Title
Navigating the Minefield: A Model for Integrating Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice with Service Members and Veterans
Department/School
Social Work
Date of this version
2016
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Integrating religion and spirituality in social work practice with service members and veterans is akin to metaphorically "navigating the minefield." To begin with, service members and veterans may be reluctant to address religion and spirituality due to military culture and/or the effects of combat/other trauma. Additionally, attempting to utilize religion and spirituality in therapy risks a conflation of the secular and religious or spiritual (sacred) domains and a subjugation of one to the other. To ease integrating religion and spirituality and avoid conflation/subjugation of secular and sacred, the concepts of sign and symbol can be utilized as a way to successfully "navigate the minefield." This article proposes a parallel process model that uses sign and symbol as a means of accommodating religion and spirituality (with special reference to Christianity), easing into a consideration of how these values bear on behavioral health, and maintaining the distinction and dialectical tension between secular and sacred.
Volume
43
Issue
3
Published in
Social Work & Christianity
Citation/Other Information
Foley, P. S., Albright, D. L., & Fletcher, K. L. (2016). Navigating the minefield: A model for integrating religion and spirituality in social work practice with service members and veterans. Social Work & Christianity, 43(3), 73-96.