Integrating Social Workers’

Christian Faith in Social

Work: A National Survey
Holly K. Oxhandler, Rick Chamiec-Case, Terry Wolfer,
Julianna Marraccino

Over the past few decades, researchers have focused considerable attention
on religion, spirituality, and faith (RSF) in social work. However, most of
this research has been focused on the RSF of clients rather than on RSF of
social workers. This study used the Social Worker’s Integration of their Faith
– Christian (SWIF-C; Oxhandler et al., 2019) to explore efforts by NACSW
members (n = 486) to integrate their Christian faith and social work. Overall,
participants reported high levels of faith and social work integration—with both
faith and social work influencing the other—and also noted some experience
of conflict in their effort to integrate their faith and social work. With a goal
of developing sustained ethical and competent professional practice, the paper
concludes with recommendations for helping students and supervisees integrate
their own faith and social work.

Keywords: social work; Christian; religion and spirituality; faith

integration

O
VER THE PAST FEW DECADES, THERE HAS BEEN
considerable attention focused on religion, spirituality, and faith
(RSF) within the social work profession (Furman et al., 2007;
Hodge, 2008; Oxhandler & Pargament, 2014; Oxhandler et al., 2015;
Scales & Kelly, 2016; Sheridan, 2012; Williams & Smolak, 2007). There
are good reasons for this attention, including: a) many clients want care
providers to respectfully consider how their RSF beliefs and practices relate
to their treatment goals (Harris et al., 2016; Oxhandler, Ellor et al., 2018);
b) significant spiritual and religious questions, issues, and experiences
sometimes emerge during the helping process, and need to be addressed
both sensitively and competently as affirmed in NASW’s Standards for
Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice (NASW, 2001); and c) spiritual

Social Work & Christianity, Vol. 48, No. 1 (2021), 52–74

DOI: 10.34043/SWC.V48I1.160
Journal of the North American Association of Christians in Social Work
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 53

and religious interventions may contribute to valued health and mental

health outcomes (Koenig et al., 2012) as well as coping with life’s challenges
and struggles (Furman et al., 2011).
For the most part, however, attention to RSF in social work literature
has focused on clients’ RSF (Oxhandler et al., 2015) rather than the RSF of
social workers. For example, most of the scales developed for exploring and
evaluating the role and impact of spirituality in social work have primarily
focused on clients and client interventions (Oxhandler & Pargament, 2014),
including the Role of Religion and Spirituality in Practice Scale (Sheridan et
al.,1992), the Religion and Prayer in Practice Scale (Mattison et al., 2000),
the Religious/Spiritually Integrated Practice Assessment Scale (Oxhandler &
Parrish, 2016), and the Spiritually Derived Intervention Checklist (Canda
& Furman, 2010).
While a strong focus on clients’ RSF is critical for developing effective
and spiritually-sensitive practice, there are also important reasons to explore
the RSF of social workers. First, for many social workers, their personal RSF
is a powerful asset that can provide motivation, sustenance, and resilience
in their work with their clients (Wagenfled-Heintz, 2009). Second, for many
social workers, RSF is intricately woven into a core part of their personal
and cultural identities, and cannot simply be “checked at the door” when
they engage in their work (Oxhandler, 2017). As a result, attempting to
bracket RSF in their practice may feel forced, potentially inauthentic, and/or
lead to an unsatisfying and unproductive disconnect between their personal
and professional selves (Hughes, 2005). The question is not whether the
RSF of social workers interacts with their understanding and practice of
social work, but rather whether they handle these interactions thoughtfully,
competently, and ethically. In fact, for most workers, effective integration of
their own faith may result in finding their work satisfying and meaningful
(Alford & Naughton, 2001; Conger, 1994; Fairholm, 1996, 1998). In return,
this can increase their productivity, motivation (Mitroff & Denton, 1999),
job satisfaction, and organizational/job commitment (Milliman et al., 2003),
as well as overall improvement in work performance and ethical behavior
(Garcia-Zamor, 2003; Maglitta, 1996).
Third, a recent study found that the variable most significantly related
to social workers addressing clients’ RSF in clinical practice – with an
even greater influence on the regression model than training – is the
social workers’ intrinsic religiosity (Oxhandler et al., 2015), or the way in
which the social worker is deeply motivated to live out their faith (Allport
& Ross, 1967). Further, when asked what helps clinical social workers
integrate clients’ RSF in practice, 44% freely mentioned their personal
religiosity, including their religious/spiritual journey, belief system, and
practices (Oxhandler & Giardina, 2017). In light of these and other studies
of helping professionals, Namaste Theory “introduces the concept that as
54 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

