Developing Cultural Competency With Evangelical Christians

Hodge, David R

ABSTRACT

Cultural competency with people of faith is stipulated in the profession's ethical standards. Yet, in spite of growing interest in spirituality and religion, a paucity of material has appeared in the literature with the express purpose of developing cultural competency with evangelical Christians, the nation's largest spiritual minority. To address this gap in the literature, salient aspects of the Evangelical cultural narrative are reviewed, which in turn provides the context for a discussion of various practice interventions. More specifically, information is presented on general practice suggestions, clinically oriented spiritual interventions, strategies for school social workers, and national and international social justice issues of concern to all social workers.

The profession's ethical standards stipulate that social workers should develop cultural competence with people from various faith traditions (Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 1999; NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice, 2001). In a manner analogous to ethnicity or race, faith traditions tend to foster distinct cultures. Like other cultures, spiritually informed cultures can be understood as a way of life characterized by common beliefs, values, behaviors, and institutions. Social workers are called to recognize the strengths in these cultures, to understand the role that oppression plays in the cultural narrative, and to develop a knowledge base to provide services that are relevant and sensitive to the client's cultural worldview.

The nation's largest spiritual minority, accounting for perhaps 25% of the United States population, is evangelical Christians (Green, Guth, Smidt, & Kellstedt, 1996; Hutchison, 1999). Yet in spite of the ethical injunctions enumerated in the NASW Code of Ethics, little attention has been paid to this population. The vast majority of social workers report receiving little or no information on spirituality and religion during their social work education (Canda & Furman, 1999; Murdock, 2004). Content analysis of the social work literature, including prominent journals (Hodge, 2002), textbooks (Hodge, Baughman & Cummings, in press), and course outlines (Cnaan, Wineburg, & Boddie, 1999) has revealed an almost complete exclusion of material that might acquaint social workers with an evangelical Christian perspective in the surveyed literature.

The paucity of material is of critical concern on a number of fronts. As is the case with other populations with distinct cultures, the provision of effective services to evangelical Christians is contingent on developing an awareness of their cultural worldview (Stewart & Gale, 1994). With the exclusion of a population's narrative, social workers have no way of knowing the norms that characterize evangelical Christian narratives. The application of culturally foreign values in practice settings can undermine the practitioner-client relationship and, in some cases, even cause harm (Stewart & Gale, 1994; Reddy & Hanna, 1998). Without knowledge of a group's culture, stereotypes and misinformation may guide practice decisions (Hodge et al., in press; Wambach & Van Soest, 1997).

The need for material on cultural competence is particularly pressing in light of the growing attention that social workers devote to spirituality in practice settings. In spite of the paucity of training in cultural competence, it appears that most social workers use spiritually oriented interventions with their clients (Canda & Furman, 1999; Murdock, 2004). Further, in an increasing number of settings, social workers are being asked to address client spirituality. For example, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which accredits most hospitals as well as many other healthcare providers in the United States, now recommends that social workers conduct a spiritual assessment (JCAHO, 2001). In short, training is needed so that social workers can engage in practice with evangelical Christians in a manner that is consistent with the profession's ethical standards.

In accordance, this article widens the scope of cultural competence by providing information on evangelical Christians. Toward this end, material is provided on common cultural norms and values. In keeping with the code of ethics, the role of oppression in the cultural narrative is overviewed and strengths are highlighted. This delineation provides a context for the subsequent discussion of practice interventions. Supplementary resources that may be helpful are noted throughout the article. With this framework in mind, this article begins by attempting to give readers a sense of the characteristics that distinguish evangelical Christians as a cultural entity.

Defining Evangelical Christians

The term evangelical is derived from the Greek word [epsilon][mu][alpha][gamma][gamma][epsilon][lambda][iota][omicron][upsilon] meaning good news. Although various definitions of evangelical Christians exist, one common way of thinking about this population is as an inclusive, transdenominational Protestant movement characterized by (a) a relationship with God, (b) a spiritually transformed life, and (c) an authoritative view of the Bible (Marsden, 1987). As discussed in the ecumenical documents, Evangelicals and Catholics Together (Colson et al, 1994, 1998), these Christians believe that all humans have dignity, strengths, and worth as God's image bearers but are separated from God through sin, both personal and corporate. Turning from one's own egocentricity to the God-man, Jesusthrough a personal, existential act of faith in his finished, sacrificial death-provides the vehicle for the restoration of communion between the individual and God.

