Perception of Religion and Spirituality in Social Service Employees: Sirnak Sample

Abstract

This study touches upon the impact of religion and spirituality on social workers. The concept of spirituality includes all transcendent, dynamic, holistic, abstract, commitment, purpose, and meaning understandings in the world of meaning of individuals. Although spirituality includes religion, it is a concept that cannot be limited to religious beliefs alone. Although the two terms are not used in the same sense, they need each other to make themselves more understandable. It is possible to observe the effect of religion and spirituality on individuals social workers working in social service institutions. The fact that this topic has not been previously examined using quantitative methods in the literature highlights the contribution of this research to the field. Furthermore, the score distribution across independent variables identified in this study will serve as a basis for comparison and validation in future studies. In the study, in addition to the epistemological and ontological dimensions of religion and spirituality, the differences between the two are touched upon. The research reveals the influence of religion and spirituality in social work practices by comparing them with religious attitudes. The research mainly draws attention to the functions of religion and spirituality on the employees of the Social Services Center (SHM) affiliated with the Ministry of Family and Social Services, which is one of the important social institutions of society. The study addresses the correlation of these functions with the SHUDMR (Scale of the Role of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work Practice). The primary aim of this research is to assess the functional effects of religion and spirituality within the field of social work and derive a broader interpretation. The study seeks to examine the impact of social workers' demographic characteristics on their perception of religion and spirituality, while also revealing the perceptual effects of religion and spirituality on social workers and providing insights into their potential implications for other social institutions. In order to concretize the functional view of religion and spirituality in social work practices, correlation analyses were conducted between religious attitudes and some other demographic items and the SHUDMR scale items. The research population consists of social workers. The sample scope of the study is limited to social service workers working within the borders of Sirnak. The sample group was reached using convenient and purposeful sampling methods. The survey study was carried out on 151 social service workers between the ages of 18-65 on a voluntary basis regardless of gender differencse in 2024. After the necessary analyses were conducted, the correlation of the results was interpreted. Based on the data obtained from the study, the findings illustrate the significance of religion and spirituality in shaping the actions, thought processes, and operational dynamics of social workers. According to the score obtained from the religiosity dimension of the participants, the reflections of the degree of religious attitude on SHUDMR were measured. After addressing the conceptual framework of the topic, the proposed hypotheses were tested to assess the extent to which they were supported. According to the research hypotheses, social workers experience concerns related to religion and belief. These concerns vary according to demographic characteristics and directly affect social work practices. It has been determined that SHUDMR levels vary according to religiosity levels. In particular, a significant positive correlation emerged between the level of religiosity and SHUDMR. It has been determined that the distribution of SHUDMR points varies according to the identity values with which they identify themselves. In addition, it has been observed that the distribution differs according to demographic characteristics, while it does not have any effect on some characteristics. As a result, the understanding of social work sensitive to religion and spirituality reveals that the individual cannot be evaluated in one way.