African American Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence through Collaborative Relationships
[Thesis]
Spencer-Sandolph, Tracy L.
DeParis, Richard J
Capella University
2020
126
Ph.D.
Capella University
2020
Domestic violence is a significant societal problem within the United States, impacting every type of family and community; however, the African American community continues to rank the highest ethnic group for victims of domestic violence. Many African American pastors have openly acknowledged that they lack training and education on handling domestic violence crises. Some African American pastors have collaborated with nonprofit organizations to fill the gap in providing assistance to domestic violence victims. This study is to understand the lived experiences of African American pastors' collaboration with nonprofit organizations to address domestic violence. The methodology used in this study was a phenomenological, qualitative study design method. The phenomenological, qualitative study method allowed the essence of the participants to share their conscious experience of collaborating with nonprofit organizations to address domestic violence. To gain an understanding of African American pastors' lived experience collaborating with nonprofit organizations to address domestic violence, nine African American pastors were interviewed. The inclusions for this study consisted of all pastors must be African American and have collaborated with a nonprofit organization that helps domestic violence victims. The participants came from an array of religious denominational backgrounds and brought a wealth of experience and knowledge that contributed to this study. Six important themes were derived from the data analysis in this study. The six themes are: Theme 1-Pastoral Recognition of Needed Assistance with Domestic Violence; Theme 2-Nonprofit Organizations Offering Collaboration; Theme 3-Church Distrust of Specific Nonprofit Organizations; Theme 4-Available Resources Through Collaboration; Theme 5-Increased Pastor Awareness of the Prevalence and Danger of Domestic Violence; and Theme 6-Increased Safety and Decreased Pastoral Burden. The findings in this study demonstrated the importance of collaboration between African American pastors and nonprofit organizations to address domestic violence. The findings support past research that recognizes African American pastors' lack of knowledge and education when handling domestic violence situations; this lack supports the need for a collaborative relationship with nonprofit organizations. The results of this study show that African American pastors experienced relief, satisfaction, and empowerment when collaborating with properly vetted nonprofit organizations to address domestic violence.