This is the publisher's version.As service populations have changed, social workers in Norway and the United States have
attempted to respond to the needs of diverse cultures, which often include issues of religion and
spirituality. Members of the Norwegian Union of Social Educators and Social Workers (FO) and
the U.S. National Association of Social Workers (NASW) were sampled to explore attitudes and
perceptions of social workers regarding the placement of religion and spirituality in practice. In
general, U.S. social workers were more accepting of religion and spirituality than their Norwegian
colleagues. Factors such as secularism, functional differences of church and state relations, and
different historical trajectories in the social work professions development in b o t h countries may
contribute to differences between the U.S. a n d Norway
