| dc.description.abstract | This PhD project contributes to a better understanding of Christian social “practice development” in the context of a secularised society. Social practice development here signifies activities driven by a facilitation process where the outcomes are noticeable in terms of changed behaviour in staff or volunteersʼ values and beliefs, and the study specifically focuses on congregational social practices understood as local social outreach work done by church employees and volunteers. Based on a case study of four Salvation Army congregations or corps in Norway, the study explores how local practitioners navigate the double agenda of evangelisation and support provision. The project explores how these tensions contribute to different approaches to “practice development”. On the one hand, there are highly professionalised services being delivered on behalf of the state, often keeping the expression of faith on an organisational level primarily describing the motivation for the Salvation Army (TSA) engagement in social action, rather than directly affecting actions made and services provided. On the other hand, there are corps-based social services delivering an informal and relational based assistance that are independent of external funding and where faith has a prominent position for choice of language and identity expression as well as for priorities and actions taken. This study of the TSA social outreach environment in Norway provides insights into how churches and faith-based organisations play a role in contributing to meeting social welfare needs in a secular society. Overall, the thesis reflects on the role of faith in social work. My findings show that the role of faith is more central in some actions than others undertaken by practitioners in congregational social outreach. Faith is facilitating how the practices choose to act and engage with individuals seeking support and the needs presented in the local community. On an individual level, descriptions of how practitioners feel guided by God, through prayer and reflection regarding what actions to take renders faith a central attribute for how TSA corps-based practitioners provide support. Practitioners use faith to make sense of situations they encounter by referring to Bible stories and the way Jesus related to people, explaining the way they meet and build relations to be able to provide support to individuals. The research also shows that in relation to the wider social environment (local and national authorities that are part of the welfare state), faith can limit the scope of the practices by for example hindering collaborative efforts. This is described by practitioners as resulting in a conflict of values and value expression as they collaborate with secular actors and partners. Practitioners describe how they can experience pressure to adjust their language and faith related actions to be accepted as relevant partners in secular settings. Summary This PhD project contributes to a better understanding of Christian social "practice development" in the context of a secularised society. Social practice development here signifies activities driven by a facilitation process where the outcomes are noticeable in terms of changed behaviour in staff or volunteers' values and beliefs, and the study specifically focuses on congregational social practices understood as local social outreach work done by church employees and volunteers. Based on a case study of four Salvation Army congregations or corps in Norway, the study explores how local practitioners navigate the double agenda of evangelisation and support provision. The project explores how these tensions contribute to different approaches to "practice development". On the one hand, there are highly professionalised services being delivered on behalf of the state, often keeping the expression of faith on an organisational level primarily describing the motivation for the Salvation Army (TSA) engagement in social action, rather than directly affecting actions made and services provided. On the other hand, there are corps-based social services delivering an informal and relational based assistance that are independent of external funding and where faith has a prominent position for choice of language and identity expression as well as for priorities and actions taken. This study of the TSA social outreach environment in Norway provides insights into how churches and faith-based organisations play a role in contributing to meeting social welfare needs in a secular society. Overall, the thesis reflects on the role of faith in social work. My findings show that the role of faith is more central in some actions than others undertaken by practitioners in congregational social outreach. Faith is facilitating how the practices choose to act and engage with individuals seeking support and the needs presented in the local community. On an individual level, descriptions of how practitioners feel guided by God, through prayer and reflection regarding what actions to take renders faith a central attribute for how TSA corps-based practitioners provide support. Practitioners use faith to make sense of situations they encounter by referring to Bible stories and the way Jesus related to people, explaining the way they meet and build relations to be able to provide support to individuals. The research also shows that in relation to the wider social environment (local and national authorities that are part of the welfare state), faith can limit the scope of the practices by for example hindering collaborative efforts. This is described by practitioners as resulting in a conflict of values and value expression as they collaborate with secular actors and partners. Practitioners describe how they can experience pressure to adjust their language and faith related actions to be accepted as relevant partners in secular settings. 3 4 The research methods used in this study were individual and group interviews, focus groups, participatory observation and document analysis. The analytical process started by identifying core themes in the empirical material collected during the fieldwork. Following this, I distilled my main findings, and these were analysed using elements from the “Community of Practice” (CoP) theory (Buch, 2021; Wenger, 1998, 1999,2001). Using elements from CoP theory, namely the ideas of “domain”, “community” and “practice”, I was able to describe the practicesʼ inner structures, ways of communicating and relating to each other and guests accessing the practices and how they build knowledge. The chosen elements from the CoP theory also facilitated the observations of how practitioners relate to the surrounding community and wider society. This analysis revealed faith as an inspiration to why practitioners participated in the work and as a tool used for reflection around topics and situations to further learning and to develop practice actions. Building on the manner in which TSA corps practices use faith for developing methods and attitudes as they support people in vulnerable situations, I have suggested using the diaconal conceptual framework “Vocatio- Advocatio-Provocatio” (VAP) (Nordstokke, 2021; WCC & ACT Alliance, 2020) to describe possible ways forward based on the findings in the study. The overarching research questions guiding the study, and which are discussed in the three peer reviewed journal articles produced as part of the thesis are:
“How is Christian social practice developed in a secular context?”
“How do TSA corps practitioners navigate tensions related to the double agenda of evangelisation and support provision?”
Paper I: Brooke, P. (2023). Professionalism and faith: a case study of Salvation Army congregational social work in Norway. Journal of Comparative Social Work, 18(1), 5–33. https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v18i1.571
Paper II: Brooke, P. and Haugen, H. M. Anti Human Trafficking: The Salvation Army and Advocacy (To be published in Diaconia- Journal for the Study of Christian Social Practice)
Paper III: Brooke, P. and Tomalin, E. Discursive constructions of international and domestic social outreach in the Salvation Army: parallel worlds or an integrated mission? (Under review, Journal Religion and Development) | en_US |
