Date
1-16-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Krystal Clemons
Keywords
Intimate Partner Violence, Black Church Culture, Judgement or Healing, Black Church Leaders, Responsiveness
Disciplines
Counseling | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Hamlin, Indea J., "Intimate Partner Violence and the Black Church Culture: A Place of Judgement or Healing" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6431.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6431
Abstract
This transcendental phenomenological study will discover how Black clergy and lay leaders in urban communities respond to Black women who report intimate partner violence. Semi- structured interviews will take place in urban churches or secure locations within the communities. Six male and six female church pastors, clergy, and lay leaders will be selected as participants for the study, which will capture their firsthand experiences, levels of awareness and belief about the prevalence of IPV in urban communities, and their preparedness to address this form of violence against Black women. Thematic analysis will be employed to generate codes, uncover any themes within the data, examine each piece, show correlating definitions, and emphasize theoretically informed interpretations of each meaning within the study. The theory guiding this qualitative research study is the Feminist Theory founded by Mary Wollstonecraft, as it proves a connection between gender inequality, the sexism of patriarchal societies, and the notion of male dominance and female subordination with the perpetration of violence against women (Abouelenin, 2021). Additionally, the Intersectionality Theory developed by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989 will address the marginalization of Black women in society (Davis, 2019).
