Academic literature on the topic 'Critical social work and liberation spirituality'
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Journal articles on the topic "Critical social work and liberation spirituality"
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Levin, Lia, and Adaya Liberman. "A Case for Critical Social Work Action." Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services 100, no. 3 (May 25, 2019): 248–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1044389419837073.
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Despite critical social work’s (CSW) growing popularity, its praxes and associated policies have thus far remained largely discursive. This situation can be attributed to several factors, including social workers’ attitudes, training, and education and the nature of the systems and organizations employing them. In this article, we contend that besides these viable inhibiting factors, CSW has yet to become a widely used praxis as a result of some of its intrinsic characteristics and the encounter between them and the social work profession. The main part of this article offers guiding principles for promoting critical social work action (CSWA). These principles, which are largely based upon and inspired by fundamentals of Paulo Freire’s genuine pedagogical action, include dialectic practice and policy-making; impatient patience; exemption from neutrality; redefining rationality; humanization, liberation, and transformation; and the formulation of alternatives to silence.
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Burton, Mark. "Liberation psychology: a constructive critical praxis." Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas) 30, no. 2 (June 2013): 249–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0103-166x2013000200011.
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Can a critical psychology be more than an inward looking critique of the discipline itself? Liberation psychology emerged in Latin America in the 1980s. It is a critical psychology with an action focus, taking sides with the oppressed populations of the continent. The originator of the approach, Ignacio Martín-Baró practiced psychology in the context of the El Salvador an civil war, himself becoming a victim of State repression. The consequences of social conflict have since then been an important theme for liberation psychology. Other areas of emphasis have been community social psychology with an emphasis on the role of social movements and social and political commentary and critique. I will present a review of the field covering some key concepts (conscientisation, de-ideologization, historical memory, reconstruction of psychology from the perspective of the other), its geographical spread (in Latin America and other regions), its organization (the emergence of liberation psychology networks and collectives) and some examples of work that is relevant to social trauma, the theme of this symposium.
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Crisp, Beth R. "Charting the Development of Spirituality in Social Work in the Second Decade of the 21st Century: A Critical Commentary." British Journal of Social Work 50, no. 3 (March 16, 2020): 961–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaa015.
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Abstract This article provides a critical commentary on the place of spirituality in social work scholarship in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Compared with previous decades, the applications of spirituality within social work have expanded, and understandings of what spirituality entails have become more nuanced. In part, this reflects an intention and methodology which enabled scholarship from beyond the Anglosphere to be included in this commentary, including the perspectives of indigenous peoples. Three key issues were identified in the literature: a lack of consensus as to how spirituality is understood, including whether it can be measured; the broadening scope for spirituality in social work practice, including growing recognition that spirituality has a role beyond direct practice in social policy and advocacy work; and the impact on social workers or holistic practice models which acknowledge the spirituality of service users and consequences of this for social work education. Although there are many positives to have emerged from this growing acceptance of a legitimate place for spirituality in social work, social workers need to take care to ensure that the ways they incorporate spirituality into their practice is not harmful to service users.
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McGhee, Peter, and Patricia Grant. "Applying critical realism in spirituality at work research." Management Research Review 40, no. 8 (August 21, 2017): 845–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/mrr-05-2016-0124.
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Purpose This study aims to demonstrate how critical realism (CR) can be used in spirituality at work (SAW) research and to provide a practical example of CR in SAW research. Design/methodology/approach CR is a philosophical meta-theory that allows the stratification of spirituality into different levels of reality, advocates for research methods matching the ontology of the level investigated and provides complementary methods of exploring this phenomenon’s causal power in social contexts. The authors present a study where CR was used to explain how and why SAW influences ethics in organisational contexts. Findings The results demonstrate that CR provides a useful approach to bridging the positivist-interpretivist difference in SAW research. Moreover, a CR approach helped explain the underlying conditions and causal mechanisms that power SAW to influence ethical decision-making and behaviour in the workplace. Originality/value While CR has been applied in the management literature, negligible SAW research has used this approach. That which exists is either conceptual or does not discuss methods of data analysis, or describe how critical realist concepts resulted in their findings. This paper addresses that lacuna. CR also provides value, as an alternative approach to SAW research, in that it allows the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods as complementary, not confrontational methods while providing a more integrated and deeper view of SAW and its effects.