A spiritual awakening or conversion results in a transformed life (McGrath, 2002). Moral conduct and personal devotion are evidenced in such forms as acts of social justice, worship, service to the poor, relaying the availability of a lifechanging relationship with God to others, and scripture reading. The Bible, which is viewed as God's message to humankind, functions as a guidebook for faith and practice in the believer's ongoing walk with God (McGrath, 1996).

Biblical narratives are retold with the expectation that individuals will encounter God in their everyday lives (Bardill, 1998). As Miller (1998) observed, these Christians refrain from privileging a material worldview that precludes the existence of the supernatural. Enlightenmentbased assumptions about the materialistic nature of reality are rejected in favor of a worldview that allows for an experiential understanding of the sacred (McGrath, 1996). For evangelical Christians, the spiritual and the material are not two separate realms but a holist unity. Readers interested in more information may wish to obtain Bardill's (1998) article, which delineates a basic Christian worldview in the context of systems theory.

Although evangelical Christians tend to share the characteristics discussed above, it is important to emphasize the diversity that exists among this population (Shibley, 1998; Smith, 2000). Evangelical Christians are drawn from a disparate family of faith traditions, including Anabaptist, Charismatic, Reformed, and Pentecostal. In a similar vein, whereas Evangelicals predominate in a number of the nation's largest Protestant denominations, these Christians are found in essentially all denominations as well as in nondenominational movements. American Evangelicals are ethnically, politically, racially, historically, and geographically diverse. They are found among all social classes, and numerous distinct subcultures exist under the canopy of present day Evangelicalism (Shibley, 1998; Stewart & Gale, 1994).

In keeping with this diversity, a wide variety of beliefs and practices exist among evangelical Christians. Few, if any, perspectives are universally affirmed. As a consequence, this article should be viewed as a working template, which should be adjusted to reflect the needs of individual clients. Nevertheless, a number of commonalties tend to distinguish this group. Among the most significant are the cultural forces that fostered the unification of a wide number of discrete and often conflicting faith traditions and denominations into a culture referred to as evangelical Christianity (Esau, 1998; Richards & Bergin, 2000).

The Evangelical Christian Subculture

Esau (1998) suggested that perhaps the most important factor in working with evangelical Christians is their self-perception as minority members. Although much diversity exists, evangelical Christians tend to be female, have lower incomes, hold less prestigious occupations, have lower levels of education, and tend to be minorities-all populations that have traditionally been denied access to power (Davis & Robinson, 1997; Gallup & Castelli, 1989; Hoge, 1996). Woodberry and Smith (1998) noted that few evangelical Christians are chief executive officers (CEOs), listed in Who's Who, work in movie or television industries, work at prominent newspapers, magazines, or TV newsrooms, and few are employed in academia. Evangelical Christians tend to be isolated from many of the dominant cultural shaping institutions and professional forums in which the Enlightenment-based secular worldview prevails (Hunter, 1991).

As authorities on oppression have observed, a difference in worldviews, in conjunction with a power differential, fosters bias toward the subordinate worldview (Hamilton & Sharma, 1997; Wambach & Van Soest, 1997). Evangelical Christians tend to be keenly aware of the bias fostered by the power differential between the secular and Christian worldviews. Among a nationally representative sample of self-identified evangelical Christians (N = 430), 92% agreed that "Christian values are under serious attack in the United States" (Smith, 1998, p. 273). Ethnographic research indicates that evangelical Christians "often feel excluded, marginalized and discriminated against by secular institutions and elites" (Smith, 2000, p. 4).