helping professionals infuse their own RS beliefs/practices into their daily

lives, deepening their intrinsic religiosity and awareness of what they deem
sacred, they tend to consider and integrate clients’ RS beliefs/practices, and
what clients consider sacred as well” (Oxhandler, 2017, p. 1). In addition,
social workers’ intrinsic spirituality has also been shown to increase self-
efficacy and perceived feasibility as it relates to integrating clients’ RSF in
clinical practice (Oxhandler et al., 2015). Given the significant role social
workers’ RSF plays in promoting practitioners’ resilience, sense of meaning
in their work, and integration of clients’ RSF as it relates to practice, it is
important that the profession better understand how and to what extent
RSF influences the practice of social workers of faith. This is especially
important to consider when social workers’ RSF beliefs and practices largely
differ from the clients they serve. Namely, clinical social workers identify
as more spiritual and less religious than US adults, engage in less frequent
prayer and more meditation, and identify with different faith traditions
as compared with the general US adults (Oxhandler, Polson et al., 2018).

Theoretical Approaches to the Integration of RSF and Social Work

in the Literature
In the literature, as noted above, it is common to refer to the integration
of faith and social work practice; however, for the purpose of this paper,
we prefer integrating faith and social work because we believe that both
faith and social work have both theoretical and practice aspects—faith
theory/practice, social work theory/practice—and that these four aspects
potentially inform and reinforce each other.
Most of the initial efforts to explore integrating social workers’ RSF
and social work together have focused primarily at the theoretical level.
For example, Singletary (2005) outlines a model emphasizing a circular
process in which theological reflection and committed social action inform
each other in the life and work of social workers who bring faith, religion,
and/or spirituality into their social work practice. This model shows how
“thought and action, particularly theological reflection and social work
practice, might inform each other in the life of a social worker who seeks
to incorporate the role of faith, religion, and/or spirituality in her or his
practice” (p. 56), resulting in more informed, improved service for social
workers’ clients.
In further examples, Chamiec-Case (2016) outlines three broad
categories for organizing how Christians in social work integrate their RSF
and social work. The first category - The Effect of Integration on the Christian
Social Worker’s Motivation and Character/Identity Formation - focuses on
how the RSF of Christians in social work affects the development of their
personal identity, character, inner strength, and motivation in ways that
impact their understanding and practice of social work, and vice versa.
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 55

Example approaches in this category include the calling and virtues

models of integration. The calling model of integration emphasizes how
faith informs or clarifies the decision to choose social work as a vocation
with a commitment to serve others and further social justice and human
flourishing in our world (Eun-Kyoung & Barrett, 2007; Garland, 2016;
Hugen, 2016; Taylor &Wolfer, 1999) or, conversely, how social work
supports a person’s call to their faith (Keith-Lucas, n.d.). The virtues model
of integration highlights how the interaction of RSF and social work may
contribute to the formation of the identity and character of Christians in
social work, an interaction that can have a direct and beneficial impact
on their performance of social work practice (Costello, 2013), as well as
on their life of faith. For example, integration of RSF and social work
may consist of engaging in a variety of Christian disciplines and practices
(Milner, 2015; Ripley et al., 2009) that nurture the development of Christian
virtues such as faith, hope, humility, hospitality, gratitude, selflessness,
and love, which transform not just what social workers do but, even more
fundamentally who they are (and are becoming), both as persons and as
social workers (Schreiber et al., 2015; Wolfer & Brandsen, 2015).
The second category - The Effect of Integration on the Understanding
of Faith and of Social Work - includes how RSF affects the way Christians
in social work understand social work theory and practice, as well as
how social work affects their understanding of their Christian faith. For
example, Brenden and Shank (2012) describe a process through which
the Colleges of St. Catherine/St. Thomas went about “thoughtfully and
systematically integrating Catholic Social Teaching into the social work
curriculum” with the result that, through this process, “the School has
strengthened the social justice content of its programs” (p. 354). As another
illustration, Vanderwoerd (2012) proposes several biblical principles to
serve as a foundation for the development of a uniquely Christian view of
social welfare, including: a) that God creates and upholds all the different
societies that have and do exist; and b) that the purpose of societies and/or
social structures is to facilitate God’s intent for humans in creation – which
is to have abundantly flourishing relationships in harmony.
The third category - The Effect of Integration on the Practice of Faith
and Social Work - includes how RSF affects the way Christians in social
work carry out social work practice, as well as how social work affects the
way they live out their Christian faith. The excellence and integrity model
of integration is one example, in which the RSF of Christians in social
work drive their efforts to deliver the highest-quality of services possible,
primarily because their ultimate goal in their work is to honor God and
meet not just the profession’s expectations, but God’s standards as well
(Brandsen & Hugen, 2007): “Whatever you do, work at it with all your
heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. . . . It is the Lord
56 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24, New International Version).