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Jemal, Alexis. "Liberation-based social work theory in progress: Time to practice what I teach." Qualitative Social Work 20, no. 1-2 (March 2021): 516–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473325020981085.
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Social work education integrates theory and practice to bridge the micro-macro divide. The theoretical framework of intersecting identities reveals hidden inequities related to health consequences. The global pandemic, reflecting a colliding of personal and professional worlds, interrupted an elective social work course designed to: 1) develop transformative potential (i.e., critical consciousness of and critical action against white supremacy, anti-blackness, and racial oppression of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC)); 2) model liberation-based social work education and practice; and 3) prepare students to be critical social workers in the field. The pandemic created an in-class opportunity for the professor, also the course’s designer, to practice what she teaches. This self-reflexive essay details the pandemic's impact on a teaching experience and follows the professor’s journey to more fully understand systems, inequity, and her own transformative potential. The transformative potential development process included many learning experiences in the areas of relationship and community building; transformative consciousness development; accountability and responsibility; efficacy; and, critical action. The unforeseen global pandemic presented the professor with opportunities for deep reflection about liberation-based social work education and practice. By bringing the reality of how macro processes create micro consequences into the classroom in real time, the professor’s responses were tested against oppressive norms, standards and values versus those that honor a person’s humanity. An important discovery is that a critical social work educator teaches in ways that spark radical imagination to disrupt the oppressive status quo camouflaged as personal choice and business as usual.
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Whyte, Kyle. "Critical Investigations of Resilience: A Brief Introduction to Indigenous Environmental Studies & Sciences." Daedalus 147, no. 2 (March 2018): 136–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_00497.
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Indigenous peoples are among the most active environmentalists in the world, working through advocacy, educational programs, and research. The emerging field of Indigenous Environmental Studies and Sciences (iess) is distinctive, investigating social resilience to environmental change through the research lens of how moral relationships are organized in societies. Examples of iess research across three moral relationships are discussed here: responsibility, spirituality, and justice. iess develops insights on resilience that can support Indigenous peoples' struggles with environmental justice and political reconciliation; makes significant contributions to global discussions about the relationship between human behavior and the environment; and speaks directly to Indigenous liberation as well as justice issues impacting everyone.
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Hall, Ronald E. "Social Work Practice with Arab Families: The Implications of Spirituality vis-à-vis Islam." Advances in Social Work 8, no. 2 (November 30, 2007): 328–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.18060/211.
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In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, spiritualism has become apparent as critical to social work practice with Arab families. Regrettably, research on Arab families today is all but non-existent.Their belief in Islam is the fastest growing form of spirituality in Central Asia. Social workers who do not acknowledge this fact will be at a severe disadvantage in their attempts to treat Arab clientele. It is not compulsory that practitioners endorse client belief systems or other aspects of their spirituality, but practitioners should acknowledge said systems as a critical point in the client’s frame of reference. In the interest of social justice, social workers are thus challenged to develop creative treatment strategies less confined to Western bias.
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Cheatham, Carla. "Callahan, A. M. (2017). Spirituality and Hospice Social Work." OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying 81, no. 1 (January 28, 2020): 170–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0030222820902869.
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Odera, Stephanie, M. Alex Wagaman, Ashley Staton, and Aaron Kemmerer. "Decentering Whiteness in Social Work Curriculum." Advances in Social Work 21, no. 2/3 (September 23, 2021): 801–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.18060/24151.
