Date
10-16-2025
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (EdD)
Chair
Jacob Dunlow
Keywords
qualitative, ethnographic, research, Christian-based, efficacy of mentorship, Black males, nondenominational
Disciplines
Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Campbell, Arnold M., "Qualitative Ethnographic Research on the Efficacy of a Christian-Based Approach to Mentorship for Black Males" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7532.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7532
Abstract
This study advanced qualitative research by identifying several statistical gaps in the social sciences related to leadership development, learning principles, character traits, and spiritual formation for a specific demographic of Black males. This researcher aimed to understand the efficacy of Christian-based actions through mentorship programs that intend to address social deficits. From a theological and theoretical context, this research literature review and observations focused on the practical Christian-based approaches to mentorship that provided a model to improve the lives of a specific demographic of Black males considered high-risk and vulnerable. The target group was raised in single-parent homes and attended Christian-affiliated nondenominational churches, organizations, or ministries. This qualitative ethnographic approach examined the formula for the efficacy of Christian-based mentorship that can be replicated for Black males from youth to adulthood, based on responses and observations from men who experienced mentor-to-mentee relationships. This researcher focused on furthering the understanding of Christian-based mentorship programs designed to improve the lives of Black males in character, learning, leadership, and spiritual formation. While secular mentorship programs provide measures of effectiveness, this researcher sought to understand whether Christian-based mentorship programs designed for Black males could effectively relate to the theory of science in action, the social gospel, or the theory of an anecdotal, optimistic Christian worldview through role modeling. This researcher presented the lived experiences of Black males who participated in mentorship across age-appropriate programs to understand how their focus on the image of God, central to the Christian-based approach, contributed to reducing deficits in learning, leadership, character, and spiritual maturity.
