Social workers' conceptualizations of spirituality as lived experience in professional practice

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dc.contributor.authorLwanga
dc.contributor.authorKasekende S., Christine
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeCheung, Maria (Faculty of Social Work) Fuchs, Don (Faculty of Social Work) Byrne, Sean (Peace & Conflict Studies) Graham, John (Social Work, Florida Atlantic University)en_US
dc.contributor.supervisorCheung, Maria (Faculty of Social Work) Fuch, Don (Faculty of Social Work) Byrne, Sean (Peace & Conflict Studies)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-27T15:32:33Z
dc.date.available2016-09-27T15:32:33Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.degree.disciplineSocial Worken_US
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)en_US
dc.description.abstractThis doctoral study explores social workers’ shared understandings of spirituality as lived experience in their personal lives and professional practice. It examines Canadian social workers’ shared conceptualizations of spirituality as lived experience, what it entails, its role and purpose (why), and how it informs professional practice. Data collection involved three steps: a national publicity led to 24 completed self-screening questionnaires (SSQ); 14 in-depth interviews conducted through constructivist grounded theory’s theoretical sampling and; the preliminary findings were validated by the 24 SSQ participants. This study generated two key findings. The central concepts category of the conceptual schema of spirituality as lived experience emerged as Transcendent Life Energy (TLE) as Unconditional Love (UL) in Transformative Relationships (TR) With Self (WS) in Support of Wellbeing (SW)- i.e. TLE-UL-TR-WS-SW. Second, the conceptual schema analyzed through Self as body-mind-emotions-spirit-social (B-M-E-S-S) being—the social work practitioners—illuminated that spirituality as lived experience is about inherent, interconnected, transformative relationships that involve individuation as a life-long process that support healing, development of personal values, growth, and wellbeing in participants’ lives, their clients’ and social life. These findings unveiled interrelated discoveries of significance in social work practice. The wellbeing of Self is inherently interconnected with practitioners’ professional practice, their clients’ and others’ wellbeing. This confirmation is consistent with the concerns about the use of Self in countertransference and religion/culture. However, the personal values that participants developed through the conceptual schema were consistent with human rights and social work values; they included: respect for inherent dignity and worth of persons, self-determination, personal and professional integrity, do no harm, and social justice. Participants’ process of developing personal values exposed a distinction between beliefs and values acquired through socialization and those developed through the conceptual schema. These findings illuminate the function of social work as catalyst for transformative relationships and clarify the role of individuation as directly related to wellbeing, in the midst of cultural and embodied hegemony. Furthermore, the findings illuminate how, why, and what spirituality as lived experience entails and; highlight the multidisciplinary nature of social work practice and theory as inherently interconnected, encompassing human, natural, and social sciences.en_US
dc.description.noteOctober 2016en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/31863
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectConcepts categoriesen_US
dc.subjectSpirituality as lived experienceen_US
dc.subjectTranscendent Life-Energyen_US
dc.subjectUnconditional loveen_US
dc.subjectSelf as a body-mind-emotions-spirit-social beingen_US
dc.subjectinherent (innate) interconnectionsen_US
dc.subjectinterdependent transformative relationshipsen_US
dc.subjectindividuation processen_US
dc.subjectbeliefs and valuesen_US
dc.subjecthuman rights and social work valuesen_US
dc.subjectsubjective-objective-social wellbeingen_US
dc.subjectcultural and embodied hegemonyen_US
dc.subjectsocial justiceen_US
dc.titleSocial workers' conceptualizations of spirituality as lived experience in professional practiceen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
local.subject.manitobayesen_US
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