2008
DOI: 10.1080/17496530801948770
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‘No Room for Religion or Spirituality or Cooking Tips’: Exploring Practical Atheism as an Unspoken Consensus in the Development of Social Work Values in England

Abstract: Academic interest in the subject of social work and religion is a relatively new phenomenon in Britain. This article draws on material derived from a doctorate on the history, development and current practice of church-based social work in Britain to examine the reasons for the absence of debate on this topic dating back to professional social work's earliest days. It takes Alistair McFayden's concept of 'practical atheism' and shows how, in different ways, this concept has been prevalent in church-based socia… Show more

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Cited by 18 publications
(16 citation statements)
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“…Religious beliefs, however, continue to generate unease, lack of genuine engagement, a "low level of acceptance" (Furman, Benson, & Canda, 2004, p. 813), and disrespect amongst scholars as well as within ranks of professionals, including social workers (Hodge, 2005;Streets, 2009;Thyer & Myers, 2009;Whiting, 2008). There is a good deal of historical evidence to suggest that religion possesses the capacity to socialize, motivate, constrain, and direct human behavior (Smith, Denton, Faris, & Regnerus, 2002;Smith, 2003).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Religious beliefs, however, continue to generate unease, lack of genuine engagement, a "low level of acceptance" (Furman, Benson, & Canda, 2004, p. 813), and disrespect amongst scholars as well as within ranks of professionals, including social workers (Hodge, 2005;Streets, 2009;Thyer & Myers, 2009;Whiting, 2008). There is a good deal of historical evidence to suggest that religion possesses the capacity to socialize, motivate, constrain, and direct human behavior (Smith, Denton, Faris, & Regnerus, 2002;Smith, 2003).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…When responding to suspected cases of abuse, it is important for practitioners to acknowledge that their own views about religion are likely to influence their practice (Horwarth and Lees, 2010). Practitioners, perhaps applying 'pragmatic atheism' (Whiting 2008) The discovery of new aspects of child abuse is inevitably accompanied by a desire to find ways of easily identifying cases, through recognised signs and symptoms. Though some signs can be listed as relevant to abuse arising from faith-based beliefs in witchcraft and spirit possession, it would be unhelpful to rely on these alone when making assessments.…”
Section: Implications For Practice: Protecting Children and Preventinmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Whiting (2008) argues there is an unspoken secular humanism at the heart of social work practice. Coupled with a possible suspicion of the spiritual, Collins and Cummins (2002) described social workers as lacking training in the area of addictions recovery, and this has been affirmed more recently by a Scottish Government Report (2011).…”
Section: Spiritualitymentioning
confidence: 99%