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MASSEY is published by Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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MASSEY has a circulation of 75,000.

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Spirituality and Social Care: Contributing to Personal and Community Well-Being

edited by Mary Nash and Bruce Stewart

This book will be a much-welcomed resource for those practitioners who wish to engage with the spiritual dimension of their therapeutic work, and it may well find a wider readership than the students and professionals it is aimed at.

“Many Mäori, for instance, are immersed in the spiritual world,” says co-editor Dr Mary Nash. “And when people in hospital are facing death, spirituality and religion may be at the forefront of their minds.”

The book enlarges on the work carried out by volunteers, a group that has previously been undefined, almost invisible. Volunteer work is becoming increasingly important, as successive governments insist the community must take more responsibility for those in need.

What motivates volunteers? We know it isn’t money. “The image of a volunteer as a true altruist is, in most cases, a myth,” says Dr Nash. “In reality the motivation of an individual volunteer is usually complex and mixed. Some will respond to the human need because of their religious or humanist spirituality. Some will see the benefit to the whole community when the neediest are empowered. Some want to develop new skills, gain work experience, feel useful or simply make a connection with other people.

“The needs that move a person to volunteer can be generalised into the need to belong and be with other people, the need to achieve and the need for power, either personal or social.”

The book also discusses working with grief and loss, community development, communicating across cultures, social justice, social work teaching and learning.

Bruce Stewart, a former Massey postgraduate student, is now a senior social worker in Canada. He works closely with Native American clients who often suffer from alcohol or mental health-related problems. Dr Nash, of the University’s School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students on aspects of spirituality and social work.