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The social work profession has historically been dominated by the presence and perspectives of whiteness. The centering of whiteness in social work education is reflected in course offerings, course content, assignment construction, and inherent racialized assumptions about who clients and social workers will be in practice spaces. Critical race theory (CRT) and liberation theory provide a framework for considering how to make visible the ways in which white supremacy is embedded in social work education, and to identify strategies for disrupting its presence by decentering whiteness. The purpose of this project is to foster critical thought about ways to dismantle racism and white supremacy in social work educational spaces. Using the reflexive methodology of collaborative autoethnography, the four authors - two course instructors and two students - with varying racial identities and positionalities, reflected on the experiences of coming to, being in, and transitioning out of the course. Areas of convergence and divergence in the autoethnographic reflections revealed strategies such as embracing vulnerability, promoting authentic relationships, and normalizing emotional as well as cognitive engagement for decentering whiteness in social work education. Implications and recommendations for social work educators and students committed to engaging in anti-racist practice are also discussed
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Plaatjies-Van Huffel, Mary-Anne. "Blackness as an ontological symbol: The way forward." Review & Expositor 117, no. 1 (February 2020): 101–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0034637320904718.
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This article focuses on Black liberation theology from a non-western perspective and suggests a deconstructive treatment of Black liberation theology, engaging Cone’s work critically. The critical question in reading texts on Black theology is whether poststructural theories on language, subjectivity, social processes, and institutions can identify areas and strategies for change with regard to Black liberation theology. James Cone was critical regarding a poststructural foundational approach. Even so, this article uses poststructuralism as a lens to attend to the subthemes of blackness as ontological symbol, dethroning the author in a poststructural discourse of Black theology, Black theology and Black power, Black liberation theology and anthropology, and Black theology and experience.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "Critical social work and liberation spirituality"
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D'Amico, Melissa, and s2006851@student rmit edu au. "Critical postmodern social work and liberation spirituality." RMIT University. Global Studies, Social Science and Planning, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20080722.143340.
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This thesis explores the relationship between emancipatory politics and spirituality, and what this has to offer a critical postmodern approach to social work. At the centre of this thesis is a focus on forming a connection between critical postmodern social work theory and liberation spirituality. Liberation spirituality is a framework proposed by Joel Kovel which has at its heart connects emancipation and spirituality. My first chapter outlines my research approach. Chapter two explores the diversity and complexity of spiritual meanings, examines the influence of the western context on spirituality, analyses the relationship between language and spirituality, and outlines my assumptions in relation to spirituality. Chapter three examines the historical and social context influencing social workers' engagement with spiritual issues. It also explores the engagement of current social work literature with issues of spirituality. Chapters four and five consider distinctions between critical social work in the modernist tradition, and critical postmodern social work. This establishes why critical postmodern social work approaches are more suited to engage with spiritual issues. The conceptual connection between critical postmodern social work and liberation spirituality is explored in chapter six and chapter seven. The latter in particular includes a detailed examination of the relationship between emancipatory politics and spirituality. The thesis concludes in chapter eight by analysing implications of this conceptual connection.
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Moss, Bernard. "Spirituality, social work education and workplace well-being : towards a critical framework." Thesis, Staffordshire University, 2011. http://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/1869/.
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Although social work as an international profession has begun to take spirituality seriously as part of its professional discourse and commitment to best practice, in the UK there has been considerable reluctance to regard it positively. This thesis argues for a comprehensive understanding of spirituality that relates to deep, human themes including meaning and purpose, mystery and awe, concepts which are by no means limited to, or restricted by, religious perspectives. Spirituality, it is argued, is ‘what we do to give expression to our chosen world-view’, and as such is an all-encompassing concept that helps us understand and appreciate the positive and negative aspects of humanity. The author builds upon and develops existing theoretical perspectives to demonstrate the relevance of spirituality to the professional social work discourse. A ‘co-creative’ /action research methodology was adopted to enable key ‘players’ in social work education and practice (students, academics, practitioners, service users and carers) to ‘co-create’ and own a theoretical framework that would enable spirituality fulfil a key role in the social work curriculum. The author’s new strap-line for social work -celebrating diversity with social justice - argues for an understanding of spirituality that is all-encompassing in its scope, and recognises the ways in which spirituality can be both a positive and negative influence at a wider level in society. His discussion of the key concept of authentic and inauthentic spirituality demonstrates its relevance to the core social work values of anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice. The discussion of workplace well-being in the thesis is a further distinctive development of the author’s understanding of spirituality and the contribution it can make to social work theory and practice.
