- The postmodernism that defines the current society has lost the sense of religion and has became more focused on the “self”, which defines an individualized spirituality, entrenched in the scientific developments and in three aspects that are specific to the western world’s universalizing tendencies: economy, politics and cultural. Each of these social spheres are representative for the individual’s interests in the nowadays society and in this context social work is also seen in Mel Gray’s work as stepping away from its focus towards religion into adapting to a much more scientific approach, becoming a science in itself.
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Another main point of Gray’s article emphasizes the fact that the detraditionalization and secularization that have caused the breakage from religion, determined the proliferation of a society that has no shared values, since religion is no longer one common social connecter. The author argues that this has led to a mood of uncertainty, determined by the rapid industrialization and the exclusion of the traditional authority (religion), and by the cultural diversity, which leave way for new spiritual forms to emerge. The uncertainty mood appears because there are no longer affiliations to mainstream religions, but to individually developed forms of fate, which originate in industrial capitalist societies, where the trends are to encourage consumer products while life chances have become asymmetrical, allowing for the rise of globalization and in the same time, as a paradox, of alienation. This, as the author also argues, allowed the formation of risk society, wherein people are much aware of their fears and of their personal identity crises.
Another point that Gray is focusing on is the reflexive self, which implies that individuals are responsible for writing their own stories, which only defends the Christian argument of free will.
- It is actually the reflexive modernization theory of social work towards which the article culminates, as the reading points that societies begun to liberate from the structural constraints starting with the nineteenth century, based on the industrial and economic progress and scientific breakthrough which replaced the supernatural conceptions specific to religion with concepts of life politics and subpolitics. Life politics imply that individuals can plan their life as they choose to, not being under the influence of religion anymore and disregarding the political life.
The novelty and the point of interest in Gray’s article is that the author points the paradox of the reflexive modernization, which lays in subpolitics, which aims to harmonize the self – determination with the shared community. This idea is indeed paradoxically, since, as it was earlier specified, the modern and postmodern society no longer have religion as its shared value and the individuals are free to choose their own spirituality, becoming self – centered in aiming to reach their self – determination, but in the same time they become alienated precisely because of choosing to renounce their shared community, previously available through religion.
Through a clear and fluent presentation of various arguments, the reading eventually leads to explaining this paradox in the fact that individuals did not actually gave up religion, but they replaced it with something similar, which centers humanistic interest, but not only the self – development, yet also the help for the one in need, which is basically following the JudeoChristian religious norms. Therefore, although more focused on reaching the self – actualization as the main purpose in our life (a Maslow principle) and although more oriented towards rational thinking and critical analysis than simply accepting inherited religion principle as supreme authority, the article captures the essence of the current society: carrying for a stranger is entrenched in human kind, which defines people as moral beings. The article is significant because it indicates that although it shift from religion to becoming a science, social work draws precisely on the permanence of morality (even in the postmodern society) and this is why the paradox between the self – centered society and shared community is possible.
- Overall, the reading’s message is positive, proving that despite the fact that the current society is self – centered, people find deep in themselves the power of morality, through sharing and helping the others, although not still guided by religious dogmas. The article raises significant questions regarding the relevance of religion in the nowadays world and the relevance of the current societies without religion, pointing out the advantages of believing in something without explaining it as the source of spirituality, explaining its focus towards science and humanism through its maintenance of morality as the center of its activity.
The strengths of the article for the social work practitioners is that it is pointing out arguments pro and con religion, which indicates that the author understands it as an authority in social work field. An authority that is replaced, as the reading identifies while it evolves, due to the detraditionalization and secularization, to modern science and the defining specificities of the western societies: economic, politic and cultural centeredness of individuals.
Focusing too much on the detraditionalization and secularization of the postmodern society disjoints the current world from its shared values, such as citizenship, nationalism, education, family and even organizational values, which have at their basis the fundament of relationship, which is also the fundament of social work. Not connecting social work with these shared – community relationships, characteristic of the nowadays human behavior represents a weakness of the research.
References
Gray, M. (2008) “Viewing spirituality in social work through the lens of contemporary social theory”. British Journal of Social Work. Vol. 38, pp. 175 – 196.