These perceptions seem to have some merit. Although the extant research is somewhat fragmentary, studies have documented bias in television (Skill & Robinson, 1994; Skill, Robinson, Lyons, & Larson, 1994), comic strips (Lindsey & Heeren, 1992), and popular periodicals (Perkins, 1984). In a similar vein, analysis has revealed bias in grade school (Vitz, 1985), high school (Bellitto, 1996; Hillocks, 1978; Sewall, 1995), and college textbooks (Glenn, 1997; Hodge et al., in press; Lehr & Spilka, 1989). Discrimination has been repeatedly observed in professional forums (Gartner, Harmatz, Hohmann, Larson, & Gartner, 1990; Larson, Milano, & Lu, 1998; Neumann, Harvill, & Callahan, 1995; Neumann, Thompson, & Woolley, 1991, 1992; Richards & Davison, 1992) including graduate psychology programs that discriminate against evangelical Christians in their admission decisions (Gartner, 1986).

As the dominance of the secular worldview has increased, the differences between various orthodox Protestant groups and denominations have receded (Hunter, 1991; Martin, 1996;Smith, 2000). The struggle to maintain religious freedom has become an overriding concern for many Christians in the face of a secular worldview whose Enlightenment-based assumptions function to disenfranchise nonmaterialistic ways of ordering life. Consistent with the studies cited above, secular elites are viewed as attempting to exclude people of faith and to delegitimize their voices. As a consequence, differences were deemphasized and commonalties accented among orthodox Protestants to such an extent that groups previously at odds could be referred to as an evangelical Christian movement.

Esau (1998) suggested that the conflict between secular and Christian worldviews forms a backdrop for work with evangelical Christians. As a consequence, social workers may wish to understand the interplay between competing worldviews. Hunter (1991) provided a balanced account of the worldview conflict, and Smith's (2000) ethnographic research provides a good introduction to the general ethos that animates the evangelical Christian subculture.

Like African Americans and other subordinate populations, evangelical Christians have developed their own culture outside of, and parallel to, the mainstream culture (Martin, 1996; Peyser, 2001). Talbot (2000) reported that evangelical Christians have constructed the "most vigorous and coherent counterculture around" (p. 36). This Christian counterculture is supported through a number of vehicles. Distinctively Christian books, radio, television, music, videos, stores, schools, colleges, and universities have been developed (Ali, 2001; Martin, 1996; Talbot, 2000). Among the most important cultural supports, however, is the Evangelical church.

The Church

Perhaps the central institution in the Evangelical subculture is the church (Thurston, 2000). Evangelical churches, often called fellowships, chapels, or temples, focus on relaying the message of the Bible in contemporary terms (Miller, 1998). Evangelical churches appear to be growing, and although various explanations for this growth have been advanced, evangelical Christians tend to attribute it to the work of God evidenced in a spiritual conversion or awakening (Perrin, Kennedy, & Miller, 1997).

A Christian conversion is typically a life-transforming process, as the term "born again" implies. Studies have indicated that individuals who experience a spiritual awakening tend to report significant improvement in their self-esteem, confidence, and well-being (Maton & Wells, 1995; Zinnbauer & Pargament, 1998). Although Jesus is the central focus of conversion, the experience is often mediated and subsequently strengthened in church, which, in addition to Sunday worship meetings, can be understood broadly to include small groups and parachurch gatherings, such as Promise Keepers, Christian retreats, and concerts (Shibley, 1998).

Evangelical fellowships tend to be open, empowering communities that foster personal growth and healing (Pargament et al., 1987; Maton & Salem, 1995). For instance, Maton and Salem's (1995) multilevel, longitudinal examination of an Evangelical congregation revealed an empowering, supportive, strengths-based atmosphere. In a similar vein, Pargament et al. (1987) found an openness to new ideas and change, high levels of social concern and involvement, and an elevated commitment to address and solve personal problems. To address problems inside and outside the community, church members are commonly empowered to develop solutions. As a consequence, churches typically sponsor a variety of programs, such as 12-step meetings, support groups, and social justice campaigns, with activities to support children, youth, and marriage being particularly widespread.

The Family

The family is a central element in the Evangelical subculture (Gallagher, 2003). As in many other areas, evangelical Christian views on gender and family are countercultural (Talbot, 2000). In place of the egalitarian marriage framework widely affirmed by the dominant secular culture, evangelical Christians commonly hold a complementary model (Gallagher, 2003). In a manner analogous to the Trinity, in which Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit are co-equal but have different roles, men and women have equal worth but complementary roles.

