Selected Topics: SWK w/Religious Orgn

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Gain an understanding of the historical relationship among spirituality, religion, and social work and appreciate the role that spirituality has played in the development of the professional value base.
• Explore the implications of the various concepts of spirituality on human development and well-being, community development, and individual interpersonal, and social change efforts. Recognize that inclusion of the spiritual dimension of the biopsychosocial perspective is needed to understand individuals holistically.
• Understand diverse forms of spirituality and of spiritual expression characteristics of a broad range of ethnic, racial, religious, and national communities.
• Develop those skills necessary to assess the roles of spirituality and of religious practices in the lives of social work clients and to evaluate the potential place of spirituality in the helping process.
• Develop the ability to apply diverse spiritually sensitive practice interventions in a manner fully consistent with professional ethics and client self-determination.
• Develop those skills necessary to help engage clients with spiritual support systems, including self-help groups, religious organizations, and a range of other community/holistic resources.
• Establish familiarity with social research studies related to the application of spiritual practices in professional treatment.
• Comprehend the role spirituality has played in multiple global struggles for social and economic liberation, including populations that may have been marginalized, excluded, or oppressed by formal religions.
• Become aware of the role of one’s own spirituality in the development of the professional self-concept.

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Journals	40 points
Discussion Boards and Responses	30 points
Weekly In-Module Assignments	15 points
Module Quizzes	15 points
Spiritually Sensitive Assessment Tool	10 points

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
95% - 100%	A
90% - 94%	A-
87% - 89%	B+
83% - 86%	B
80% - 82%	B-
77% - 79%	C+
73% - 76%	C
70% - 72%	C-
67% - 69%	D+
63% - 66%	D
60% - 62%	D-
59% and below	F

Attendance/Participation:

This course is online, asynchronous and participation is measured through weekly module assignments.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

Canda, E., Furman, L., & Canda, H. (2020). Spiritual diversity in social work practice: The heart of helping (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.