Alexandru Neagoe, PhD
The West University of Timisoara, Romania
I. Integrating spirituality and social work: a
general framework
II. The case and the context for spiritually
sensitive social work in Romania
III. A pilot project in the West University of
Timisoara: a master’s program in values,
spirituality and social work
 I.
Integrating spirituality and
social work: a general framework
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Secularist approaches, arguing for the
exclusion of any religious elements in the
social work practice
Integrationist approaches, arguing for the
value of paying attention to religion and
spirituality in the study and practice of social
work – see the growing amount of literature
addressing this issue
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The historical role of religious communities
and individuals in providing social care
Religiously-oriented institutions as the cradle
of professional social work initiatives and
schools
The role of religion as a motivating factor for
many social care providers
The social care incentives of many
foundational texts of world religions
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The importance of systemic approaches in
social studies and social services
The resulting duty of the social worker to see
the client’s needs, beliefs and concerns in a
systemic way
The importance of spiritual matters for many
clients strongly recommends the attention of
the professional towards such spiritual
factors
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“Strengths-based approaches” in social work
are becoming increasingly popular
Such approaches suggest that the social
worker must identify and build on any “strong
points” of the client’s system (i.e. any points
which can act as a resource for the client’s
resilience)
Religious beliefs, spiritual practices and faith
communities provide in many cases such
strong points on which the practitioner
should encourage the client to build
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The call for social care providers to be
“culturally competent”
“Cultural competence” is regarded as
essential in matters related to race, gender,
sexual orientation, minority groups, etc.
Religion and spirituality are closely connected
with the client’s culture and must therefore
be of interest to the professional
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A good professional should be attentive not
only to the belief-system of the client but
also to his/her own
The assumption that the professional can be
neutral in his practice (in the sense that she
does not allow her personal beliefs to
influence her professional practice) is a
delusion, if not a sign of naivity
Critical self-awareness implies that the
professional be aware and critical of the way
his may influence his professional practice
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Any plea for the integration of faith and social
work must not assume that such a venture
leads automatically to a “happy marriage”
Some of the most common pitfalls are
perhaps
◦ Religious proselytism
◦ Blackmailing: conditioning certain benefits on the
client’s acceptance of the social worker’s faith
◦ Manipulation: exploiting one’s position of power in
relation to the clients as a means of influencing
their choices
 II.
The case and the context for
spiritually sensitive social work in
Romania
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The whitewashing of all social probelems and the anticapitalist propagands (cf. images of capitalism on TV).
◦ The communist regime kept its promise of eliminating class
distinctions between educated and uneducated, between rich and
poor: everyone became uneducated and poor!
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If there were any people in difficulty (orphans, elderly,
people with disabilities etc.), the state took „good care” of
them, so that there was no need for the civil society to get
involved. The quality of that „care” was revealed to the
word after December 1989
Religious/spiritual institutions and ideas were particularly
exlcuded from social involvement – in case they mentioned
God and thus created competition for the „god” from
Bucharest (Ceausescu).
◦ The Romanian communist regime could easily have competed for
the most militant monotheistic religion in the world at the time
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The high expectations and enthusiasm
immediately after the revolution
The gradual discovery of existing social
problems, followed by
◦ An initial sense of major disappointment
◦ The discovery of the need for the civil society to
share the burden of social care
◦ The understanding of the need for specialised
professionals (such as social workers)
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Almost immediately after the 1989 revolution,
virtually all major universities in Romania created a
social work department
These departments were soon to become some of the
most popular departments of these universities: the
abundance of social problems suggested good
chances of jobs for the social work graduates
The social work departments became particularly
attractive for religiously oriented students
Faith communities started generating a vast number
of social work projects
◦ As social departments of religious institutions (spanning
Orthodox, Chatholic and Protestant denominations)
◦ As independent but faith-based NGO’s
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Western identity versus indigenous identity
◦ The input of Western models through specialised
literature and personal contacts
◦ The developing sense of need for indigenous
models, to address specifically Romanian issues
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Dilemmas related to moral and professional
values (typical to the social work profession):
issues of confidentiality, self-determination,
directive versus non-directive counseling, the
rights of the professional versus the rights of
the client, etc.