Within the complementary marriage model, Evangelical husbands are expected to be servant leaders who function as the spiritual head of the family in the same way that Jesus functions as the spiritual head of the church (DiBlasio, 1988). Modeling Jesus, they are called to initiate, love, and serve. Wives are expected to be devoted to their husbands and submissive to their spiritual leadership (DiBlasio, 1988). In keeping with the co-equality of persons, both spouses are called to meet the needs of the other. The marriage is considered an emotional, physical, and spiritual union in which the two individuals become one. Sexuality is typically viewed as a sacred gift from God that is celebrated within the confines of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage (Dobbins, 2000). It is also important to recognize that a relatively diverse array of marriage relationships exist among evangelical Christians as couples individually negotiate the parameters of their particular union in light of the interplay between traditional Christian values and mainstream secular values (Gallagher, 2003).

Although stereotypes that depict complementary marriages as dysfunctional or even harmful to women are common in secular forums, research reveals a different picture (Griffith, 1997). Evangelical Christian women experience high levels of sexual satisfaction (Michael, Gagnon, Laumann, & Kolata, 1994), and both women and men report high levels of general marital satisfaction (Wilcox & Bartkowski, 1999; Hansen, 1992). Church-going Evangelical couples experience low levels of domestic violence (Cunradi, Caetano, & Schafer, 2002; Ellison, Bartkowski, & Anderson, 1999). Evangelical husbands are more likely than other husbands to demonstrate understanding toward their wives, praise their wives, display affection to their wives, and spend quality time working on the emotional state of their marriages (Wilcox, 2004). Based upon extensive qualitative work, Gallagher (2003) suggested that complementary marriages represent a strength for both spouses, enabling, for example, men to benefit from a stable concept of masculinity, whereas women benefit from higher levels of intimacy and family engagement.

Evangelical Christians also tend to hold countercultural child-rearing practices (Ellison, 1996). As implied above, the Evangelical subculture places great value on children. As part of a holistic pro-life stance that imparts worth and dignity to all human beings from conception to death, all children are valued, regardless of any disabilities they may possess (Dobbins, 2000; Hunter, 1991). Although wives commonly work outside the home, they frequently stay at home to care for their children, especially during the preschool years (Hodge, 2003b).

Evangelical Christians affirm what some have called a "neo-traditional" parenting model that combines warmth and affection with structure and discipline (Wilcox, 2003). In the area of child rearing, Wilcox and Bartkowski (1999) suggested that parents are expected to model God's love, or more specifically, the heavenly Father's love, in their relationship with their children. In other words, just as the heavenly Father cares and provides for His children, parents are to care and provide for their children. As a consequence, affection and affirmation are widely encouraged. Disciplinary practices such as violent outbursts and verbal intimidation are discouraged because they fail to model God's love appropriately, violate the child's dignity as God's image bearer, and may even lead to child abuse (Bartkowski & Wilcox, 2000). When practices such as time-outs and reason are unsuitable in situations that call for boundaries, spanking is widely deemed to be an appropriate disciplinary measure but only when applied in a rational, balanced manner (Ellison, 1996).

Consistent with this parenting framework, research reveals that evangelical fathers are more likely than other fathers to display affection to their children and to spend one-on-one time with their adolescents in activities such as personal conversation (Wilcox, 2003). Similarly, evangelical parents are more likely than other parents to praise and hug their children (Wilcox, 1998) and more likely to be involved in activities such as homework and sports with their adolescents (Wilcox, 2003). They are less likely to yell at their preschoolers and school-age children (Bartkowski & Wilcox, 2000), more likely to set clear guidelines (Wilcox, 2003), and more likely to spank (Ellison, 1996). Readers should also be aware that longitudinal research has indicated that spanking enhances the effectiveness of parental reasoning resulting in less future misbehavior (Larzelere, Sather, Schneider, Larson, & Pike, 1998). Although the beliefs and values of evangelical Christians often differ from those affirmed in the secular mainstream and, consequently, may seem counterintuitive to some social workers, it is critical that practitioners be cognizant of the norms and strengths that exist in the culture to develop effective intervention strategies (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992).

