Spiritually sensitive social work: A missing link in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper explores the prominence of spirituality in social work practice. It maintains that spirituality is a  very critical aspect of social work and the two must never be detached. It is also the authors’ contention that  the centrality of spirituality in social work is not a well taught and well researched area in Zimbabwe. Just like  many other people the world over, Zimbabweans have rich spiritual assets that social workers must exploit in  the helping process. There are high chances that social workers in Zimbabwe might not be conversant with the relevance of spiritual aspects in the helping process. The paper argues that social work clients in Zimbabwe  might be losing out due to an academic amnesia that is around spirituality. Social workers in Zimbabwe are, therefore, encouraged to research on spirituality and social work. Similarly, academics are encouraged to  incorporate topics on spirituality in the social work curriculum.

KEY TERMS: spirituality, social work, education, religion, Zimbabwe, Africa.