The Religiously Fundamentalist Family: Training for Assessment and Treatment

Social workers engaged in family treatment frequently encounter families in which religious fundamentalism serves as a major steady-state and boundary maintenance mechanism. Without recognition of the systemic effects of religious fundamentalism, family therapists will lose the family from treatment or will be rejected by the family as a source of help. This article identifies the major impact on the family, sets forth assessment guidelines, and presents training strategies for teaching family practitioners to work with the religiously fundamentalist family.