General Practice Suggestions

In order for interventions to be effective, social workers must work within the parameters of the client's worldview (Sue et al., 1992). In other words, the strategies developed must take into account the reality of the client's worldview and exhibit sensitivity to that worldview. Perhaps the most important initial strategy is to build trust (Stewart & Gale, 1994). As might be expected, given that most social workers have been exposed to a paucity of material on evangelical Christianity, some clients may feel that social workers do not understand their beliefs and values and, consequently, cannot be trusted as service providers (Furman, Perry, & Goldale, 1996; Pellebon, 2000). Consequently, it is critical that practitioners demonstrate knowledge of, and respect for, clients' belief systems.

It may be helpful for practitioners to explain their credentials, therapeutic orientation, and counseling goals clearly and early in the therapeutic encounter (Rayburn, 2000). Acknowledging the importance of clients' faith as an asset and expressing a commitment to respect it often enhances the therapeutic alliance (Dobbins, 2000). Asking clients to share their faith, or asking when they became a Christian, can build trust while establishing freedom for clients to raise spiritually related concerns during therapy (DiBlasio, 1988; Thurston, 2000). Any suggestion that the Bible cannot be trusted, that the miracles recorded in scripture are not literal, or that the events in the Bible are not historical occurrences should clearly be avoided (Dobbins, 2000).

Demonstrating an understanding of how Evangelical beliefs and values are often de-legitimized in the dominant secular culture can help build bridges between the practitioner and client (Esau, 1998; Roberts, 1999). A smoke-free room and modest attire can also implicitly communicate respect for Evangelical norms (Rayburn, 2000). Referring to clients or their beliefs as fundamentalist should be avoided, unless the client uses the term to self-describe, and even then caution should be exercised. The term is somewhat analogous to the term queer among the gay and lesbian community. Fundamentalism has been constructed by the dominant secular culture as a highly pejorative term, such that its application signals that the group or person should be disenfranchised from legitimate discourse (McGrath, 2002).

It is important to respect clients' spiritual autonomy by working within the parameters of their theological worldview (Johnson, Ridley, & Nielsen, 2000). Some social workers, for example, may be inclined to dissuade clients from spanking or to move couples away from complementary marriages toward egalitarian marriages. Such attempts, however, generally represent an unethical violation of clients' autonomy. Practitioners are required to exhibit the same respect for client self-determination in the area of spirituality as they do in other areas of clients' lives (Cascio, 1998). Belcher and Cascio (2001) noted that clients are not looking to have their theological positions challenged, and efforts to change their theology or challenge their culture will foster distrust and possibly end the clinical relationship.

Esau (1998) pointed out that practitioners must separate cultural essentials from cultural contaminates and work to affirm the cultural essential while seeking to address the factors that inhibit what is considered healthy functioning within the parameters of the evangelical Christian worldview. Following up on the above examples, when faced with couples who believe in spanking or complementary marriages, social workers can communicate support for the cultural practices and work with clients to address issues that contaminate the healthy outworking of the cultural practices. It may also be helpful to know that some clients may use various means to sound out the practitioner's tolerance of countercultural practices (Pellebon & Anderson, 1999). In such instances, trust can be enhanced by affirming the underlying cultural essential about which clients are covertly inquiring.

Practitioners might consider familiarizing themselves with Evangelical family norms to assist them in the often difficult process of separating cultural essentials from contaminants. Material from Christian organizations such as Focus on the Family can be useful in this regard. Christian bookstores, which exist in most cities, also carry a number of popular works on child rearing and marriage enrichment. It is important to select material written by Christian authors who have established creditability with the larger Evangelical community, rather than accounts written by those outside the community that may exhibit the biases of the secular culture (Ginsberg, 1999). As strengths perspective commentators have suggested, it is often useful to ask clients for their recommendations, as they are typically authorities on the norms and values in their own subcultures.

In some situations, it may appear that clients' spirituality is being manifested in a harmful manner. As social workers know all too well, excesses occur in every culture. Social workers, however, are not trained to assess the veracity of clients' spiritual beliefs and are ethically constrained to remain in their area of competency (NASW Code of Ethics, 1999). As a consequence, in situations where concern exists, social workers might collaborate with a pastor or church leader, preferably one chosen by the client or at least one who holds theological views similar to those held by the client. As Gilbert (2000) suggested, clergy can help clarify the boundaries between normal and unhealthy beliefs and practices. They can also be an important resource in evaluating various interventions that seek to use clients' spirituality to ameliorate problems.