The intrapersonal model of integration is another example, in which the
engagement of Christians in social work in one or more spiritual practices
or disciplines helps them to focus and prepare for the work they do as
social workers (Walker et al., 2004), such as a) engaging in private prayer
or meditation in preparation for their work with clients; b) reflecting on
passages of Scripture or other religious texts for encouragement, inspiration,
or to help them cope with stress; or c) participating in other forms of
individual or corporate worship.
While these three categories view integrating RSF and social work
approaches as primarily positive and synergistic, some social workers
experience tension or conflict between the values and priorities of the
social work profession and their personal RSF (Dessel et al., 2011).
Others express concerns that too strong of an emphasis on integration
could prevent Christians in social work from serious consideration and
application of social work knowledge and theories generated outside of the
faith community, or that integrating faith and social work may minimize
the central and foundational role faith should play in every aspect of life
(Chamiec-Case, 2016). Thus, any attempts to study the RSF of social
workers should be sensitive to both the potential positive/synergistic effects
of integrating Christian RSF and social work, as well as potential tensions
that may exist between the two.

Current Study
Unfortunately, there is little empirical data regarding social workers’
views on integrating their personal RSF and social work. To better understand
the ways in which social workers who self-identify as Christian integrate
their personal faith and social work, we conducted a national survey of
NACSW members, as described below. Our guiding research questions
included: (1) What is the impact of social work on one’s understanding
and practice of faith, the impact of one’s faith on one’s understanding and
practice of social work, the impact of one’s faith on one’s social work identity,
and the conflicts or tensions that arise (if any) from integrating one’s faith
with social work?; and (2) Are there any significant relationships between
NACSW member characteristics and the four subscales within the Social
Workers’ Integration of their Faith-Christian (SWIF-C) scale? Our effort
to answer these research questions are outlined below.

Method
The Committee for the Protection of Human subjects at Baylor
University approved this study. Of the 2,305 current and recent (within the
last two years) members of the North American Association of Christians in
Social Work (NACSW), we included 2,115 members with an email address
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 57

and US mailing address. Given that the SWIF-C was designed to survey
social workers who self-identified as Christian, this sampling method was
a feasible option due to the access to a large number of Christian social
workers.

Data Collection
The SWIF-C was hosted on Qualtrics, along with 23 background items
and three open-ended items. Dillman, Smyth, and Christian’s (2015) survey
methods were modified to recruit participants and disseminate the survey
to NACSW members. As described in (Oxhandler et al., 2019), NACSW
members were sent a pre-invitation email to notify them of the upcoming
survey, a formal invitation to participate with the survey link, two follow-
up emails, and a final follow-up email with a link to assess non-response
bias. Each email explained the study, included contact information for
the investigators and Baylor’s institutional review board, and described a
drawing to win one of $25 NACSW gift cards, which participants could
enter into using a separate link after completing the survey. The original
sampling frame included 2,115 current and recent NACSW members, but
was reduced to 2,057 due to bounce back emails. A total of 486 (23.6%)
responded to the survey.

