Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department
Social Work
First Advisor
Curtis Vanderwaal
Abstract
The data from which this analysis originates is part of a an evaluation project which was designed to assess how clergy from various denominations collaborate with mental health service providers and refer church members to needed services. A survey of 215 clergy in Kent County, Michigan was conducted to gain a better understanding of clergy knowledge and perceptions of mental illness and their willingness to make referrals to mental health professionals. Initial frequencies, bivariate and Chi-square analyses were conducted using SPSS v. 16. Findings indicate that, compared to Caucasian clergy, ethnic minority clergy were less willing to make referrals and collaborate with mental health professionals. Less educated and minority clergy may benefit from additional training in mental health education and referral to treatment. It is further recommended that treatment providers strengthen connections with minority clergy by educating and collaborating with them around mental health education, support and referral.
Recommended Citation
Sandman, Alix R., "The Gatekeepers: An Evaluation of Clergy Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions Regarding Mental Health Issues, Collaboration, and Referral to Treatment" (2011). Honors Theses. 19.
https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/honors/19/
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/honors/19
Subject Area
Clergy--Michigan--Attitudes, Medical referral., Mentally ill--Pastoral counseling of, Church work with the mentally ill., Mental health.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/honors/19/