presentation
Session 6: 1:45 - 3:15 Room 8200
A
‘Deeper', more ‘Social', Ecological Social Work Practice
While an
ecological model of social work practice has been important to the
profession since the 1970s, advances in ecological theory based on
developments by Arne Naess in "deep" ecology and Murray Bookchin in
"social" ecology inform a significantly different understanding of
ecological theory upon which to base an emerging clinical and community
practice. This new ecology emphasizes communal, non-hierarchical
relationships, and the intrinsic value of individual human and
non-human, organic and non-organic components of the environment.
Earlier conceptualizations of ecology in social work, synonymous with
mechanistic systems models, differ from the more mutualistic and
emancipatory use of ecological principles found in this new ecology.
These changes in our understanding of ecology account better for the
critical, feminist, and post modern developments taking place in the
social work profession which themselves reflect an evolving
understanding of the person-in-environment and the dynamics of power
inherent in transactional processes. The complexity, diversity, and
symbiosis which characterise Naess' "ecosophy" was summarized by Naess
in eight succinct statements, all of which share much in common with
Bookchin's conceptualization of social ecology. These eight principles
will be explored for their applicability to the practice of social work
in mandated and non-mandated services
Michael
Ungar, PhD
Maritime School of Social Work
Dalhousie University
Presentation
Session 7: 1:45 - 3:15 Room 8201
From
Counter-Transference to Transcendence – The Spiritual Intrusion
Using
the counter-transference as a site of engagement, this workshop
explores the social worker's being as a person and as a professional
within the context of "professional relationships." The interpersonal
relationship between client and worker is heavily conditioned by
professional discourses that produce mechanistic, reductionistic
workplaces and prevent social workers from engaging with an identity
that incorporates spirituality into their being. We try to problematize
the dualistic thinking that locates spirituality only in the "other" –
the client's life-world. We propose that when engaging with clients
spiritually, counter-transference reactions are a necessary part of a
joint exploration to deeper levels of intimacy, trust and connection
both with client and with self. Unlike traditional notions of
counter-transference that view social worker's reactions in a limited
and negative way, spiritually-connected counter-transference reactions
are necessary to a transcendental realm of experience and reality,
thereby effectively challenging the worker beyond the confines of
professionalism and compelling them to question the meaning of caring,
empathy, subjectivity, connection, and love. In this workshop, we will
use case vignettes to highlight spiritually-connected
counter-transference reactions and how social workers can understand
and cope with their reactions toward a deeper level of practice and
professional self.
Thecla Damianakis, MSW
PhD student,
University of Toronto
A. Ka
Tat Tsang, PhD
Faculty of Social Work,
University of Toronto
Presentation
Session 8: 1:45 - 3:15 Room 8201
The
Interface of Spirituality and Practice –
Practice Methods and Relationships
My
recently completed doctoral study developed a set of practice
principles for social work and spirituality. Grounded theory analysis
of interview data uncovered significant convergences amongst research
participants' beliefs, values and practices. These unexpected
commonalities invited a further analysis of the data, which produced
the practice principles. The practice principles can be organized into
three broad groupings –conceptualizations of spirituality and basic
values; ideas about the processes of spiritual development and beliefs
about the spiritual essence of human life; and spiritually influenced
practice methods and processes. This paper focuses discussion on the
third grouping of practice principles, which encompass issues related
to practice methods, processes and relationships. Issues for discussion
include the incorporation of spirituality into practice through
shifting language and forming relationships with clients, and
spiritually influenced practices such as making meaning, and fostering
connections and experiences of self-love. Overall, the practice
principles are relevant because they emerged from the participants'
collective practice wisdom, represent a step towards helping to
legitimize spiritual knowledge, can promote discussions about
spirituality, guide practice, and provide a base for the future
development of spiritually influenced frameworks.
Diana
Coholic, PhD
School of Social Work,
Laurentian University
Presentation
Session 9: 1:45 - 3:15 Room 8220
Social
Work Students and Spirituality: An Initial Exploration
With
few exceptions spirituality is non-existent in Canadian social work
curricula reflecting indifference to the reality that spirituality is a
foundation of client and personal wellness and an essential component
of comprehensive social work assessment. This oversight also ignores
spirituality's contribution to personality formation, cognition, life
meaning and purpose, interpersonal relations, and the will to accept or
change life and death concerns.
