Abstract
This study will focus on understanding the role played by the church in meeting the mental health needs of its African American parishioners. The goal is to understand the ways that African American communities hold faith, position themselves within the church, and the outside world, with a specific focus on issues of trust, which have emerged based on historical and structural violence that has debilitated the health of our community. The study examines attitudes and perceptions of church leadership and members around their caring for parishioners with mental health issues. The hope is that the data will help construct better understandings of the potential new ways of attending to members with mental health issues. This community–engaged, qualitative project draws on the findings from semi-structured interviews and a focus group exploring the lack of mental health in the church from the lived experiences of six leaders and six members. All interviews were conducted in-person at a mutually agreed upon location within the Chicagoland area. Using the method of thematic analysis, nine themes indicating experiences of the roles church stakeholders play were identified. Some of these themes include: Lack of Accountability, Doctrine, Church lacks Mental Health Resources, Stigmatization, Come as you are, Solidarity, Trust, My Brothers’ Keeper, and Build it and they will come. The analyses are geared towards comprehending the contextually and largely missing experiences of Christians suffering in silence due to the stigma from the church.
Key words: Mental Health, Stigma, Resources African American, Pastor, members, Mental Illness, Trust
","abstract_html":"<p>Abstract</p> <p>This study will focus on understanding the role played by the church in meeting the mental health needs of its African American parishioners. The goal is to understand the ways that African American communities hold faith, position themselves within the church, and the outside world, with a specific focus on issues of trust, which have emerged based on historical and structural violence that has debilitated the health of our community. The study examines attitudes and perceptions of church leadership and members around their caring for parishioners with mental health issues. The hope is that the data will help construct better understandings of the potential new ways of attending to members with mental health issues. This community–engaged, qualitative project draws on the findings from semi-structured interviews and a focus group exploring the lack of mental health in the church from the lived experiences of six leaders and six members. All interviews were conducted in-person at a mutually agreed upon location within the Chicagoland area. Using the method of thematic analysis, nine themes indicating experiences of the roles church stakeholders play were identified. Some of these themes include:<em> Lack of Accountability, Doctrine, Church lacks Mental Health Resources, Stigmatization, Come as you are, Solidarity, Trust, My Brothers’ Keeper, and Build it and they will come</em>. The analyses are geared towards comprehending the contextually and largely missing experiences of Christians suffering in silence due to the stigma from the church.</p> <p><strong> Key words:</strong> Mental Health, Stigma, Resources African American, Pastor, members, Mental Illness, Trust</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sutton, Lisa"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Community Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Bradley Olson","Tiffeny Jimenez","Ericka Mingo"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:57Z","subjects":["African American","Black","Mental Health","Church","Stigma","Communication","Organization Development","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/472","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Bradley Olson","Tiffeny Jimenez","Ericka Mingo"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sutton, Lisa"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-06-25T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Community Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["African American","Black","Mental Health","Church","Stigma","Communication","Organization Development","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/472"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Abstract
This study will focus on understanding the role played by the church in meeting the mental health needs of its African American parishioners. The goal is to understand the ways that African American communities hold faith, position themselves within the church, and the outside world, with a specific focus on issues of trust, which have emerged based on historical and structural violence that has debilitated the health of our community. The study examines attitudes and perceptions of church leadership and members around their caring for parishioners with mental health issues. The hope is that the data will help construct better understandings of the potential new ways of attending to members with mental health issues. This community–engaged, qualitative project draws on the findings from semi-structured interviews and a focus group exploring the lack of mental health in the church from the lived experiences of six leaders and six members. All interviews were conducted in-person at a mutually agreed upon location within the Chicagoland area. Using the method of thematic analysis, nine themes indicating experiences of the roles church stakeholders play were identified. Some of these themes include: Lack of Accountability, Doctrine, Church lacks Mental Health Resources, Stigmatization, Come as you are, Solidarity, Trust, My Brothers’ Keeper, and Build it and they will come. The analyses are geared towards comprehending the contextually and largely missing experiences of Christians suffering in silence due to the stigma from the church.
Key words: Mental Health, Stigma, Resources African American, Pastor, members, Mental Illness, Trust
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["What Role Does The African American Church Play When Meeting The Mental Health Needs of Its African American Parishioners?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Bradley Olson","Tiffeny Jimenez","Ericka Mingo"],"dc:creator":["Sutton, Lisa"],"dc:date.available":["2020-06-25T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Abstract
This study will focus on understanding the role played by the church in meeting the mental health needs of its African American parishioners. The goal is to understand the ways that African American communities hold faith, position themselves within the church, and the outside world, with a specific focus on issues of trust, which have emerged based on historical and structural violence that has debilitated the health of our community. The study examines attitudes and perceptions of church leadership and members around their caring for parishioners with mental health issues. The hope is that the data will help construct better understandings of the potential new ways of attending to members with mental health issues. This community–engaged, qualitative project draws on the findings from semi-structured interviews and a focus group exploring the lack of mental health in the church from the lived experiences of six leaders and six members. All interviews were conducted in-person at a mutually agreed upon location within the Chicagoland area. Using the method of thematic analysis, nine themes indicating experiences of the roles church stakeholders play were identified. Some of these themes include: Lack of Accountability, Doctrine, Church lacks Mental Health Resources, Stigmatization, Come as you are, Solidarity, Trust, My Brothers’ Keeper, and Build it and they will come. The analyses are geared towards comprehending the contextually and largely missing experiences of Christians suffering in silence due to the stigma from the church.
Key words: Mental Health, Stigma, Resources African American, Pastor, members, Mental Illness, Trust
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/472"],"dc:subject":["African American","Black","Mental Health","Church","Stigma","Communication","Organization Development","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["What Role Does The African American Church Play When Meeting The Mental Health Needs of Its African American Parishioners?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Community Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:20:57Z"}