The community of social work is governed by a code of ethics that helps practitioners act in the most consistent and professional manner. "The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers stipulates that social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to religion" (Hodge, 2002 ). Although social workers may be open to organized religion, Hodge found in his study of social workers that 57 percent of social workers do not participate in organized religion, yet 86 percent of the United States population stated religion was somewhat or very important in their lives.
This discrepancy may have ill effects on matches between social workers and clients. "Eighty-three percent of Evangelicals felt that social workers did not understand their religious beliefs and values, and were hesitant to receive services from social workers and particularly felt they could not trust social workers with their female adolescent children" (Hodge, 2002).
BRAD HODGE
BRAD HODGE
HAYDEN HODGEIf trust is not established between a worker and a client, it may make the helping process much more difficult and even set the process up for failure.
Hodge (2002), stated in his article that the old Marxist idea of two classes, the middle class and the working class is not accurate in the twenty-first century. He states that there has been an emergence of a third class called the "new class." People in the new class are mostly involved in academia, media, and social work. The "new class" is relatively small but holds a powerful position in society. "Because the 'new class' holds the keys to cultural discourse, it is inevitable that the members would influence public perceptions, even if they attempted to maintain objectivity" (Hodge, 2002). Hodge(2002), sums this up by stating that education and religion effect...