Clinically Oriented Spiritual Interventions

In addition to the use of traditional interventions, social workers may wish to explore using spiritual interventions with evangelical Christians. A growing body of evidence has indicated that spirituality and religion foster well-being and can often be harnessed to solve problems (Koenig, McCullough, & Larson, 2001). Although many clients will be open to the idea of incorporating spiritual strengths into the therapeutic dialogue, practitioners should ensure that sufficient trust has developed such that clients feel comfortable exploring and tapping their spiritual assets.

One of the more extensively researched interventions is traditional cognitive-behavior therapy that has been modified with Christian tenets (Hawkins, Tan, & Turk, 1999; Johnson, Devries, Ridley, Pettorini, & Peterson, 1994; Propst, 1996). Biblical beliefs are used in place of the traditional suppositions that inform cognitive therapy. It is significant that Albert Ellis (1993), a founder of modern cognitive therapy and formerly one of the harshest critics of Christianity (Ellis, 1980), stated more recently that the Bible has "probably enabled more people to make more extensive and intensive personality and behavioral changes than all professional therapists combined" (p. 336). Biblically modified therapy has been successful in treating depression while reducing levels of automatic negative thinking, irrational thinking, and general pathology (Johnson et al., 1994). Propst (1996) provided a short introduction to the approach, Backus (1985) offered a book-length treatment of the subject, and Ellis (2000) presented a revised version of his work for use with theistic clients.

Material drawn from the client's worldview can also be used to develop new, empowering narratives (Pargament, 1997). Events that were previously viewed as detrimental can often be positively refrained by drawing on the client's spiritual worldview. Pargament and Brant (1998) identified a number of positive attributions that may help Christians cope with crisis. Drawing upon biblical narratives, Dobbins (2000) offered an approach for dealing with trauma and a method for addressing compulsive-addictive behavior.

Prayer and forgiveness can also be effective interventions. Carlson, Bacaseta, and Simanton (1988) provided an overview of devotional meditation, a period of quiet reflection on a particular biblical passage, which has been associated with reduced levels of anger and anxiety. Much like prayer, forgiveness is an important evangelical value. DiBlasio (1998) provided an article on forgiveness interventions within the context of intergenerational therapy.

As noted above, church and parachurch organizations often provide an array of programs and services. Social support, personal growth, and empowerment are some of the outcomes that participants can experience (Maton & Salem, 1995). In addition, exceptions to problems may occur after participation in a church function, Bible study, or small group meeting, which in turn can foster the adoption of more salutary patterns of interaction.

Advocacy in Educational Settings

In addition to working with clients in clinical settings, social work practice also includes efforts to promote social justice. The NASW Code of Ethics (1999: 6:04) stipulates that social workers are to eliminate religious discrimination and work to ensure that people of faith have equal access to resources and opportunities. In educational settings, school social workers can play an important role in ensuring that the civil rights of evangelical Christians are honored. The concept of separation of church and state is often misconstrued by many school officials to mean that religious expression must be discouraged or even banned in public schools (Clinton, 1995). However, within certain parameters related to school functioning, any effort by public school officials to discourage students' religious expressions generally represents an infringement upon students' right to engage in the free exercise of their faith.

Students are free to write papers on religious topics, free to wear clothes with Bible verses or religious themes, and free to form religious groups that reflect their norms and values. In short, publicly funded schools cannot discriminate on the basis of religion. Under the Equal Access Act (20 U.S.C. §§ 4071-74), Christian students have the same right to use school facilities as do secular students. School officials cannot, for example, ban Bible study or pro-life groups, yet allow environmental or chess clubs to meet. Social workers in educational settings may wish to obtain the Department of Education's Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools (Paige, 2003) and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's (FIRE) guide to Religious Liberty on Campus (French, 2002), both of which can be helpful in informing officials about students' constitutional rights. In situations where discrimination persists, social workers may wish to contact organizations such as FIRE or The Becket Fund to explore avenues of legal recourse.

