THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

!
!
!
!
!
!
The Environment, Spirituality and Social Work
Jerilyn J. Dressler
University of Calgary
SOWK 637
September 13, 2010

!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!

!1

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

!2

!
Im going to be honest with you when I first saw the outline for this course, I thought to
myself, What do environmental issues have to do with social work? With my humility intact as
a psychology major surrounded by social workers at a social work agency, I trusted that the
connections would reveal themselves in the readings, videos, and in class. I had no idea,
however, of how profoundly these connections would be made throughout the time I spent
reading, listening, and talking about these issues, or of how deeply the connections would
resonate in me. I have a new perspective to take forward into my social work practice, and into
my life.
In my personal life as well as in my work in the human services, I have been fortunate
enough to witness and experience life-altering healing processes. My experience with these
healing processes has uncovered that they are intensely spiritual, and how exactly spiritual is
defined is unique to the individual undertaking the process. That being said, it has also been my
experience that a significant number of individuals on a path of healing define their spirituality
as intrinsically linked to nature. The opposite can be said to be true as well. That is, nature is
intrinsically linked to spirit. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the many articles categorized
under Spirit on Orion Magazines website. The articles, in which the authors poetically
describe the natural subject of their admiration, are deeply personal and inspiring.
In his 2008 Orion article, A Window, Hank Lentfer describes where he would go if he
were imprisoned and let out for just one week to his cabin in Alaska. When writing about the
sounds of cranes calling, his language is decidedly spiritual:

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

!3

At any given moment, through ice ages and asteroid strikes, sun flares and volcanic
eruptions, night and day, fall and winter, there has been one if not a thousand cranes
calling somewhere on the planet... Only when that ten-million-year-old procession of
prayers reaches my ear would I set down my sandwich, rig the pole, stand up, and
fish. (Lentfer, 2008)

!
Perhaps it is the sense of being a part of an ecosystem on a planet that has existed for
millions of years that inspires deep feelings of peace and serenity for Lentfer, and for many
others. There is something holy in the ancientness of our natural world, and feeling small and
insignificant is certainly a feeling that can assist individuals in putting their personal problems
into perspective.
Homo sapiens earliest spiritual traditions were, of course, wholly based in nature. Early
civilizations were inherently connected, and arguably inseparable, from the natural environment.
Elizabeth Dodd (2008) describes an example of the awe-inspiring spirituality of early
civilizations Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming. In Sunrise on the Medicine Wheel, she
and a small but diverse group of people visit the medicine wheel on the eve of the summer
solstice. Dodd describes the experience as one in which she seeks right relation and
alignment (Dodd, 2008). The ancient wisdom held by the Native Americans who built it is
demonstrated as the sun rises in alignment with the stones the circle suggesting the elegance
of wholeness (Dodd, 2008). The majority of North Americans are no longer connected to the
ancient wisdom of nature and of civilizations spiritually connected to nature. I believe that this
disconnection has been to the detriment of individuals, communities, and our planet.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

!4

Large-scale agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization have severed the direct ties
that bind the majority of the human race to the Earth. Presently, about half of the worlds
population live in urban centres. Our global economy is based on the consumerism that defines
the developed world, namely, North America, Europe, and many parts of Asia. Annie Leonard
(2010) describes how the Earth is running out of natural resources due to this aggressive
materials economy in The Story of Stuff. What was particularly shocking to me was that
industry relies on planned or perceived obsolescence to fuel consumerism and drive profits.
Corporations intentionally produce products that will break they actually study and measure
the length of time a product needs to work before consumers will lose faith in the product, and
ensure that their products will work beyond that length of time... but not too far beyond! All to
the detriment of our planet and health.
Why do people buy into mass consumerism and production? I believe that they are filling
a hole left by our disconnection from nature, community, and spirituality... analogous to that
commonly described in the realm of addictions treatment. In addition, people dont understand
the consequences of mass consumerism and production because they are so far removed from it.
Because they are so far removed from it, they dont value the products and the land from which
these products came. The same can be said for any kind of man-made environmental devastation,
including that resulting from our insatiable appetite for fossil fuels and energy. When Bill
McKibben describes the confusion, anger, sadness, and shame he felt while writing his first book
about climate change (in his speech at the Tallberg Forum, 2008), it mirrors my feelings as I
started the process of learning more about environmental issues in preparation for this class.
How can this be happening?

