Religious and Secular Belief Systems in Social Work: A Survey of Israeli Social Work Professionals

In this study, the authors examined the impact of religiosity on social workers' ranking of ethical principles. The findings indicate that religiosity may be a distinguishing variable in some, but not all, contexts of ethical decision making in social work practice. The religiosity of religious social workers may influence their ethical decision making in situations with religious connotations. Moreover, religious social workers' ethical hierarchies seem to be more consistent both in different contexts and in comparison to those of secular social workers. The prospect that social workers may be influenced in some situations by a competing code of rules in conflict with the professional code of ethics emphasizes the need for social workers' awareness of their own belief system.