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Full-Text Articles in Social Work
Faith, Spirituality, And Social Work Education: An Exploration Into The Quest For Integration, Shannon Cassidy Cousineau
Faith, Spirituality, And Social Work Education: An Exploration Into The Quest For Integration, Shannon Cassidy Cousineau
Doctor of Social Work Banded Dissertations
This dissertation focuses on the integration of faith and spirituality in higher education, more specifically for social work students. Faith and spirituality are important aspects of many people’s lives, and it is important for social work students to understand and comfortably discuss issues and strengths around religion and spirituality. Due to its proposition that people are spiritual beings, who believe in something beyond themselves, Transpersonal Theory is used as a guide for this banded dissertation. At its core, Transpersonal Theory provides a foundation for the journey many people take to find a belief in something outside themselves, either physical, emotional, …
Spiritually Integrated Care For Veteran Trauma Survivors: A Quantitative Analysis, Krystle Englund
Spiritually Integrated Care For Veteran Trauma Survivors: A Quantitative Analysis, Krystle Englund
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
The purpose of this study was to determine if spiritually integrated care positively changed symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and spiritual distress in veterans. This quantitative study used secondary data (n = 138) from a sample of veterans identified by the Minneapolis Veteran Affairs Health Care System. Instruments used in the study were the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist and the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale. The findings from this study included a decrease in spiritual distress following a spiritually integrated intervention. Veterans who participated in an 8-session group intervention known as Building Spiritual Strength self-reported less distress with a Higher …
Sacred Shame: Integrating Spirituality And Sexuality, Alyssa J. Haggerty
Sacred Shame: Integrating Spirituality And Sexuality, Alyssa J. Haggerty
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
Literature shows that many LGBTQ individuals believe that they must deny or hide their sexual identities and conform to a hetero-dominant lifestyle that often results in shame, denial of self, depression, anxiety, isolation, addiction, and abandonment of spirituality. This qualitative research study explored how LGBTQ individuals raised in non-affirming Christian traditions integrated their spiritual and sexual identities by in-person interviews with seven participants. Findings support previous research, and although the researcher was well aware of the nuances of this topic, an unexpected finding related to the complexity of gender identity and sexual orientation also surfaced. Practice implications include development of …
Medical Social Worker’S Understandings Of Spirituality In Patient Care, Sarah Huiskes
Medical Social Worker’S Understandings Of Spirituality In Patient Care, Sarah Huiskes
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
Spirituality is defined as “an individual’s connection or relationship with God or with some other kind of transcendent being or dimension (Hodge & Horvath, 2011, p. 307).” Based on past literature, a patient’s spiritual or faith belief has the potential to influence their healthcare outcomes, coping ability, decision-making surrounding their healthcare, as well as their quality of life (Puchalski, Ferrell, Otis-Green, & Handzo, 2015). As social workers in the medical setting aim to provide psychosocial support, the inclusion of a spiritual assessment to determine the spiritual and faith needs of each patient in order to deliver individual patient care seems …
Spiritual Coping And Posttraumatic Growth After Sexual Assault, Richelle Amundson
Spiritual Coping And Posttraumatic Growth After Sexual Assault, Richelle Amundson
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
The interpersonal nature of sexual assault has been theorized to negatively impact recovery. Access to supportive others is critical to positive outcomes and in particular, to posttraumatic growth. Spirituality may provide access to supportive social and spiritual relationships; however, spirituality can also be a source of increased distress when accessed in less adaptive ways. This research sought to understand how spirituality impacts posttraumatic growth after a sexual assault. The research design was an exploratory, non-probability sample. Respondents were primarily Caucasian and of young adult age. Respondents were more likely to access personal spirituality than communal spirituality. Participants were reached through …
An Analysis Of Religious And Spiritual Beliefs And Behaviors In College Students, Allison C. Culey
An Analysis Of Religious And Spiritual Beliefs And Behaviors In College Students, Allison C. Culey
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
In a survey of religion and public life done by the Pew Forum in 2007, it was found that the ways in which Americans practiced their religion was changing. There has been a trend of moving toward less dogmatic approaches to religion in the United States. It was found that of the twenty percent of Americans who do not practice any type of religion, the majority were ages eighteen to twenty-four. The current study was designed to understand the religious and spiritual behaviors in university students in order to develop methods to better cultivate religious and spiritual growth. The researcher …
Recovery From Bulimia: What Helps In Healing, Erin Reynen
Recovery From Bulimia: What Helps In Healing, Erin Reynen
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
There is an astonishing presence of eating disorders in American culture today, affecting upwards of 11 million individuals, and the treatment for these disorders is becoming increasingly comprehensive. Bulimia nervosa is one of the most common eating disorders, involving episodes of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors to rid the body of food for fear of weight gain. Using a holistic and procovery-based framework, the present study focused on the perspectives of individuals who described themselves as being in recovery from bulimia and their stories of what helped in the healing process. This researcher created a mixed-method online survey to …
Spirituality And Religion In Social Work: Respondent Definitions, Courtney Wilkinson
Spirituality And Religion In Social Work: Respondent Definitions, Courtney Wilkinson
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
The following study seeks to discover how potential clients define and view the concepts of religion and spirituality. Research questions include: How do respondents define the concepts of religion and spirituality? What interventions do respondents consider religious and/or spiritual? Finally, what interventions would respondents want incorporated into their mental and physical health care? The study is comprised of forty-five respondents who participated in a Survey Monkey survey. Results indicated that while respondent definitions of religion and spirituality differ, themes emerged. Themes that emerged when describing religion included: an organized set of rules, worshiping a God/Higher Power, and a community of …
How Deployed Service Members Make Meaning Of Their Experiences: Chaplains’ Perspectives, Jessica Roemer
How Deployed Service Members Make Meaning Of Their Experiences: Chaplains’ Perspectives, Jessica Roemer
Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers
Every service member experiences and is affected by deployment differently; there are, however, trends in the ways that service members are affected and ways in which they cope. The researcher explored the effect of deployment on religious and spiritual beliefs and the ways that service members use their religious and spiritual beliefs to make meaning of their experiences. Interviews were conducted with seven participants (n=7), primarily chaplains, who had discussed religious and spiritual matters with post-9/11 service members during deployment. This study found that deployment has an effect on the religious and spiritual beliefs of service members, and they use …