As noted above, educational texts often contain biased depictions of evangelical Christians. In keeping with their ethical mandate to advocate for institutions that demonstrate cultural competence, school social workers can also play a role in interpreting the evangelical Christian worldview to school officials. For example, some textbooks may frame evangelical Christian efforts to enhance the general welfare of society negatively, as an attempt to "impose their values on others," whereas the efforts of secular groups to, for example, ban smoking, restrict firearms, or regulate corporations are portrayed positively. Social workers can point out such inconsistencies and work toward a school environment that respects cultural diversity.

Another way of addressing the exclusion of evangelical Christian role models and the mischaracterization of their narratives in educational texts is to provide supplemental material. In West Paducah, KY, Fort Worth, TX, and Littleton, CO, anti-Christian animus resulted in the murder of a number of evangelical Christian youth (Braun, 1997; Young, 1999; Bingham, 1999). In all three cases, however, the Christian students acted heroically. The story of Rachel Scott (Scott & Nimmo, 2000), who was murdered for her faith at Columbine High School, has served to inspire many segments of the Christian community in much the same way that Matthew Shepard's death inspired many in the gay and lesbian community. Similarly, during the September 11 terrorists attack, Todd Beamer sacrificed his life leading a counterattack against the terrorists on United Flight 93 (Beamer & Abrahma, 2002). Exposing people to these and other accounts provides important role models for Evangelical students while helping to educate others about the nature of evangelical Christian culture.

Systemic and International Interventions

As important as advocacy at the individual level is, it is critical to address systemic issues. As the NASW Code of Ethics (1999) stipulates, social workers should promote social change to end religious discrimination and to foster respect for cultural diversity, both in the United States and internationally. As part of this process, social workers might work to ensure that public school textbooks abolish biases and include the voices of evangelical Christians on a par with those of other major cultural groups. Comparable efforts to increase the level of cultural sensitivity should also be undertaken in the helping professions.

Bergin, Payne, and Scott (1996) emphasized the need to identify and eliminate religious stereotypes and prejudices in the helping professions, just as similar efforts have been made to address bias in such areas as race and gender. A number of textbooks in the fields of marriage (Glenn, 1997), psychology (Lehr & Spilka, 1989), and social work (Cnaan, 1999; Hodge, et al., in press) require the attention of social workers, as do some assessment instruments (Gartner, 1996; Moen, 1994; Pargament, 1997; Watson, Morris, & Hood, 1992) and theories of moral development (Richards & Davison, 1992). Just as social workers have developed and supported, for example, feminist critiques of moral development theory (Gilligan, 1993), they might also develop and support theistic critiques of moral development theory (Richards & Davison, 1992). As Denton (1990) implied, developing such perspectives are crucial to culturally competent practice.

Gartner (1985) highlighted the importance of addressing Evangelical underrepresentation among those Woodberry and Smith (1998) referred to as power elites; those individuals who hold knowledge industry positions that allow them to shape mainstream culture. In keeping with social work's proud tradition of seeking to include underrepresented voices, social workers should act to ensure that evangelical Christians and their narratives are adequately represented in social work and other professional spheres (Hodge, 2002). As Haynes and White (1999) observed, it is critical that our work forces are demographically representative. Similarly, social workers have an ethical duty to oppose secular campaigns that seek to remove evangelical Christians from positions of cultural influence or prevent them from holding such positions in the first place, just because they hold traditional Christian views.

The United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948/1998, article 18) stipulates that everyone has the right of religious freedom, which includes the right to change one's religious belief and to express his or her beliefs in public and private. Although the stereotypical image of the typical Christian is often that of a wealthy White American or western European, the demographic reality is that the typical Christian is a member of the two-thirds world (Third World), a woman, a person of color, and poor (Jenkins, 2002; McGrath, 2002). Roughly 70% of the estimated total population of evangelical Christians live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America (Hertzke, 2003). As the U.S. State Department's (1997) report on religious freedom indicates, the persecution of devout Christians is a significant global problem, although much like the discrimination Christians encounter in the United States, this persecution receives relatively little coverage in mainstream media forums (Jenkins, 2003; Hunter, 1991; Marshall, 1998).

