Spirituality, religiosity and attitudes toward addiction

ABSTRACT While negative attitudes within the social work community toward clients struggling with addiction may not be ubiquitous, there is evidence that such attitudes remain problematic. Interestingly, while extant research suggests social workers may demonstrate low empathy toward clients with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), there is very little research available concerning factors that may be involved with these adverse attitudes. This study explored the relationship between spirituality, religiosity and attitudes toward clients with SUDs utilizing a sample of social work students and practitioners from two unique geographical locations. Results demonstrated that dimensions of spirituality, including religiosity, have some predictive potential for attitudes toward addiction. Further, the direction can be either positive or negative.