Data Analysis
SPSS 23.0 was utilized to run descriptive analyses, to check assumptions,
and to run regression analyses. To simplify and provide clear descriptions
of the items, the five-point Likert responses were collapsed into three
categories: strongly disagree/disagree, neutral, and agree/strongly agree.
Respondents who did not indicate they were a current or recent member
of NACSW and those who lived outside of the United States were excluded
from the analyses, resulting in a sample size of 400. Data were missing
at random and those with and without missing data did not differ across
background items (Oxhandler et al., 2019).
To identify NACSW member characteristics associated with their
responses to the four subscales, bivariate and multivariate analyses were
conducted. Continuous independent variables included age, years as a social
worker, years as a Christian, and the DUREL intrinsic religiosity scale and
were assessed using Pearson’s r. Categorical independent variables were
assessed using Spearman’s rho, including region, race (white and nonwhite,
given most NACSW members were white), gender, whether their agency
was religiously affiliated (yes/no), age of clients served (younger than 30
or 30 and older, given younger Americans are less religious [Pew Research
Center, 2015]), the extent to which they consider themselves religious
or spiritual (not/slightly or moderate/very), DUREL organized religious
activities (attending religious services never/rarely or at least a few times
58 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

per month) and non-organized religious activities (never/rarely or at least

once per week).

Results
As displayed in Table 1, most respondents were white (81.6%), female
(70.9%), with a master’s degree (61.6%), and an average age of 51 years
(SD = 13.75). These results closely parallel NASW’s licensed social workers,
which include 85% white, 81% female, and 57% between the ages of 45 and
64 years of age (Center for Health Workforce Studies, 2006). Our sample
also reported an average of 40 years as a Christian (SD = 15.37), and 22 years
as a social worker (SD = 14.34). Respondents were spread across the US,
with more than one-third in the South (38.0%) and nearly one-third in the
Midwest (32.7%). About half worked in religiously-affiliated settings versus
secular settings. Finally, 9 out of 10 considered themselves moderately or
very religious, and nearly all (96.7%) considered themselves moderately
or very spiritual.

Table 1. Sample Characteristics and Background Variables for Sample (N=380*)

M SD
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INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 59

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YOURSELFARELIGIOUSPERSON
MODERATELYVERYRELIGIOUS   
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SIDERYOURSELFASPIRITUALPERSON  
MODERATELYVERYSPIRITUAL

Note
4OTALNUMBEROFRESPONDENTSWITHATLEASTHALFOFTHEINSTRUMENTCOMPLETEWHOLIVEDINTHE53AND
WEREAN.!#37MEMBERWITHINTHELASTYEARSA/THER#HRISTIANDENOMINATIONSINCLUDED!POSTOLIC 
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.AZARENE &ORTYSEVENOTHERSPROVIDEDDETAILEDEXPLANATIONSTHATDIDNOTlTACATEGORY
60 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

The responses to the SWIF-C are reported in Table 2. Most respondents

reported that social work impacts their faith (62% - 88%), with the
exception of three items falling below 50%. Most also agreed that their faith
impacts their social work practice (76% - 99%) and social work identity
(97% - 99%), while less than half reported conflicts between faith and
social work (8% - 41%).

Table 2. Frequencies of Responses to SWIF-C Items

Response Strongly Disagree/ Neutral Strongly Agree/
Disagree Agree
n (%) n (%) n (%)
The Impact of Social Work on One’s Faith
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SOCIALWORKERMOTIVATES
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MOREINTENTIONALLY
N
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 61

The Impact of Social Work on One’s Faith

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WORKDOESNOTAFFECT
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62 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

The Impact of Faith on One’s Social Work Practice

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INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 63

Conflict Between One’s Faith and Social Work


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NOTE: The following items were removed during the initial factor analysis (Ox-
handler et al., 2019) and should not be included in subsequent surveys, but are
included below for descriptive purposes.
-YFAITHAFFECTSMYPRI
ORITIESASASOCIALWORKER   
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64 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

Conflict Between One’s Faith and Social Work

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COURAGESMETOINmUENCE
  
MYCLIENTSSPIRITUALBELIEF
SYSTEMSN
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COLLEAGUESN
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BEINGASOCIALWORKER
  