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Hockey, Neil Edward. "Learning for liberation : values, actions and structures for social transformation through Aboriginal communities." Queensland University of Technology, 2007. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16520/.
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Negative perceptions of being Aboriginal persist and policies such as self-determination are generally perceived to have failed despite many texts to the contrary. This thesis examines assumptions and presuppositions within contemporary writings and practices, determining in the process, conditions seeming necessary for decolonising ways of living and research. Much closer attention is required not only to developing better understandings, but especially to articulating explanations via the reality of deep structures, their powers and causal mechanisms underpinning social life generally and in particular, the lived experience of oppressed communities. Neo-Nietzscheanism and post-structuralism tend to see reality as merely constructed. Maximising movements of solidarity with the oppressed must express the freedom of everyone in any particular place. The thesis begins by exploring the nature and significance of philosophical underlabouring (clearing the ground) for decolonisation as self-emancipation. It then engages with issues of value, truth and power by means of establishing a critical realist dialogue between two sets of writings. Key works by Australian (Japanangka West, Yolnju) Maori (Tuhiwai Smith) and American (Moonhawk Alford, Taiaiake Alfred) First Nations thinkers in modernity's colonial context are retroductively analysed in order to suggest what must be the case (in terms of being and becoming) for decolonisation to be possible. Works by philosophers currently establishing and applying Bhaskarian transcendental dialectical critical realist and/or meta-Realist principles of self-emancipation are critiqued in relation to their compatibility with decolonisation. Terms of reference within this dialogue are then supplemented from within writings by a range of others (Fanon, Said, Otto and Levinas), selected for their perceived significance in developing a dialectical praxis of personal and social transformation through spirit within the domain of strengthening community and protecting children.
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Zabala, Francis Efron C. "Journey from the margins toward a spirituality of accompaniment for ministerial leaders in Mindanao context /." Online full text .pdf document, available to Fuller patrons only, 2004. http://www.tren.com.
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Austin, Marne Leigh. "Nomadic Subjectivity and Muslim Women: A Critical Ethnography of Identities, Cultures, and Discourses." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1371657565.
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Gibson, Maxine Jessie. "Can spirituality "save" social work?: a critical examination of spirituality and social work." Thesis, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2130.
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Drawing from principles of discourse analysis, this study provides a critical exploration of the contemporary debate surrounding spirituality and social work through the analysis of nineteen journal articles written by contemporary social work scholars. Two common problems identified by the scholars include the neglect of spirituality within contemporary practice and a lack of education and guidelines to address spirituality. The solutions identified by the scholars include provision of guidelines and education, the utilization of spirituality as a technique and the creation of spiritually aware social workers. The exclusion of general discussions surrounding macro level issues leads the author of this thesis to suggest that more research is necessary in order to explore how the concept of spirituality might serve to upset current power relations on a collective and systemic level in order to create a more significant impact upon contemporary social work practice and education.
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Flaendorp, Charles Daniel. "Die bruinmense van Suurbraak: 200 jaar spiritualiteitsvorming deur 'n identiteit van gemarginaliseerdheid." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/551.
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Stasko, Carly. "A Pedagogy of Holistic Media Literacy: Reflections on Culture Jamming as Transformative Learning and Healing." Thesis, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/18109.
