Thesis (S.T.M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-85).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 2004. / Abstract. Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-83).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Svi Shapiro; submitted to the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 5, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-148).

Evaluating the attitude of African American clergy toward parishioners seeking professional mental health services for mental illness has important treatment implications. Religion and spirituality are equally important determinants of mental health and can affect African American clergy's attitudes toward professional care for mental illness. Utilizing the health belief model (HBM), this quantitative study examined the role of theological beliefs, education, and personal experience with mental illness as they correlated with clergy's attitudes toward seeking professional mental illness services. Approximately 98 African American Protestant Clergy in the states of Georgia and South Carolina participated in this study. Data were collected using self-administered surveys via e-mail and mailings using the religious attitude scale (RAS) and the attitude toward seeking professional psychological help scale (ATSPPHS). A multiple linear regression analysis was used to examine the correlation of independent variables. The results of this study indicated that theological beliefs (p = 0.025) but not education (p = 0.084) or personal experience with mental illness (p = 0.078) had a direct effect on the African American clergy attitudes toward parishioners seeking professional mental health services. This research supports the idea that conservative African American pastors' attitudes toward congregants seeking professional mental health services are positive. The results of this study can influence social change by increasing access through clergy's pivotal role as the gatekeeper for parishioners who seek help for mental illness.

In his seminal work The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B DuBois aptly states, "The Preacher is the most unique personality developed by the Negro on American soil." At once a spiritual leader, social-political activist, educator, idealist, and businessman, the antebellum black preacher was the idiosyncratic product of a soil contaminated with racism and sullied with hate. Despite this antagonistic environment, what enabled his ascension to the head of black culture was "a certain adroitness with deep-seated earnestness" and "tact with consummate ability." As shepherd and statesman, the black preacher embodied virtues and talents representative of the potential of his people and set the standards for community investment and civic action. He was the model of character for the race. My dissertation introduces scholars to an overlooked yet monumental institution in African American history, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, as well as two of its pioneering preacher-politicians, Bishop Jermain W. Loguen and Bishop James W. Hood. My study of these nineteenth-century AME Zion preacher-politicians exposes overlooked features of black rhetoric, challenges predominant perceptions of the black preaching tradition, and provides an alternative perspective on how to examine the persuasive appeals of black rhetoricians. Through rhetorical analyses of letters, speeches, and sermons--archival materials from the Schomburg Library and Union Theological Seminary in New York--I show that in addition to employing emotional appeals to draw the sympathies of whites and allay the lamentations of blacks, these black ministers also effectively wielded logical arguments to demonstrate their capabilities as reasoners in philosophical debates and intellectuals with original thoughts. However, most importantly, these black preachers' ethical appeals in written texts, public sermons and speeches, and actions as model citizens served multiple practical and salutary ends for the uplift of African Americans. / text

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-150).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. School of Social Work, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 23, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 274-285). Also issued in print.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 1992. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 212-218).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 147-150).