WITHOTHER#HRISTIANS
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TOQUESTIONMYFAITH
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Note$UETOROUNDINGSOMEITEMSMAYNOTROUNDTOANEVEN
INDICATESITEMSHOULDBEREVERSECODED
The second research question explored whether there are any significant
relationships between NACSW member characteristics and the four
subscales within the SWIF-C. Indeed, there were no significant relationships
between NACSW members’ subscale scores and their age, length as a
social worker, race/ethnicity, age of clients served, the extent to which they
consider themselves religious, or whether the setting is religiously-affiliated
or secular. Additionally, there were generally no significant relationships
between subscale scores and length of being a Christian (with the exception
of the Conflict subscale [r = .11, p < .05]), gender (with the exception of
the Impact of Faith on One’s SW Identity subscale [rho = .17, p = .001]),
and region of the country (with the exception of Impact of SW on One’s
Faith [rho = .14, p < .01]). Finally, the degree to which they consider
themselves spiritual, as well as their DUREL organized and nonorganized
religious activities and intrinsic religiosity scale score were significant with
the Impact of Faith on SW Identity (spiritual: rho = .12, p < .05; organized
religious activity: rho = .15, p <.01; non-organized religious activity: rho =
.11, p < .05; intrinsic religiosity: r = .39, p < .001). These variables were also
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 65

significantly related to the Impact of Faith on SW Practice (spiritual: rho =

.12, p < .05; organized religious activity: rho = .13, p < .05; non-organized
religious activity: rho = .16, p < .01; intrinsic religiosity: r = .41, p < .001).
Multiple linear regressions were conducted to determine characteristics
that predict respondents’ scores to the four factors. Potential predictors were
entered based on the significant relationships identified in the bivariate
analyses. These can be found in Table 3. Responses to the Impact of SW on
Faith scale were significantly and positively related to two variables – extent
of being spiritual and region (coded as Northeast/Midwest, which had
slightly higher average scores on this factor compared with South/West) –
with both accounting for only about 3% of the model (F[2,352] = 4.91, p
< .01). The Impact of Faith on SW Practice score was significantly related
to their DUREL organized and non-organized religious activities, extent of
being spiritual, and intrinsic religiosity; however, only intrinsic religiosity
accounted for 19% of the variance (F[4,356] = 20.68, p < .001). Five
variables were significantly related to the Impact of Faith on SW Identity
score (extent of being spiritual, DUREL organized and non-organized
religious activities, intrinsic religiosity, and gender); however, intrinsic
religiosity, gender, and non-organized religious activities accounted for
20% of the variance (F[5,350] = 17.30, p < .001). Finally, the number of
years as a Christian and extent of being spiritual was significantly related
to the Conflict score, accounting for about 3% of the variance (F[2,358]
= 4.67, p < .01).
Table 3. Relationships Between Practitioner Characteristics and SWIF-C Subscales, as
well as a Summary of Multiple Regression

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66 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

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Significant Predictors in Model with Each Subscale 

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Discussion

The results of this study warrant discussion on three main takeaways

regarding the high influence of social workers’ faith and social work, lower
degree of conflict between these two areas, predictors of such integration,
and a critical attention for educators to not bypass the role of students’ RSF
in their emerging social work.
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 67

Faith and Social Work: Practice, Identity, and Conflicts

First, a majority report that their faith affects their understanding and
practice of social work and their social work identity across all items on
these two scales. Likewise, except for only a few items, a majority of our
sample report that their social work affects their faith. Respondents clearly
see numerous and significant connections between their chosen profession
and faith, running in both directions across items related to cognitive,
emotional, and behavioral domains. In reciprocal fashion, both faith and
social work build commitment and motivation, provide insight and deepen
understanding, facilitate exchange of skills and practices, and provide
coping resources. In short, faith and social work appear to mutually enrich
and deepen the lives of these Christians in social work.
While study participants acknowledge the existence of conflicts between
faith and social work, for most, the conflicts do not appear pervasive or
widespread. The sample was roughly split between those who report “there
are conflicts between my experience as a Christian and as a social worker”
(45.1% strongly disagree/disagree versus 40.8% strongly agree/agree).
Fewer participants agree that they reinterpret their faith to “avoid tensions
with” social work (7.6%), that social work conflicts with expectations of
their faith (18.6%), or that their faith conflicts with ethical requirements of
social work (21.4%). Thus, while aware of conflicts, it seems they do not
experience conflict as especially problematic or pervasive.

