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Resources to Enrich Your Social Work Practice

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Insights from an Emerging Field

Until quite recently many social workers and social work educators were reluctant to engage with religious diversity. Indeed, a 2008 nationwide survey of over 1,800 social workers found that nearly 65% report­ed receiving no training whatsoever on “relig­ious or spirit­ual issues” in their social work education (see Edward Canda and Leola Furman, Spiritual Diversity in Social Work Practice, pg. 372).  This troubling gap in cultural competence training has left many social workers unpre­pared to work effective­ly with religiously diverse clients and communities.

But this pattern has shifted in recent years, as a growing number of social workers have recognized the importance of religion and/or spir­ituality in their clients’ lives.  There is now a thriving scholar­ly liter­ature on religion, spirit­uality, and social work.  Social work educators have developed a range of resources to help you engage with the religious lives of the people you serve, including scholarly and popular texts, video trainings, self assessment tools, and other materials.  You’ll find links to many of these resources on this page, including materials developed by the Interfaith Center of New York and other organizations. 

ICNY Bibliographies for Social Workers:

Click these bullets to download or print a series of bibliographies prepared for previous Social Work and Religious Diversity programs, including references to academic and popular sources on:

  • Religious Diversity and “World Religions” – including broad discussions of religious diversity, faith-based perspectives on social justice, and introductions to specific faith traditions
  • Religion, Spirituality, and Social Work – including broad discussions of the field, and discussions of social work practice with members of specific faith communities
  • Religious Communities of New York City – including ethnographic and historical accounts of the kaleidoscopic diversity of New York, the “promised city” to immigrants from every corner of the globe
  • Faith-Based Perspectives on Trauma and Healing – including published sources and online resources
  • Faith-Based Perspectives on Domestic Violence – including published sources and online resources
  • Faith-Based Perspectives on Aging and End-of-Life Care – including published sources and online resources
  • Faith-Based Perspectives on Sexuality and LGBT Relationships – including published sources and online resources
  • Faith-Based Perspectives on Depression and Mental Illness – including published sources and online resources
  • Religion, Spirituality, and Family Life – scholarly sources on religiously diverse families
  • Working Effectively with Interfaith Families – including published sources and online resources

Resources from Other Social Work Educators:

See the Council on Social Work Education’s Religion and Spirit­uality Clearinghouse for downloadable biblio­graphies, syllabi, and other resources on religion, spirituality, and social work practice.

See the website of the Society for Spirituality and Social Work, and especially its resources page, for downloadable biblio­graphies, syllabi, conference announcements, contact information for local chapters, and other resources.

See the website of the Canadian Society for Spirituality and Social Work, and especially its resources page, for downloadable scholarly essays, syllabi, bibliographies, and other resources.

See the website of the University of Kansas’ Spiritual Diversity and Social Work Initiative, and especially its resources page, for downloadable biblio­graphies and other resources.

See the website of the Center for Spirituality, Theology, and Health at Duke University, for a wide range of resources, publications, educational programs, and bibliographies.

See the Nathan Kline Institute’s Center of Excellence in Culturally Competent Mental Health for a range of resources on cultural competence in mental health care, including “Cultural Profiles” of Hasidic Jews and American Muslims.

See the quarterly Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work for current scholarship by social work educators. (Unfortunately, the journal is not open access – you may need to log on through a university library.)

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  • Home
  • About
    • About ICNY
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    • Economic and Racial Justice Compact for NYC
    • James Parks Morton
    • Board of Directors
    • ICNY Staff
    • Annual Reports
    • IRS Form 990
    • Resources
  • Programs
    • Supporting New New Yorkers
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Education Programs for Teachers
    • Religious Worlds of New York Summer Institute
    • Interfaith Civic Leadership Academy
    • The Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Retreats for Social Justice
    • Past Programs
  • News & Media
    • ICNY Events & Actions
    • ICNY in the News
    • E-Newsletters
    • Advocacy Updates
    • Statements
  • Gala
    • GALA 2025
    • ABOUT
    • HONOREES
    • SPONSORS
    • PAST GALAS
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