To answer the research question of "What would a conceptual framework for spirituality in an employee assistance (EAP) context entail?" an exploratory-descriptive approach was followed. A literature study was conducted to understand the construct of spirituality and the importance thereof in human functioning. Further, spirituality in practical contexts was explored, both in the workplace and in the EAP contexts. The researcher concluded that spirituality is better situated in the EAP that in the workplace setting in general. To further explore spirituality in the EAP context, a quantitative approach was followed and a survey in the form of web-based questionnaire was distributed to a list of EAP practitioners and professionals, which was obtained form EAPA-SA. Survey links were distributed to 232 (valid) email addresses of the members on the EAPA-SA list, and an additional 25 survey links were distributed to other respondents using snowball sampling. Out of the total of 257 valid survey links distributed, a total of 57 completed responses were received, a response rate of 22%. The survey aimed to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices in respect of spirituality in their respective employee assistance practices. The respondents rated spirituality quite highly in both their own and in their clients' lives, indicating strong positive attitudes towards spirituality and that they frequently deal with spiritual matters in practice. However, respondents indicated uncertainty regarding their own knowledge levels and the training they received to enable them to deal with these matters in practice. Incorporating the results of the literature and empirical studies, a conceptual framework and recommendations for spiritual interventions in EAP practice are proposed. / Mini Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Social Work and Criminology / MSocSci / Unrestricted

In the late 1990's researchers began studying spirituality as a workplace phenomenon. In the year 2000 a distinction was made between individual spirituality and organisational spirituality. This meant that spirituality could be studied on more than one level and that it was no longer just a personal phenomenon, but rather that organisations (as non-human entities that are made-up of clusters of humans) could in fact also be spiritual entities. In 2004, Kinjerski and Skrypnek, identified a third dimension of spirituality distinct from individual spirituality and organisational spirituality the experience of spirit at work. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the functionality of spirituality by testing the relationship between these three spirituality constructs individual spirituality, organisational spirituality and the experience of spirit at work and the resultant impact of these constructs on two positive work outcomes work engagement and affective organisational commitment. A sequential mixed methods approach was utilised in this study and the research was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the research was quantitative. During the quantitative phase of the research an online survey was distributed to respondents across South Africa. The second phase of the research was qualitative and consisted of follow-up semi-structured personal interviews with selected respondents to the survey. It was found that the three spirituality constructs individual spirituality, organisational spirituality and the experience of spirit at work are independent constructs but that strong positive correlations exist between individual spirituality and spirit at work, between individual spirituality and organisational spirituality and between spirit at work and organisational spirituality; with the strongest correlation between spirit at work and organisational spirituality. From these correlations one can conclude that the experience of spirit at work has the greatest impact on work engagement and organisational commitment; followed by the level of organisational spirituality in the workplace. Therefore, organisations that are more spiritual seem to have employees who are more engaged in their work and more committed to their respective organisations. Spirit at work was found to be the strongest predictor of work engagement, meaning that when there is an increase in experiences of spirituality in the workplace, work engagement levels also increase. This means that the extent to which people feel engaged and immersed in their work, is dependent on the extent to which they experience spirit in their work. This finding highlights the critical importance of enabling employees to discover their strengths and passions and matching them to work that they both enjoy and are good at, for enhanced work engagement. Spirit at work was also found to be the strongest predictor of organisational commitment. As the experiences of spirit at work increase, the levels of affective organisational commitment in the organisation also increases. It could thus be argued that when people experience spirit at work or in their work, they tend to be more committed to their organisations. The current study has strengthened the business case for workplace spirituality. The findings of this study indicate that the organisational environment is the greatest predictor of whether employees will experience spirit at work or not and thus indirectly the greatest factor for predicting work engagement and organisational commitment levels. These findings substantiate the need for organisations to start playing a more active role in creating a work environment that is conducive for employees to experience spirit at work. There are a number of things that organisations can do to create more spiritual work environments and as a result reap the benefits of greater work engagement and greater organisational commitment. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Human Resource Management / PhD / Unrestricted

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This project presents an historical and sociological vision of indigenous Maya/Mam spirituality. The historical damage caused by the European invasion continues as modern exploitation that is causing a mass exodus towards the north. The project describes the survival of the Maya/Mam now living in the Metro District of The United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and attempting to combine their new Christian faith with their ancestral spirituality preserved for more than 500 years. To include the generation of indigenous people born in the Diaspora takes transformative leadership. Key words: indigenous, Maya/Mam, spirituality, leadership.

This study sought to extend the findings of previous research about the construct of spirituality–as measured by the Human Spirituality Scale (HSS) developed by Wheat. To expand the research across the entire adult life span, the researcher pooled preexisting data (Wheat) from middle-aged adults with data he obtained from 236 older adults living in independent living facilities. He analyzed the pooled data from 502 adults, with an age range of 25 to 98. Using the pooled data set, the researcher divided the data into five age groupings. He conducted confirmatory factor analysis, of the model of spirituality developed by Wheat, with the two separate data sets along with the pooled data set. The researcher determined that the model was an adequate measure of spirituality across the 5 developmental age groups. He also found the Wheat Model to be adequate when using data from either middle-aged or older-aged adults. Conclusions included: (a) spirituality is a multifaceted concept; (b) the HSS is appropriate for use in the study of human spirituality across the adult lifespan; (c) older adults are more spiritual than middle-aged adults; and (d) women are more spiritual than men. Practitioner recommendations included: (a) teach the dynamics of spirituality and aging in counselor preparation programs; and (b) assess clients’ level of spirituality during intake. Research recommendations included: (a) expand the HSS data set to allow for the development of scale scores to measure the factors proposed by Wheat; (b) develop norm tables to allow for the comparison of total HSS scores and scale scores by age groupings, and by sex; and (c) explore the relationship between HSS scores and other corollary issues such as culture and wisdom.

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