Recommendations
Given the literature identifying faith as a source of professional
motivation and persistence in the face of difficulty, it seems appropriate to
explore ways for ethically supporting the unique exploration of RSF for
social workers and how this fits with social work practice. This study reveals
the bidirectional significance of faith and social work integration for many
social work practitioners for whom RSF is important, and the potential
benefit for them to explore and become more aware of connections between
their faith and social work more deeply. At minimum, we recognize that
students and novice practitioners may seek supervision to thoughtfully
explore these issues, and in some situations, may need additional support
from religious leaders and/or social workers of faith to understand their
personal intersection of RSF and social work. We recognize this can be
much easier in faith-based settings, but even acknowledging these possible
connections in public settings without imposing a particular faith tradition
and holding space for new social workers to explore this intersection can
be a step in the right direction. Beyond that, students and practitioners will
benefit from opportunities to learn about, deepen, and ground their faith
while also receiving clear guidance to not proselytize or convert clients in
68 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

their social work capacities.

From another perspective, this research highlights the unique
opportunities for social work educators, field instructors, and supervisors
in faith-based settings—whether schools or agencies—and the potential
contributions they can make to professional development of students and
novice social workers. By proactively addressing integration of faith and
social work, they potentially contribute to the development of their students
as both competent and ethical Christians in social work. Such development
may fortify students for the demands and stresses of professional practice
by enhancing their motives for professional practice as well as expanding
their coping resources.
At the same time, given the reported significance and pervasiveness of
these relationships, it seems appropriate for social work educators to help
students anticipate and address possible tensions and conflicts. Indeed,
creating a platform for discussing integration may open opportunities to
address potential conflicts perceived or experienced at the interface of
faith and social work. By legitimating such conversations, educators and
supervisors give permission for students to raise conflictual issues, seek
consultation, and grapple openly with the conflicts in a learning setting with
mentors and colleagues rather than in a practice setting with clients. This
type of engagement can promote professional growth and development,
and better prepare students for professional practice.
This is especially important given that these data indicate that Christians
in social work find ways to integrate their faith and social work. Thus, it is
not a question of whether they do so but how do they integrate their faith
and social work, and do they do so competently and ethically?
Somewhat surprisingly, most demographics do not appear to affect
relationships between RSF and social work. Perhaps this sample is so
consistently religious and spiritual that demographics do not make much
difference (i.e., a ceiling effect may obscure differences). This may reflect
self-selection to the membership organization from which the sample was
recruited or self-selection into the study sample itself. Yet, other identity
items did not differentiate much either. For this sample, demographic
variables do not correlate with differences in efforts to integrate the RSF
of these social workers or their clients. It appears that most of these social
workers will integrate RSF regardless of agency auspices, personal identity,
or other demographics. Perhaps integration efforts are less affected by
external circumstances than we expected, and especially for people for
whom RSF is intrinsic. Along these lines, it is worth noting that intrinsic
religiosity had the strongest relationship and accounted for much of the
variance for social workers’ impact of faith on social work practice and
identity.
These data are especially important for social work educators, field
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 69

instructors, and supervisors because other research indicates that social

workers generally perceive themselves unprepared to deal with RSF in
practice and tend to seek out additional training in this area (Oxhandler
et al., 2015). Furthermore, while most previous research has focused on
the RSF of social work clients, this study focused on RSF of social workers
themselves. Because there is so little information in the literature about
RSF of social workers, we assume that few, if any, social workers have been
alerted to these issues, much less educated about how to address them
constructively. Furthermore, based on these data, we assume that these
issues may crop up for most social workers for whom RSF is important.
As a first step, social work educators, field instructors, and supervisors
must reflect on their own perspectives toward and efforts to integrate faith
and social work. Upon reflection, they may recognize their own need for
further information or work in this area. With greater self-awareness, they
will be better prepared to help students recognize and explore possible
connections between faith and social work, affirm these connections for
social workers for whom RSF matters, consciously identify filtering and
integrating principles, identify and engage in supportive practices, and
begin to navigate the tensions. Ideally, they will be able to help social work
students and supervisees to develop as competent ethical practitioners.
Further, those in faith-based settings may also feel additional freedom
to encourage students and practitioners to more deeply reflect upon and
cultivate their own personal RSF.
As we noted at the outset, faith has both a theoretical aspect (e.g.,
knowledge, theology, biblical interpretation) and a practice aspect (e.g.,
worship, spiritual disciplines, ministry, service) and these inform and
reinforce each other. Likewise, social work has both a theoretical aspect
(e.g., knowledge, theories at various levels, conceptual frameworks) and a
practice aspect (e.g., interventions across client systems and system levels)
and these also inform and reinforce each other. Given this understanding,
particularly in reference to this sample, we avoid referring to integration
of “faith and social work practice” because we fear this implies a limited,
imbalanced type of integration (i.e., religious ideas with social work
profession). In our experience and conversations, when social work
practitioners who identify as Christian talk about “integrating faith and
social work practice,” they often mean connecting their Christian/biblical
principles and values with how they carry out the work they do as social
workers (i.e., finding ways to incorporate their faith in social work practice).
As a result, there is little or no focus on the practice aspect of faith in the
integrative effort (while people assume the combined theory and practice
aspects of social work). Perhaps more importantly, the reciprocal nature
of the integrative effort—faith’s impact on social work and social work’s
impact on faith—is minimized. Although it is a subtle change, we believe the
70 SOCIAL WORK & CHRISTIANITY

