African American Spirituality, Grief & Mental Health: Seeking the Church After a Family Member’s Violent Death

Abstract

The findings in this paper reveals and summarizes the described experience of African American adults who have sought the church for support, versus traditional mental health resources, after the violent death of a family member. The research sought to close the gap in the literature on the mental health help-seeking disparities of African American adults, in general, and confirm the importance of mental health clinicians in seeking resolutions and a deeper understanding and higher levels of cultural and spiritual competency into the mental health treatments of the African American adult population. Through a generic qualitative design and the theoretical lens of Pargament's theory of religious coping, the research question, "What are the described experiences of African American adults who seek the church after the violent death of a family member?" was answered. Ten African American adults were interviewed. Four specific themes after a thematic analysis were: (a) guidance in grief; (b) a resource for trust and relationships; (c) relationships for wisdom, direction, and support; and (d) cultural and familial traditions.