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This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988, 1990, 2001) and self-study to investigate ways to further understand and facilitate the integration of holistic philosophies of education with media literacy pedagogies. As founder and director of the Youth Media Literacy Project and a self-titled Imagitator (one who agitates imagination), I have spent over 10 years teaching media literacy in various high schools, universities, and community centres across North America. This study will focus on my own personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin, 1982) as a culture jammer, educator and cancer survivor to illustrate my original vision of a ‘holistic media literacy pedagogy’. This research reflects on the emergence and impact of holistic media literacy in my personal and professional life and also draws from relevant interdisciplinary literature to challenge and synthesize current insights and theories of media literacy, holistic education and culture jamming.
Books on the topic "Critical social work and liberation spirituality"
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Stewart, Abigail J. Critical Reflection of Section Two. Oxford University Press, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190614614.003.0006.
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Liberation is often understood as a project of self-liberation or at least individual liberation, especially by the nearly-always-individualistic field of psychology. This is not the liberatory goal at stake in Bullock’s or Moane’s work in Section Two. They are aiming at the liberation of groups—poor people, women without access to abortion, those with socially marginalized sexual identities, and others—through a process of liberation that both is individual and includes engagement with the social processes of subordination and oppression. The authors have found and outlined resources in psychology that help with both levels of that project—the personal and the structural. In doing so, both Bullock and Moane show that the language and theory of human rights can be useful. The psychology both of these chapters outlines is one that brings psychologists and communities into meaningful partnerships to create social justice by drawing on a human rights framework.
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Resane, Kelebogile Thomas. South African Christian Experiences: From colonialism to democracy. SunBonani Scholar, 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.18820/9781928424994.
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Theologically and historically sound, Resane’s South African Christian Experiences: From Colonialism to Democracy, envisions a robust Christianity that acknowledges itself as “a community of justified sinners” who are on an eschatological journey of conversion. This Christianity does not look away from its historical sins and participation in corruption and evils such as Apartheid. Resane argues that failing to adhere to Jesus’ teachings is not a reason for Christianity to recede from public life. Rather, doing so further pushes Christianity away from Jesus who emphatically called for the Church to engage in the liberation of society. By framing how the Christian must engage with his/her community as a component to belief – that saying must mean doing for belief to happen – Resane frames his theology as an eschatological clarion call for internal and social renewal, an interplay between the individual Christian, the communal churches of Christ, and society at large. Dr J. Sands – Northwest University “Drawing from our own wells” is a prophetic call for theologians to develop context specific liberation theologies drawn from their own contexts, history, experiences, and different types of knowledge. This book locates its loci in the historical and contemporary context in South Africa, as well as drawing from the rich legacy of liberation theologies including African, Kairos, Black, Circle and many other theologies to address contemporary issues facing South Africa. Resane’s book contributes towards enhancing the much needed local theologies of liberation based on contextual realities and knowledges. Dr Nontando Hadebe – Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians South African Christian Experiences: From Colonialism to Democracy captures the societal binaries that are part and parcel of Christianity, especially in the African context. The definition of God is also affected by these binaries, such as, is God Black or White? The book proposes both the non-binary approach, and the process of inculturation. The work also shows how not to have one theology, but different theologies, hence references and expansions on the Trinity, Pneumatology, Christology, etc. Furthermore, this work portrays Christ as seen from an African point of view, and what it means to attach African attributes to Christ, as opposed to the traditional Western understanding. Rev. Fr. Thabang Nkadimeng – History of Christianity, University of KwaZulu Natal Resane has dug deep into the history of the church in South Africa, and brought the experiences of Indigenous people and Christians, including theologians, to the attention of every reader. The author demonstrates an intense knowledge of the history of Christianity. He also portrays that there is still more to be done, both from the Christian historical perspective and the theological perspective for the church to be relevant to all the contexts in which it finds itself. Prof. Mokhele Madise – Department of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, University of South Africa
Book chapters on the topic "Critical social work and liberation spirituality"
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Gardner, Fiona. "Critical spirituality and social work practice." In The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Spirituality and Social Work, 300–308. Routledge, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315679853-39.
