Black Churches as Therapeutic Systems: A Group Process Perspective

McRae, Mary; Carey, Patricia M.; Anderson-Scott, Roxanna

doi:10.1177/109019819802500607

Cited by 74 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Although varied in their details, each church essentially functions as a group process for survival on a level defined by the needs of the group members. Each celebrates its collectiveness through ceremony and symbols (Hammond, 1988) and uniquely defined dturd expressions of worship Service, songs, prayer, and religious practices (Gilkes, 1980;Griffith, Young, & Smith, 1984;McRae, Carey, & Anderson-Scott, 1998). Each group functions as a distinct combination of affective, cognitive, and behavioral processes that create an effective interpersonal environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Need to Belong: A Theory of the Therapeutic Function of the Black Church Tradition

Thompson¹,

McRae

2001

Counseling and Values

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A theory of belonging is used as a framework for analyzing and interpreting focus group data from 7 congregations in the Black church tradition. Findings suggest that church membership may reflect the need to belong with a group rather than to a group. Within this context multiple dimensions of the self as interdependent and independent, as well as same and different, find opportunities for expression. Positive therapeutic outcomes in affect, cognition, and behavior result. Implications for research, practice, and training are given.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Need to Belong: A Theory of the Therapeutic Function of the Black Church Tradition

Thompson¹,

McRae

2001

Counseling and Values

Self Cite

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“…46,47 No wonder the church has been characterized as a healing resource. 48 The continued strength of self-care practices is affirmed in an analysis of national survey data among African Americans, in which almost 70% reported that their families used home remedies and 35% reported that they used home remedies themselves. 49 Traditional medicine has continued to be an integral part of self-care not only because of continued poverty, institutional racism, and underuse of biomedicine, 50,51 but also because of its centrality in African American cultural history and its perceived efficacy and benefits.…”

Section: The Context Of African American Self-carementioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Care Among Chronically Ill African Americans: Culture, Health Disparities, and Health Insurance Status

2004

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Little is known about the self-care practices of chronically ill African Americans or how lack of access to health care affects self-care. Results from a qualitative interview study of 167 African Americans who had one or more chronic illnesses found that self-care practices were culturally based, and the insured reported more extensive programs of self-care. Those who had some form of health insurance much more frequently reported the influence of physicians and health education programs in self-care regimens than did those who were uninsured. It is concluded that the cultural components of self-care have been underemphasized, and further, that the potential to maximize chronic illness management through self-care strategies is not realized for those who lack access to health care.

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“…The therapeutic function of Black Church services has also been reported previously (48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53). However, these prior studies do not fall under the rubric of CBHPP, because they either focus exclusively on the activities of clergy or describe in general terms how the church can be a place of healing for members.…”

mentioning

confidence: 77%

Church-Based Health Programs for Mental Disorders Among African Americans: A Review

Hankerson¹,

Weissman²

2012

Psych Services

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Objective-African Americans, compared to White Americans, underutilize traditional mental health services. A systematic review is presented of studies involving church-based health promotion programs (CBHPP) for mental disorders among African Americans to assess the feasibility of utilizing such programs to address racial disparities in mental health care.Methods-A literature review of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and ATLA Religion databases was conducted to identify articles published between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 2009. Inclusion criteria included the following: studies were conducted in a church; primary objective(s) involved assessment, perceptions/attitudes, education, prevention, group support, or treatment for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV mental disorders or their correlates; number of participants was reported; qualitative and/or quantitative data were reported; and African Americans were the target population.Results-Of 1,451 studies identified, 191 studies were eligible for formal review. Only eight studies met inclusion criteria for this review. The majority of studies focused on substance related disorders (n=5), were designed to assess the effects of a specific intervention (n=6), and targeted adults (n=6). One study focused on depression and was limited by a small sample size of seven participants. (8), and barriers to access, like lack of insurance (9). Given the debilitating nature of mental disorders (10), especially among African Americans (11), identifying ways to increase mental health service utilization in the Black community is a vital public health concern. Conclusion-AlthoughChurch-based health promotion programs (CBHPP) have received growing interest as a way to reduce health disparities among African Americans (12, 13). As defined by Ransdell (14), church-based health promotion consists of "a large-scale effort by the church community to improve the health of its members through any combination of education, screening, referral, treatment, and group support." The Black Church, classically defined as one of the seven predominantly African American denominations of the Christian faith, is a trusted, central institution in many African American communities that has been used as a setting for the delivery of health, social, civic, and political services (15). CBHPP have been used successfully in African American churches to address health disparities for numerous medical conditions such as cancer (16-21), diabetes (22-25), weight loss and obesity (26-31), cardiovascular disease and hypertension (32-35), asthma (36), and HIV/AIDS (37, 38).DeHaven et al. (39) conducted a systematic review of 53 general health programs in faithbased organizations conducted between 1990 through 2000 to determine the effectiveness of these programs in providing healthcare services. Importantly, they concluded that faithbased programs can improve health outcomes. However, only two of the articles in the review identified mental illness as the study's primary focus. In one of these studie...

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Black Churches as Therapeutic Systems: A Group Process Perspective

Cited by 74 publications

References 19 publications

The Need to Belong: A Theory of the Therapeutic Function of the Black Church Tradition

The Need to Belong: A Theory of the Therapeutic Function of the Black Church Tradition

Self-Care Among Chronically Ill African Americans: Culture, Health Disparities, and Health Insurance Status

Church-Based Health Programs for Mental Disorders Among African Americans: A Review

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