Faits religieux et laïcité : le travail social à l'épreuve

[The religious and the secular: social work put to the test]

This book focuses on the difficulties that social workers?educators, social care workers, shelter managers, etc.?encounter in their relations with beneficiaries. In France, these personnel, on the contrary to private sector employees, have a clearly-established legal neutrality obligation, in line with the secularism principle. Yet, observing it on a daily basis is not easy. The author has collected numerous testimonials that form an overview of the situations encountered. These stories enable us to gain a better understanding of the dynamics at work?for example, when the religious motive becomes a way of affirming protest, or when it is the expression of a personal unease. They also illustrate how social workers diffuse some situations through dialogue and by transforming religious differences into a factor of collective wealth. They recall that beyond religious matters, the question is more generally this of the “live together”. A rich and pragmatic source of inspiration.