For God's Sake
The lesbian and gay community has had a long and often arduous relationship with organized religion (i.e., Comstock, 1996). Statistics from the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2018 have shown that of the 51 official anti-LGBTQ hate groups in the United States, the majority had or have a religious base.
Dallas area gay rights activist Rick Vanderslice (left) confronts a religious counter-protestor during a November protest in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo credit: John Wright, Dallas Voice)
Little has been written about the need for spiritual assessments with lesbians and gays within the field of clinical social work. Additionally, no significant research has been conducted on this subject.
“A New Beginning” by Wes Hempel
Scholars have, however, written about the overall need for spiritual assessments in clinical work (i.e., Canda, 2006; Hodge, 2015; Oxhandler, 2017).
Accrediting bodies have also supported this need (Council on Social Work Education, 2008; Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2003; National Association of Social Workers, 2007).
(Photo: Getty Images, FUSION)
Recent research has shown that while social workers generally agree on the necessity of spiritual assessments, few professionals actually do so in practice (Oxhandler & Giardina, 2017).
This research can be built upon to better understand if clinical social workers carry out spiritual assessments with clients who are lesbian or gay, as well as what drives or restrains them from doing so.
Illustration of a boy on a psychologist couch bleeding rainbow colors from his heart.(ILLUSTRATION BY KEITH NEGLEY)
Failure to carry out spiritual assessments may be considered to be negligent (Miller,2003), not culturally competent, not client-centered, and not holistic (Crisp, 2011). Unfortunately, many lesbians and gays today continue to suffer from a dysfunctional relationship with religion.