language of “integrating faith and social work” promotes a more balanced

and thorough integrative effort and would recommend its use in the future.

Limitations
Although this study has a number of strengths, there are several
limitations, as described in (Oxhandler et al., 2019). For example, the
sample included NACSW members; thus, Christians in social work who
are not current or recent members of NACSW were excluded. Additionally,
though our sample includes diverse Christian denominations, we recognize
there are others not represented in this sample. Finally, we recognize that
the wide extent of ways in which social workers engage in practice (e.g.,
clinical, policy, community, education, health, and connected with various
other professions), as well as the spectrum of faith journeys may also
influence their responses. Still, this is the first national survey we know
of that captures the responses from a large sample of social workers who
identify as Christian regarding the integration of their faith and social
work. It is also worth noting that while our sample’s demographics largely
resemble a national sample of professional social workers, we have a slightly
higher percentage identifying as male, white, and having a graduate degree
(George Washington University Health Workforce Institute and School of
Nursing, 2017). Additionally, compared to a national sample of LCSWs
in which 35.1% identified themselves as moderately/very religious, and
81.9% as moderately/very spiritual (Oxhandler, Polson, et al., 2018),
this sample identified far more as both religious and spiritual (90.2% and
96.7%, respectively). Because our study sample consists of people who
joined a professional association of Christians in social work—and who
strongly identify as both religious and spiritual—it is not surprising that
they not only self-reported as more religious and spiritual, but also reported
substantial connections between their profession and their faith.
We recommend that future studies survey Christians in social work
outside of the NACSW members. We also developed the SWIF-C with the
NACSW membership in mind and hope to see future adaptations of this
instrument that are inclusive of other faith traditions. Recognizing there are
many ways of engaging in social work (e.g., clinical, mezzo, macro practice
as well as education) we also recommend that future studies explore how
this integration may differ based on the type of practice and setting. Finally,
noting these data indicate Christians in social work integrate their RSF, we
recommend that future studies seek to better understand how they engage
in such integration, continuing to align with NASW’s (2017) code of ethics.

Conclusion
In summary, the RSF of social workers themselves may represent an
overlooked and untapped resource, especially for Christians in social
INTEGRATING SOCIAL WORKERS’ FAITH AND SOCIAL WORK 71

work and those who educate and supervise them. Although integration of
faith and social work may generate some tension and conflict, this study
demonstrates that it offers substantial benefits as well. The responses to
the four scales within the SWIF-C may help the profession recognize the
ways in which social workers’ faith and social work may interact with one
another in their professional lives. Further, the results of the regression
analyses may help the profession (including practitioners, social work
education programs, field instructors, and supervisors) recognize various
characteristics that influence one’s social work and faith. ™

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North American Association of Christians in Social Work.

Holly K. Oxhandler, PhD, LMSW, Associate Dean for Research

and Faculty Development & Associate Professor, Diana R. Garland
School of Social Work, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97320,
Waco, TX 76798. Phone: (254) 710–4434 Email: holly_oxhandler@
[Link]

Rick Chamiec-Case, PhD, MSW, MAR, Executive Director of the

North American Association of Christians in Social Work, PO Box
121, Botsford, CT, 06404. Email: rick@[Link].

Terry A. Wolfer, MSW, PhD, Professor and Interim Associate

Dean for Curriculum, College of Social Work, University of South
Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. Phone: (803) 777-9486. Email: terry.
wolfer@[Link]

Julianna Marraccino, MSW, MDiv, Alumna of Diana [Link]

School of Social Work & Truett Seminary, Baylor University. Email:
julianna_marraccino@[Link]
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