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The current mood mirrors the ambivalent
situation in the world
The reserve (or even hostility) of certain
academics and practitioners, following the
secularist mood in the world (especially the
EU)
Others’ recognition of the need for a
spiritually sensitive practice, based on a
number of observations pertaining to the
Romanian context
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See the statistics from the 2002 census
(indicating that over 99% of the population
identify themselves at least nominally with a
religious group)
See the observance of religious festivals,
fasting seasons, importance of religion for
one’s identity
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Religious communities in general and Christian
communities in particular started playing an
important role in social care almost immediately
after the collapse of communism (even if the
professionalism of the services was not always at
its best)
A large percentage of social work clients resort to
faith and spirituality as key resources for change
and resilience
Many social workers regard their faith as a major
source of motivation and inspiration for their
practice
 III.
A pilot project in the West
University of Timisoara: a
master’s program in values,
spirituality and social work
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The need for a thorough and systematic
study of the relationship between social work
and spirituality
The “double major” in theology and social
work
◦ Its popularity in several universities (both private
and state-run)
◦ Its short history
◦ Its typical limitation: studying two virtually separate
sets of disciplines, without truly integrating
spirituality and social work
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In 1997, several Romanian graduates of theology
(from UK universities) return to Timisoara, Romania
and set up “The Areopagus Centre” – A Centre for
Christian Education and Contemporary Culture
The primary vision of the centre was to become
◦ a bridge between the Christian faith and the contemporary
society (after several decades of imposed separation
between faith and society)
◦ a space for open dialogue among people of different ideas,
beliefs and professions (like the Areopagus in ancient
Athens)
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The additional agenda: to promote this mentality
among future opinion makers – including the
universities of Timisoara
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In 2000 - discussions take place between the
leaders of the Areopagus Centre and the head
of the Social Work Department of the West
University of Timisoara (the largest university
of Timisoara, state-run) – Prof. Viorel Prelici
The discussions lead to the idea of
postgraduate/master’s program in spirituality
and social work
October 2000 - The official start of the
program
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Name of the program: “Spiritually oriented social work
practice”, changed in 2006 to “Values-centered social work
practice”
Length of study: one-year program until 2006; two-years
program since 2006
Director of the program: Dr. Viorel Prelici becomes the first
director and is replace in 2007 by Dr. Alexandru Neagoe
(president of the Aroepagus Centre)
Curriculum: covers a variety of subjects at the junction
between social work and religion/spirituality (with a focus
on Christian religion, given the makeup of the Romanian
society)
Teaching staff: teaching staff from the Social Work
Department; several members of the Areopagus staff
(mainly Dr. Alexandru Neagoe and Dr. Silviu Rogobete);
visiting lecturers from other universities in Romania and
abroad
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Equipping social workers for a spiritually
sensitive practice
Assisting church leaders to develop a socially
sensitive Christian service
Encouraging young professionals (regardless
of the field of their Bachelor’s degree) to
reflect on the relationship between their faith
and their profession
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In 2007, the Areopagus Centre developed a “Faith
and profession” project
The aim of the project is to encourage professionals
from individual fields to reflect on the relationship
between their profession and their faith
Means of achieving this goal: round tables,
networking, publications, conferences
Some professional groups which have already taken
part in the project: lawyers, teachers, university
lecuters, medical doctors, psychologists, social
workers, artists, musicians, taxy drivers, financial
advicers
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Like in many other countries, social work
professionals in Romania are divided on the issue
of the relationship between social work and
spirituality
In addition to general (international) factors, the
Romanian contexts indicates additional reasons
for a spiritually sensitive social work practice
The master’s program in social work and
spirituality of the West University of Timisoara
may be regarded as a pilot project for the
integration of faith and professional practice