This
study asked third year Bachelor of Social Work students and a
comparison group of third year honours students attending a Catholic
university their thoughts on spirituality and the role of spirituality
in their academic lives. Participants also completed the JAREL
spirituality scale. Social work students reflected traditional
spiritual views, and followings, and typically stated that spirituality
had a greater importance in their lives, education, career goals, and
well-being than did other third year honour students. Social work
students were also found to be more comfortable in discussing
spirituality than were non-social work students. A statistically
significant difference was also found on the JAREL scale. The mean
social work student JAREL score was 106.3 while the mean of the
comparison group was 99.0. The result of the independent t-test
analysis was t=2.44, df=49, p<.018 (2 tailed). Thus, it appeared
that the social work students participating in this study had a greater
sense of spiritual well-being than did the non-social work cohort.
Rick Csiernik, M.S.W., Ph.D., R.S.W.
School of Social Work
King's College
University of Western Ontario
Presentation
Session 10: 1:45 - 3:15 Room 8220
The
Preparedness of Canadian Social Work Students for Practice with
Religious/Spiritual Clients
The
presenter's own experiences with the lack of spiritual/religious
content in social work education led to this survey at one Canadian
School of Social Work. Students were surveyed about their preparedness
for practice with the religious and/or spiritual dimensions of clients.
Respondents were asked to report on their past experiences with such
clients and how well-equipped they felt to work with these dimensions.
Students were also asked about their own spirituality and religiosity.
The results will be interpreted in light of the literature as well as
the presenter's own experiences as a social work educator. In
particular, the challenges faced by Christian students in a public
school of social work will be discussed. Audience participation will be
solicited to enlarge the discussion to include experiences from other
Canadian schools.
Sylvia Straka, MSW,
PhD Candidate
McGill University
Anna
Pelosi, MSW
U.N. High Commission for Refugees (Sri Lanka)
Presentation
Session 11: 3:30 - 5:00 Room 4418
The
'Faith Factor' in Social Welfare Policy and Legislation: The American
'Charitable Choice' Debate and its Relevance in the Canadian Context
President
Bush's faith-based human services initiative represents a new paradigm
in government-mandated social service provision that explicitly
promotes a significantly expanded role for religiously-affiliated
organizations through the creation of new policy, legislation, and
bureaucratic infrastructure. So called 'charitable choice' sections of
the proposed legislation are the source of heated debate regarding the
appropriate roles of faith-based agencies and the State in social
welfare provision; the reframing of social and personal problems as
moral issues; religious content in social services for non-religious
clients or clients of other faiths; and the issue of determining what
constitutes 'legitimate' religious agencies for the purposes of
licensing and funding. Proponents of the initiative describe it as
"leveling the playing field" in order to redress perceived historical
biases against faith-based social service providers on the part of
government funding bodies. Critics are concerned with the danger of
proselytizing of vulnerable populations, a devaluation of
professionalism and expert knowledge, and a value base that further
stigmatizes people in difficulty by placing the blame on individual
deficit while ignoring structural forces that create or contribute to
social problems and human suffering.
This paper offers a brief history 'Charitable Choice', a presentation
of the major themes in the debate, and a discussion of the relevance of
some of these issues for social welfare in Canada.
Analee Weinberger, MSW
Necessary Illusion, Montreal
Presentation
Session 12: 3:30 - 5:00 Room 4418
C. S.
Loch and M. Richmond's Genesis of the Social Situation
Charles Stewart Loch's scientific and charitable methods and
definitions of charity as "interventionist" and as "caring social
relations" between persons constituted a "socially situated charity."
In turn, Loch's charitable framework influenced Mary Richmond's
generation of the idea of the social situation and its social treatment
within the emerging field of social work.
Loch discussed how reciprocal exchanges of charitable activities
occurring in three-way relationships between Divine Agencies and
individuals as well as betwixt individuals created a blended spiritual
and secular realm. He used such a Paulian framework to define charity
as interventions ("interventive charity") and as a set of helpful
relationships ("organized charity") between God, The Holy Spirit and
human participants. Loch indicates that charity was to be given in a
methodical and knowledgeable manner accomplishing specific purposes.
These charitable interventions were to be done in accordance with
certain principles of charity as he conceptualized that charity itself
occurred in accordance with certain laws of charity In the Charity
Organization Societies, six principles were followed in the giving of
charity: Registration, coordination, cooperation, investigation, and
friendly visiting and adequate relief. Loch states that charitable
interventions performed by friendly visitors contained caring and
helpful activities, kindness and services, engendering friendly
feelings and attitudes in a charitable recipient. As a result,
recipients developed "complex relations" and a social life. They also
developed personalities exhibiting certain moral virtues and loving
ways in their dealings with other persons.
Richmond stated that C. S. Loch's charitable helping occurred within
three-way reciprocal relationships between helping persons (first
friendly visitors and then social workers) intervening with troubled
individuals and/or with their social relations constituting her own
initial understanding of a social situation. Later, Richmond developed
Loch's "situated charity" and "charitable method" into the entirely
secular concept of the social situation; described its various social
situational components and how they related to one another in social
processes; and, identified rudimentary individual/family and helping
social situations for social diagnosis and social treatment as a
general method of helping within the field of social work. Overall, C.