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Morales, Amanda R., and John Raible. "To Teach as We Are Known." In Advances in Early Childhood and K-12 Education, 79–97. IGI Global, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-3652-0.ch005.
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In this chapter, the authors outline the ongoing dialogues, thought processes, and pedagogical moves they make as two seasoned colleagues of color attempting to enhance the cultural competence of students through a critical multicultural education course offered at a public university-based teacher education program. They document how we address many enduring moral, ethical, and epistemological questions through their practice that are unique to educators of color working at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). They frame the work within the literature on diversity and social justice pedagogy and link their own work to the broader well-documented challenges faced by many educators of color at PWIs. They tackle the thorny concept of cultural competence, offering their professional understanding of an admittedly contested topic. They draw on spirituality to ground the “heart and soul work” they undertake that enhances their own critical consciousness as it is continually nurtured in dialogic relation to their students.
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Kulz, Christy. "Students navigating and negotiating the conveyor belt: aspiration, loss, endurance and fantasy." In Factories for Learning. Manchester University Press, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9781526116178.003.0006.
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This chapter explores how students navigate and negotiate Dreamfields’ demands from their situated positions. Unlike other research showing how masculinities are often built on displays of resistance towards school work, Dreamfields makes trying not only acceptable for both boys and girls, but a mandatory requirement. While 'liberation' may bring the benefits of good grades and future success, these benefits come at a cost. Throughout this process students are urged to regard themselves as commodities made better and more valuable through their training as market logic penetrates these young people's lives and their social relationships at an intensely personal level. There is little space for critical thinking, innovation or creativity in the neoliberal school; instead there is obedient reproduction where students, parents and teachers learn to accept that Dreamfields’ approach is the only option.
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Stoddard, Robert H., and Carolyn V. Prorok. "Geography of Religion and Belief Systems." In Geography in America at the Dawn of the 21st Century. Oxford University Press, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198233923.003.0063.
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Spatial and environmental dimensions of religious behavior, artefacts, and attitudes are grist for the geographer’s intellectual mill because spiritually motivated convictions and actions play an important role in human affairs. It is not surprising, therefore, that the geography of religion and belief systems is an important, emerging field of study. We commence this chapter with a definition of the field, particularly as it entails distinctions that arise out of the highly personal nature that religious belief is accorded in the academy and society at large. A limited review and summary of trends in the field over the past decade follows, building on Kong’s (1990) and Sopher’s (1967, 1981) overviews. Although North American geographers are emphasized here, research in the geography of religion is thoroughly entwined in terms of scholars’ national origin, university training, and research perspectives, thus making distinctions in nationality difficult. Moreover, geographers who do not consider themselves to be geographers of religion and numerous nongeographers also make significant contributions to this field because their work clearly incorporates both religious and geographic components in their analysis and subject matter. We note that traditional empirical studies largely dominate the work published in the last decade. Nevertheless, humanistic research (Weightman 1996; Cooper 1997a; Prorok 1997; Osterrieth 1997), and the application of contemporary critical theory (Fielder 1995; Kong 1993a, b; Prorok 2000) in this field is gaining ground, particularly via recent dissertations and presentations at AAG meetings. Additional comments about future challenges and opportunities conclude the chapter. No universally accepted definition of religion exists, as illustrated by the hundreds already published and others continually being introduced (see e.g. a separate bibliographical category devoted annually to this definitional task in Social Compass: International Review of Sociology of Religion). Another indication that the term “religion” lacks a single, precise definition is the continual struggle, expressed repeatedly within the American judicial system, with questions about what are truly “religious” activities. Definitions vary in their emphasis on three contrasting perspectives: (1) a transcendental divinity; (2) an immanent spirituality that permeates all of life; and (3) an ethical philosophy.