Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Recent literature on social work reveals an increasing interest in including spirituality/religion in practice and social workers' need to engage more actively with clients' religious traditions and spirituality. However, very few current practitioners have been taught how to do so. This qualitative study, conducted in a school of social work in southern Israel, evaluates the effect of an elective pilot course on social work and Judaism aimed at enabling students to develop an awareness of religion and spirituality. The data were gathered through a brief questionnaire administered at the end of the course, after final grades were assigned. The findings indicate that at the start of the course the students' perception was that a separation existed between religion/spirituality and social work. As the course progressed, they reflected on their religious/spiritual identity in its encounter with their professional identity. They were able to connect religion/spirituality and social work and to consider the spiritual/religious world of clients. It is recommended that social work schools develop courses that link religion and spirituality to the profession.

International field work training has focused mainly on the importance of support systems and supervision. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no detailed framework that specifies the components and strategies that should be included. To fill this gap, this article will explore the use of an experiential 3-week psycho-educational training seminar. Four main components were developed for the psycho-educational seminar on the basis of the approach to traditional field work practicum. In addition, five strategies were adopted to achieve these components. Practical guidelines are proposed for training social work students in international field work abroad.

This article presents the findings of a cross-sectional study of 131 Israeli Jewish and Arab social workers that aimed to predict the probability that social workers would integrate clients' religion and spirituality in practice. The study is the first of its kind in Israel. Findings showed that social workers have favourable attitudes and high levels of self-efficacy. However, study participants reported low feasibility and even lower levels of engagement of clients' religious and spiritual beliefs in practice. One variable, age, emerged as a significant predictor of such integration. Integration of religion and spirituality in practice remains the professional's personal choice.

Although the values of pluralism and diversity are enshrined in social work's Code of Ethics, the literature indicates that religious students will experience hostility within social work schools. This qualitative study explores how religious Jewish and Arab-Muslim social work students in Israel experience the secular academic context, in light of the profession's values. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted over a 6-month period, starting in January 2018, with third-year women students of social work at the country's largest public college – a microcosm of Israeli society in terms of ethnic, religious, and national affiliation. The participants were 20 women (10 Jewish and 10 Arab-Muslim) who self-identify as religious, in a secular academic setting. Analysis of the findings yields a broad and varied picture: the main themes include the initial encounter with the physical, social, and intellectual college environment; questioning whether academe is really liberal; and the feeling of being outsiders. These findings, which contribute to an understanding of the social and educational needs of the student who is the 'other', are relevant to social work educators worldwide. The other is everywhere.

Abstract
The social work profession's worldview, which is expressed through education and practice, is 'almost exclusively secular in colour and context'. This qualitative study in the phenomenological tradition of ten religious Jewish and ten religious Arab-Muslim students of social work in Israel found that both groups coped similarly with the secularity, despite their ethnic, national and religious differences. Most of them adopted emotion-focussed coping strategies that isolated them from their academic surroundings. The religious students who adopted a problem-focussed strategy opened themselves to new knowledge. Knowing about these strategies may help faculty and other personnel in social work schools not only to be better acquainted with this minority but also to provide an environment that is receptive to and respectful of the religious student.

The literature highlights the difficulty involved in integrating human rights and social work practice, especially among students who encounter extreme and unfamiliar social problems. Content analysis of narratives written by students during their field placement abroad contributes to identifying the conditions that are necessary to increase students' awareness of their own obstacles and difficulties in promoting human rights. The findings provide insights into the actions that need to be taken in order to enhance human rights knowledge and to better integrate it into practice. International field placement is recommended as a preferred setting for implementing social rights practice in global contexts.