S. Loch's transmission of ancient and medieval ideas regarding
religiously based and purposeful caring activities within charity, as
practiced by Divine and human participants, established the basis for
Richmond's development of the social situation and later social work
theorists reworking of her concepts of the social situation and social
treatment into distinctive social work methods.
These findings will be discussed in terms of their implications for
social workers interventive practices within social treatment processes
fostering mutual adaptations and social relations between Divine and
secular persons as well as recipients development of functional
behaviours within integrated and harmonious social situations.
Joel Majonis, PhD
Renison College
Workshop:
Session 13: 3:30 - 5:00 Room 4420
Spirituality
and Social Justice: Shaking the Foundations
The
recent re-engagement with spirituality has expanded our collective
professional consciousness to a significant dimension of humanity and
human experience. Professional discourses on spirituality, however,
have to be reconciled with the profession's epistemological and value
commitments. Metaphysically, spirituality has to resist becoming the
waste-basket for a framework that only deals with the social,
psychological, and biological dimensions of being human. There is also
the risk of turning the spiritual as a catch all for anything that is
positively valued by the practitioner, notwithstanding the possible
differences in the client's experience. This workshop explores the
epistemological and ontological foundations of spirituality vis a vis
the knowledge and value base of social work. It covers (1) how to make
sense of spiritual experience with regard to current theories of
knowledge; (2) interrogating realities beyond the common sense world
both in terms of materiality and language; and (3) the idea of
community that takes spirituality beyond individual well-being to
engage with the notion of social justice. Presentation and discussion
will be illustrated and supported by actual practice examples from
different levels of social work practice, ranging from the clinical to
the structural.
A. Ka Tat Tsang, PhD
University of Toronto
Thecla
Damianakis, MSW
Doctoral Programme.
University of Toronto
Presentation
14: 3:30 - 5:00, Room 8200
The
Role of Spirituality/religiosity in the Creation of Personal Growth In
Bereaved HIV/AIDS Informal Caregivers
OBJECTIVE:
To explore the experience of bereaved HIV/AIDS informal caregivers, and
the role of spirituality/religiosity in the creation of personal growth.
METHOD:
The study consisted of fifteen qualitative interviews in
Ontario, British Columbia and Québec in English and in French.
Face-to-face interviews explored the experience of HIV/AIDS caregivers
and the factors that participants considered to have contributed to or
detracted from their coping. The theoretical perspective of
post-traumatic growth and the factors that play a role in its
development provided the framework for the generation of questions. The
data set is part of a larger project and participants were chosen
according to their growth scores on the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory
and the Stress-Related Growth Scale.
RESULTS:
The caregivers self-identified as spiritual or religious or
they sought meaning in life in a way that was considered to be
spiritual. Spirituality was widely considered a factor in their
coping. All but one participant had positive experiences to recount
resulting from the loss and trauma involved in losing a partner. Many
caregivers differentiated between religion and spirituality.
CONCLUSIONS:
Growth experiences in traumatic situations are firmly
anchored in spirituality and in some cases, in religion. Spirituality
is a central component of social work practice of in the context of
HIV/AIDS.
Susan
Cadell, PhD
School of Social Work and Family Studies
University of British Columbia
Dennis
J. Haubrich
Ryerson University
Presentation
15: 3:30 - 5:00, Room 8200
The
Role of Spirituality in the Lives of Families Living with HIV
This
paper is based on a national study of HIV positive women and their
families. In -depth interviews were conducted with 70 mothers and 27
fathers. The mothers and some fathers had HIV and perinatal exposure of
one or more children had occurred. The purpose was to understand the
psychosocial dimensions of HIV on the parents, children and family as a
whole. We found that spirituality and the meaning of life were critical
factors for parents living with HIV. Drawing on the voices of these
parents we identify how they care for their families, prepare their
children for the future, how they cope with uncertainty, illness and
death. In our presentation we discuss how spirituality plays a part in
ways of coping and how social workers can modify traditional approaches
to address spirituality issues in practice.
