Abstract
In spite of the growing interest in spirituality, little attention has been paid to how social workers’ metaphysical worldviews affect their conceptualization and subsequent operationalization of spirituality. This paper explores how the largely nontheistic worldviews of social workers inform their definitions of spirituality, which in turn fosters a systemic bias against the spirituality of consumers who hold theistic belief systems. Examples of how current definitions conflict with a theistic worldview are provided, and it is suggested that the operationalization of existing conceptualizations would yield biased measures that would preassign theistic consumers a lower level of spirituality. Suggestions for addressing the problem conclude the paper.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 39-61 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Social Thought |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Measurement
- Spiritual sensitivity
- Spirituality
- Values
- Worldviews
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Religious studies
Cite this
Conceptualizing spirituality in social work : How the metaphysical beliefs of social workers may foster bias toward theistic consumers. / Hodge, David.
In: Social Thought, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2002, p. 39-61.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Conceptualizing spirituality in social work
T2 - How the metaphysical beliefs of social workers may foster bias toward theistic consumers
AU - Hodge, David
PY - 2002
Y1 - 2002
N2 - In spite of the growing interest in spirituality, little attention has been paid to how social workers’ metaphysical worldviews affect their conceptualization and subsequent operationalization of spirituality. This paper explores how the largely nontheistic worldviews of social workers inform their definitions of spirituality, which in turn fosters a systemic bias against the spirituality of consumers who hold theistic belief systems. Examples of how current definitions conflict with a theistic worldview are provided, and it is suggested that the operationalization of existing conceptualizations would yield biased measures that would preassign theistic consumers a lower level of spirituality. Suggestions for addressing the problem conclude the paper.
AB - In spite of the growing interest in spirituality, little attention has been paid to how social workers’ metaphysical worldviews affect their conceptualization and subsequent operationalization of spirituality. This paper explores how the largely nontheistic worldviews of social workers inform their definitions of spirituality, which in turn fosters a systemic bias against the spirituality of consumers who hold theistic belief systems. Examples of how current definitions conflict with a theistic worldview are provided, and it is suggested that the operationalization of existing conceptualizations would yield biased measures that would preassign theistic consumers a lower level of spirituality. Suggestions for addressing the problem conclude the paper.
KW - Measurement
KW - Spiritual sensitivity
KW - Spirituality
KW - Values
KW - Worldviews
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84966634456&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84966634456&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15426432.2002.9960306
DO - 10.1080/15426432.2002.9960306
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84966634456
VL - 21
SP - 39
EP - 61
JO - Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work
JF - Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work
SN - 1542-6432
IS - 1
ER -