Toward Spiritually Sensitive Social Work Scholarship: Insights from Classical Confucianism

Abstract

This article develops a proposal for a spiritually sensitive approach to social work scholarship by drawing on insights from classical Chinese Confucian philosophy. Confucianism is used as a source of inspiration because it has developed an elaborate vision of scholarship that presents a contrast to taken-for-granted assumptions in contemporary Wes tern academia so as to provoke a fresh perspective. First, debates about ways to define and measure scholarship in social work are considered. Second, fundamental Confucian ideas about the nature, purposes, and methods of scholarship, including inquiry and teaching for service, are presented through a philosophical analysis of the major classical Confucian texts. Third, implications for spiritually sensitive social work scholarship are presented through discussion and poetry designed to encourage further reflection and debate in the profession.