African spirituality
African spirituality The need for a spiritually sensitive approach to social work practice has grown within the global landscape, Concomitant with this, the related literature on Christianity, Islam and Hinduism has grown in a quest to make practitioners take greater cognisance of the spiritual needs and practices of clients from these backgrounds.
This highlights the need for African spirituality also to be recognised alongside these other faith traditions, but more importantly for local practitioners to be able to tap into the therapeutic methods it offers within the context of practice. Whilst scholarly work related to Western traditions and approaches has received considerable attention, the literature on African spirituality in a local context has been sparse. African spirituality.
Several scholars have, however, undertaken studies which document support for the inclusion of spirituality in social. It is therefore time that greater attention be paid to the therapeutic richness offered by African spirituality, particularly the healing methodologies used by its adherents, Individuals , families and communities.
spirituality is that part of humanity that refers to the way a person experiences their connectedness to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred. Religion has been defined as a “system of beliefs and practices observed by a community, supported by rituals that acknowledge, worship, communicate with, or approach the Sacred, the Divine, God … or Ultimate Truth.
On the other hand, spirituality has been conceptualised as a “personal quest for understanding answers to ultimate questions about life, about meaning, and about relationship to the sacred or transcendent, which may (or may not) lead to or arise from the development of religious rituals and formation of community.
Although distinct, the two terms overlap, especially with regards to “feelings, thoughts, experiences, and behaviours that arise from the search for the sacred. For example definition of religion is congruent with the traditional view, namely as a “culturally shared system of values, beliefs, and rituals which include spiritual concerns, however, rightfully points out that, this search for the sacred encompasses both religious and spiritual expression,
particularly for those clients who follow a particular faith tradition and to those who make connections across religious beliefs to form their own spiritual understanding. African spirituality.