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

!5

The shame felt is related to the realization that the developed worlds mass production
and consumerism is affecting those who are least responsible for climate change. Flooding,
drought, and extreme weather are becoming more common all over the world, particularly in
areas of South America, Africa, the middle-east (Pakistan is experiencing a major flood at this
very moment), and south-east Asia, not to mention the extreme appropriation and degradation of
natural resources from these areas. Within our borders, low-income communities of colour are a
dumping ground, as is stated in the feature film The 11th Hour (DiCaprio, 2007) and
demonstrated in Downstream (Iwerks & Alberstat, 2009). This is just one example of large,
powerful corporations taking advantage of communities and cultures without a voice. The irony
of consumerism destroying the habitat of communities living in a subsistence-based economy, as
oil and gas is shown to be destroying the habitat of communities living along the Athabasca
River in Downstream, is a dark one. If this isnt an issue for social work, I dont know what is.
Greed is fuelling the devastation to the Earths most vulnerable peoples and communities,
as well as defenceless animals and plants. Forest is cleared the world over for mining and
agriculture, and thus we lose one of the only mitigating factors of climate change (carbon
sinks), as well as habitat for thousands of species of animals. Rob Stewarts 2007 documentary
Shark Water describes how sharks are being driven to extinction, primarily by the shark fin
industry in China. Shark fin soup is considered very prestigious in China, and shark fins are
believed to have healing power. Therefore, the shark fin industry is a billion dollar industry. The
evolutionary success of sharks, which have existed relatively unchanged for 4 million years, has
been rendered useless by the greed of human kind. The ecosystem of the oceans, another carbon
sink, has been irreversibly changed.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

!6

At this juncture, one might ask, What is our government doing about these issues?
Although the leading world powers are aware of these issues, their power is dwarfed by that of
major corporations fuelling the world economy, and in many cases, our local and world leaders
campaign funds. As Leo Murray (2008) purports in Wake Up, Freak Out Then Get a Grip,
we must actively challenge our governments and put environmental issues at the forefront of
global politics.
I maintain that spirit and environmental issues are intrinsically linked. The disconnection
that developed countries have forged between their people and their land must be bridged. As
Mishka Lysack quotes in his 2009 article The Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions and
Vygotsky: Fostering ecological action
and environmental citizenship:
We cannot win this battle to save species and environment without forging an emotional
bond between ourselves and nature as well for we will not fight to save what we do not
love. (Gould, as cited in Lysack, 2009, p. 121)

!
The field of social work should approach environmental issues as we would any other
vulnerable population in need of our advocacy. In his article Mind in the Forest: An intimate
encounter with really old trees, Scott Russell Sanders (2009) states, I am especially drawn to
the ancient, battered ones, the survivors. This, I believe, has both spiritual and social justice
connotations the environment is in need of our protection. Spirituality, social justice and the
environmental issues discussed above are inextricably linked, and particularly relevant to the
field of social work. In our practices, at minimum we can encourage what E.O. Wilson called

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

biophilia, an intimate tendency within human beings to affiliate themselves with life in our
practices, and hope that it will encourage healing for our clients as well as for the environment
(Lysack, 2009, p. 123).

!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!

!7

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

!8

References
DiCaprio, Leonardo (Narrator and Producer), Petersen Conners, Leila, & Conners, Nadia
(Directors) (2007). The 11th Hour (film). United States: Warner Independent Pictures.
Dodd, Elizabeth (2008). Sunrise on the Medicine Wheel. Orion Magazine, May/June 2008.
Retrieved September 6, 2009: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/
2964/.
Iwerks, Leslie (Author and Director) & Alberstat, Philip (Producer) (2009). Downstream (video).
Canada:Babelgum. Retrieved September 5, 2009: http://www.babelgum.com/html/
clip.php?clipId=3015242&gclid=CIK_svzUhZsCFRIcawodbmNGow.
Lentfer, Hank (2008). A Window. Orion Magazine, September/October 2008. Retrieved
September 6, 2009: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/3230/.
Leonard, Annie (Author and Narrator) & Fox, Louis (Director) (2007). The Story of Stuff (video).
United States: Free Range Studios. Retrieved September 5, 2009: http://
www.storyofstuff.com/.
Lysack, M. (2009). The Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions and Vygotsky: Fostering
ecological action and environmental citizenship. McGill Journal of Education, 44(1),
119-134.
McKibben, Bill (2008). How on Earth Can We Live Together? What next (speech on video).
Tallberg Forum: June 29. Retrieved September 5, 2009: http://webbtv.compodium.se/
tallberg08/sunday_bill2/.
Murray, Leo (2008). Wake Up, Freak Out Then Get a Grip (video). United Kingdom: Royal
College of Art. Retrieved September 5, 2009: http://wakeupfreakout.org/film/tipping.html.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL WORK

Sanders, Scott Russell (2009). Mind in the Forest: An intimate encounter with really old trees.
Orion Magazine, November/December 2009. Retrieved September 6, 2009: http://
www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/5099/.
Stewart, Rob (2007). Sharkwater (film). Canada: Freestyle Releasing.

!9