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Spirituality and Practice in Social Work, Youth and Family Studies

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Spirituality across Disciplines: Research and Practice:

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Abstract

The academic fields of social work and family studies are two related, yet distinct, disciplines. Family Study practitioners consist of certified family life educators and marriage and family therapists (MFTs), though MFTs require a terminal degree and additional training. The field of social work includes various levels of licensed social workers. Across both fields, spirituality is viewed as a resource that is essential to physical and/or emotional healing and well-being. Social workers include spirituality as an essential component of practice in its person-in-environment guiding framework. Of note, family studies scholars put forth a theory of the sacred acknowledge not only the importance of spirituality, but also cautioning its ability to help or harm people. Moving forward, both fields can be advanced through the production of a theory that aid practitioners with prevention, assessment, and intervention tools that can improve the functioning of individuals and families.

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Acknowledgement

This author sincerely thanks Brianna Barnum for her assistance on this chapter. Her contribution to the literature search and definition matrix was extremely valuable to the construction of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Miami University, 110B McGuffey Hall, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA

    Anthony James

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  1. Anthony James
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Correspondence to Anthony James .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Federation University, Ballarat, Australia

    Marian de Souza

  2. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia

    Jane Bone

  3. School of Education & Lifelong Lear, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom

    Jacqueline Watson

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James, A. (2016). Spirituality and Practice in Social Work, Youth and Family Studies. In: de Souza, M., Bone, J., Watson, J. (eds) Spirituality across Disciplines: Research and Practice:. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31380-1_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31380-1_15

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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