Spirituality in Social Work: Intellectual Structure, Thematic Shifts, and Global Trends

The social work profession-the largest provider of mental health services in the USA-has witnessed a growing interest in spirituality. To map the scientific landscape in this emerging area, a bibliometric analysis was conducted. Study data consisted of 921 refereed articles indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science, which were analyzed using the Bibliometrix R-package. The results reveal a relatively steady increase, starting in the 1980s, in the annual dissemination of articles focusing on spirituality. Most authors are located in the USA, with Canda, Hodge, Oxhandler, and Sheridan making notable contributions. The spirituality literature features a broad array of topics that intersect with most areas of social work practice. The results offer guidance to researchers, educators, and students interested in the intersection of spirituality and social work. These findings underscore the growing recognition of spirituality as a vital component of holistic social work practice. For instance, researchers might draw on the study's analytical outputs-including keyword co-occurrence networks, trend topic analyses, thematic maps, and thematic evolution pathways-to identify emerging topics, trace conceptual shifts, and guide future lines of inquiry.