Relational Spirituality and Social Caregiving

Abstract

Relational spirituality suggests that strengthening one's relatedness to other people and to sources of meaning beyond self-interest produces joy and vitality, which sustain the capacity to care. This perspective informs a qualitative study of 50 female services providers and social reformers. The interviews revealed that the women's caregiving was sustained not only by efficacy or success, but also by connections to their work, to their social networks, to their clients, and to a sacred source of love and strength. Implications from the study focus on strategies to strengthen caregivers' sense of relatedness to sustain the capacity for social caregiving.

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