Lilian
M. Wells MSW, DASW
Professor emerita & Acting Associate Dean
Faculty of Social Work
University of Toronto
Robyn
Salter Goldie MSW, RSW
Social Worker
Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, ON
Gloria
Aykroyd MSW, RSW
Programme Coordinator
St. Joseph's Health Centre
London, ON
Presentation
16: 3:30 - 5:00, Room 8201
Ecology
and Spirituality in Social Work: New Roots for Social Transformation
The
ecological crisis, which is forcing many of us to ask about the kind of
future which awaits our children, has drawn substantial scholarly and
public attention to the environmental crisis but only limited concern
from the social work community. This presentation will briefly discuss
the environmental crisis as the entry point to critique social work's
embeddedness in modernity and argues for a new foundation of beliefs
and values which sees people and nature as interdependent and all
things as connected. Such a holistic perspective is fundamentally
spiritual as it leads us to seriously examine what we hold to be of
ultimate value. This presentation will review a new foundation of
beliefs and values, a ‘new story' rooted in ecology and spirituality,
which can provide direction and greater hope for the future. Such a new
foundation is transformative as it leads social work toward a role in
creating sustainable and socially just communities.
John
Coates, PhD
St. Thomas University
Presentation
17: 3:30 - 5:00, Room 8201
The
Spiritual Dimensions of Person & Environment:
Perspectives from Social Work and Traditional Knowledge
Western
social work claims a dual focus on person and environment. In our own
theory base, however, we may have emphasized the personal and neglected
the environmental component of the duality. Over time, the
"environment" of the equation has often been reduced to only the
"social environment" as social workers assess client functioning
primarily in the context of networks of human relationships. We have
lost touch with the physical environment - with a sense of place and
the energies or forces associated with particular locations.
Traditional knowledge does not separate person and place the way
Western thought has done. When person and place are understood as
expressions of the same creation, then there is a profound spiritual
connection that is missing in Western social work.
This
paper compares the relationship of person and place in Western social
work theory and traditional knowledge, with consideration of sacred
sites, and locations associated with positive or negative energies.
Central to the discussion is an acknowledgment of the limitations of
the English language for expressing and exploring these spiritual
relationships.
Michael
Kim Zapf, PhD, RSW
University of Calgary
Presentation
18: 3:30 - 5:00, Room 8220
Circles
of Resistance: Spirituality in Social Work Practice, Education and
Transformative Change
My
subject location is that of an Aboriginal woman who teaches in a School
of Social Work and attends a PhD program in Sociology and Equity
Studies. In incorporating spirituality into my work, I have had many
uplifting experiences as a social work practitioner and hopeful ones as
a recent educator and student.
Spirituality comes from within and outside the self. It is meant to
assist us as individuals, families and communities. It is also about
resistance and it connects us to the work of social change.
This paper suggests that since postmodern thought is conducive to other
ways of knowing, it may be a more appropriate lens through which to
look at spirituality in social work practice, especially as defined by
Indigenous knowledges.
The topic of spirituality is an important dialogue which educators must
have with their students. In my four years of teaching, I have brought
spirituality into the classroom not only by speaking about it, but by
doing it. What I have learned so far, is that if I open those doors by
taking the lead, it creates a safe place where students can share their
spirituality. Recent B.S.W. graduate, Greta Lewis, who was a student in
my advanced practice class will address this component from a student
perspective.
As important as spirituality is to each individual's well being and
strength, each of us has a responsibility to use it in creating a
better world. It is the role of the social worker to resist oppression
and become involved in political activism. The structural social work
model guides us in this role, but it lacks any spiritual dimension.
What social workers need is direction based on action-oriented
spirituality.
Cyndy Baskin, MSW
Ryerson University
Greta
Lewis, BSW
Presentation
19: 3:30 - 5:00, Room 8220
Teaching
About Spirituality In Anti-Oppression Education:
Using a Light Show as a Visual Aid.
In this
interactive presentation, we will introduce the pedagogy of using a
light show, when examining concepts of spirituality in relation to
structural oppression. This light show was developed by Liberation
Practice International (L.P.I.) consultants to meet the requests of
students, who wanted to discuss spirituality when exploring the
practice of "working across differences". The visual aid is presented
in conjunction with the L.P.I. model of self, which inquires into the
spiritual, personal and systemic dimensions of person-hood. Considering
a distinction between the ‘systemic' and ‘spiritual' self, the model
highlights various constructions, as rooted within systemic power
relations. The L.P.I. light show allows the social work student to
quickly integrate concepts of spirituality and structural oppression,
that are commonly discussed in abstract terms. Having such a concrete
hands-on- model allows the student to develop their own paradigm of
practice, when working with clients across all types of differences.
This 30
min. presentation is geared towards educators, practitioner and
students involved with facilitating self-reflection/reflexivity within
themselves or others. Space will be provided for participants to share
insight and practice wisdom.
Dianne
Prevatt-Hyles, MSW, Adv. Dip SW, RSW
Jana
Vinsky. MSW
Consultants
for Liberation Practice International. Liberation Practice
International is an international organization located in Trinidad,
England and Canada. L.P.I. provides equity and empowerment education
for individuals, organizations and communities.
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