In Sudan, for example, Black Christians who refuse to renounce their faith frequently encounter severe oppression. Abductions, rapes, forced slavery, and mass killings are common. By some accounts, the estimated death toll exceeds that of Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo-combined (Hertzke, 2003). In India, many of the poorest of the poor, the so-called "untouchables," or the Dalits, have converted to Christianity in recent decades. Now that apartheid has been dismantled, Jenkins (2002) stated that the oppression of the Dalits represents the single largest case of institutionalized oppression in the world today. According to Jenkins, Dalit Christians are regularly persecuted for their faith, often with the tacit approval of higher caste governmental authorities seeking to maintain the social order that privileges their status.

Social workers are called to involvement in these and other situations around the globe where Christians are persecuted for their faith (NASW Code of Ethics, 1999). On a practical level, social workers can oppose governmental policies that require converts to register with the state, ban voluntary conversions, restrict the free association of religious believers, and other infringements of religious freedoms that contravene the rights listed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Effective interventions to promote religious freedom include contacting embassy officials and elected American representatives, and working through international human rights organizations such as the Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom.

Self-Examination

The provision of culturally competent services is predicated on personal and professional self-examination (Wambach & Van Soest, 1997). Social workers are ethically responsible to provide services that are responsive to the needs and concerns of evangelical Christians and involve advocacy on their behalf, interpersonally, professionally, nationally, and internationally. This entails recognizing the legitimacy of evangelical Christianity and working to ensure that others also value this population as a valid component in the nation's multicultural mosaic.

Toward this end, it is important to examine one's attitude toward evangelical Christians and to resolve any conflicts that might inhibit working with this population in an ethical manner. Negative sentiments that are not properly addressed may foster what Genia (2000) referred to as religious countertransference, in which unresolved issues are played out in present practice interactions. Social workers should also examine their own worldview and explore how its associated values may affect their work with evangelical Christians.

In some cases, social workers should refer clients to other practitioners who are better able to provide culturally competent services (Cascio, 1998). Although all social workers are called to support actions to eliminate discrimination against evangelical Christians, developing cultural competence is a process, particularly at the clinical level. Some social workers may find Evangelical culture so different from their own that considerable time is required to work through the issues entailed in service provision. For others, their own cultural worldview and associated values may differ so radically that it would be ethically impossible for them to provide culturally competent services (e.g., a therapist committed to an egalitarian marriage model working with clients who affirm a complementary model). In some cases, social workers may feel that they require more time and information to acquire and assimilate the necessary knowledge and skills.

Unfortunately, instead of engaging in self-examination, some social workers may actually resist attempts to foster a more diverse, inclusive profession (Cascio, 1998; Hodge, 2003a). As has occurred in the past with other areas of diversity, such as gender and race, some individuals whose interests are served by the current institutional structure may resist the inclusion of voiceless spiritual minorities. To justify the continued exclusion, moral sounding rationalizations may be offered that play to preexisting stereotypes (Wambach & Van Soest, 1997). Evangelical Christians may be framed as hostile to women and children, intolerant, imposing their values on others, narrow-minded, against democracy, or as reactionary fundamentalists (Hodge, et al., in press). The stereotypes and moral rationalizations change with each succeeding population, but the end goal is always the same-the exclusion of the population and its voice.

Most social workers, however, are sincerely committed to diversity. Indeed, one of social work's distinguishing features is its history of pursuing voiceless populations and expanding its institutional structures to incorporate their voices. The steps used to expand the profession's level of cultural competence with racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities will also prove successful when applied to spiritual minorities. Although challenges will be encountered (Hodge, 2003a), the profession has successfully dealt with such challenges in the past and can do so again.

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David Hodge, PhD, is a post-doctoral fellow with the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania. He has written widely on spirituality and religion, including material designed to foster spiritually competent practice with Hindus, Muslims, and other populations. Correspondence regarding this article may be addressed to the author at the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, University of Pennsylvania, Leadership Hall, 3814 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Manuscript received: November 18, 2002

Revised: January 9, 2004

Accepted: March 11, 2004

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