Cumhuriyet İlahiyat Dergisi

Abstract

This research seeks an answer to the question of why spirituality is needed in social service. Providing spiritual support resources to the client in overcoming the problems that people face, coping with these problems, making sense of them, and reaching spiritual peace is called spiritually sensitive social service. It can be said that the history of social work is equivalent to the history of humanity. Therefore, especially in the West, the problems experienced in the modernization process, or the dominant paradigm of the period (science-church conflict, rationalization and positivist approach to knowledge) brought a social service discipline and intervention, which was far from spirituality. It can be said that, in the last quarter of the 20th century, the lack of this approach was felt in the West and the studies on this field are accumulating today. In Turkey, there is an obvious gap in this literature. The problem of the present study is why there is a need for spiritually sensitive social service. The gap in the literature on this subject in Turkey indicates the importance of the study. The present study is of a descriptive method based on literature review. Social service is a career that aims to increase the functionality of individuals, families, groups, and societies at micro, mezzo, and macro levels and to strengthen them in overcoming their problems. Therefore, social service helps individuals to overcome problems arising from the individual issues and external factors and to meet resources with opportunities. It is obvious that it is difficult for a social service approach, which is distant from spiritual values, to find satisfactory answers to some of the questions and problems faced by individuals. It is clear that the understanding and practices of social service sensitive to spirituality will play an important role in helping clients overcome problems, make sense of them, and strengthen the individual. This study addresses the necessity of spiritually sensitive social service in four items: First, modern societies are under more threat and fear in comparison with the ones in the past. Therefore, they experience more anxiety, stress, and distrust. While the developments in technology and science offer great opportunities and conveniences to people, they have also manifested some problems that have not been experienced until today. Social service sensitive to spirituality will contribute to the separation of individuals, groups, and communities from the climate of fear they have experienced by activating their current cultural structure and world of belief. Second, modern lifestyle and individualization have isolated people by weakening people's social support systems. Modern lifestyle makes people to experience loneliness. The individualistic and self-centered lifestyle has alienated the individual from social ties and created a perception that one does not need anyone else. Social service that is sensitive to spirituality will increase the quality of life and joy of the individual by eliminating one’s loneliness and will help one to look to the future with hope and to overcome one’s loneliness. Third, human beings want to make sense of the events and problems they encounter. It would not be wrong to call the modern age "the age of the crisis of meaning". Today's people are experiencing serious crises in terms of making sense of the problems they face. Especially when faced with existential life-threatening factors such as severe illnesses, disability, and death, spirituality has a great impact on overcoming these problems and making sense of life. The efforts of individuals to rebuild the meaning they have lost can only be possible with the provision of social services sensitive to spirituality. Fourth, since the modern social service understanding is human-centered, holistic, and rights-based, the idea that people should be evaluated holistically highlights the necessity of spiritually sensitive social service. Experiencing a dizzying, diverse and, rapid change, today's people live in a complex network of relationships. The inaccuracy of the one-dimensional evaluation of human behavior is better understood today. The individual differences of the clients and their approaches to the problems make it necessary to evaluate the applications for these with a holistic and encompassing perspective. Therefore, the holistic evaluation of human also reveals the necessity of evaluating the spiritual social service within the framework of the rights arising from being human, not as a treat offered to individuals.