Exploring the Lived Religion of Buddhists: Integrating Concepts from Social Work and Religious Studies

Social workers in multicultural societies are likely to encounter clients from diverse religious backgrounds including traditions such as Buddhism. Culturally sensitive practice with such clients necessitates ongoing self-awareness of personal religious and spiritual beliefs and acknowledging personal biases. This article illustrates ways in which social workers may combine this self-awareness with knowledge of concepts from social work and religious studies to form a working knowledge of Buddhism and an understanding of the diversity within this tradition. This interdisciplinary approach, facilitated through social work education, may be used to understand the lived religious experiences of Buddhist clients in order to provide effective practice and appropriate services.