The views on marriage and healthy relationships are becoming different as time goes by. This is seen by the high number of divorce cases being registered. This deviation from the traditional strong family relationship practiced by previous generations has been largely attributed to the reduced impact of the church on normal family affairs and the proliferation of an exceedingly secular society. The unfortunate result of this change in societal norms been broken marriages, irresponsibility of fathers and the raising of children with one or both parents missing in the picture. The big question that should be addressed is where the society seems to have gone wrong. Can the church remedy this situation? Collins and Perry in their article ‘Black Men’s Perspectives on the Role of the Black Church in Healthy Relationship Promotion and Stability’ seek to find out whether the church influences the way black men handle their relationships by conducting interviews of a select sample of black men. It is only with the careful analysis of this article that one can determine if indeed the church can change this situation. This paper, by reviewing the above-mentioned article, aims to reaffirm the role of the church’s influence on black men’s relationships and subsequently determine whether more church can get the society back on the right path.
The article’s hypothesis narrows down to a select demography of African American men and the influence of the black church on their attitudes and mannerisms about relationships and family matters. Collins and Perry’s research was inspired by the fact that now more than ever; the black family is facing lower rates of marriage and increased child births out of wedlock (Hurt 2013). These reports have been linked with poverty, increased secularization in the society and finally, the movement of black people away from the sections of the city in which the churches are located. Secularization has grown over the years with involvement in church waning and the role of the church in influencing the black men reducing considerably. Poverty or lack of substantial personal wealth has been linked with having an impact on the marriage statistics (Collins and Perry 2015). A brief explanation can be that people who are not well off financially hold off marriage for longer given their finances impede their propensity to start and take care of a family. The factor that is movement of the black middle class from the city into the suburbs has also had a bearing on the marriage rates of black people (Collins and Perry 2015). Moving away from the church means reduced influence of the church on personal affairs while the people left around church areas are dogged by the monster that is poverty.
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Considering this situation, the research question hovers around the institution of marriage in black families. The research, on the other hand took a different angle to the overlying issue focusing more on the perspectives of black men of a certain range of age on the church’s influence on their takes on marriage and relationships and how these perspectives go on to influence the church’s resolve to strengthen family ties (Perry 2013).
The method used in the research was interviewing. The type of interview was of the semi-structured type with one participant being interviewed for approximately 42 minutes (Collins and Perry 2015). The questions asked ranged from opinion questions to downright personal questions on the past relationships of the respondents. These interviews were then recorded and transcribed. The research team with a view to picking out underlying themes, read the transcripts to go through what was mostly life experiences and relationships of different individuals over time. The interview was conducted among men of marriage, of an age ranging from the late twenties to the early forties. With the aim of getting diverse perspectives, the sample was picked from educational institutions, non-profit organizations and barbershops among other areas. This was also to ensure the all educational levels are captured. In the long run the total sample of participants was 162 with 33 of them agreeing to additional follow up interview questions (Collins and Perry 2015).
The results or the findings of the research revealed certain underlying themes that were inexplicably linked to different experiences as recounted by the participants. The results were, therefore, categorized according to these themes. Some of the themes identified included facing contemporary challenges, guiding principles and leading from the front. What was clear though from the angle of discussion, was that the focus was on the problems, the influence religiosity to perspectives fronted and the positioning of the church to address the family related problems (Burdette, Haynes and Ellison 2010). The theme of contemporary challenges focusses on the factors that have influenced the shift to undesirable practices especially when it comes to marriage and relationships. The media being the biggest influence of all was attributed to instilling questionable values in children and the society in general. ‘Sex is now viewed to be for recreation instead of procreation’ (Collins and Perry 2015). One participant was quoted giving an example of a skewed view on sex, something that goes hand in hand with marriage and relationships. The theme of guiding principles dwelled on the perspectives of these men and the institution that was responsible for their views (Perry 2013). This theme is what brought out the issue of church and how it has always covered different aspects of life in its teachings bringing about a certain way of thinking when it comes to relationships. Terming marriage as a way of “fulfilling what God has instructed us to do for the betterment of man and society”, the role of the church in their lives came out in classic fashion (Collins and Perry 2015). The role of religion, therefore, was narrowed down to have a two-pronged influence on these men’s lives. The first was to do with their actions in relationships and the second highlighted their views of what relationships and marriage represented.
The third theme that was documented in the findings of this research is leading from the front. This third theme was associated with the retrogressive belief of the black church of the role of man in the family and a relationship. Touted to be deeply chauvinistic, the premise that men were better poised to take up positions of leadership has been one of the great pillars of the black church. Be that as it may, these principles have been documented to have been wildly successful in the containment of the problems the society is facing today (Lewis and Trulear 2008). Using this as a rationale for the increased involvement of the church in family matters, the men concluded that the church would form a great institution to lead influence the course of black relationships and subsequently black families in general. They also recommended the church to take advantage of funding to further their reach (Lewis and Trulear 2008). The only modification cited was the transformation of church policy of leaning towards believers only to that of reaching out to the populations known to be religiously unaffiliated, to improve on the scope of their leadership.
The results of this study were quite in line with the hypothesis that had been stated before the study. The credibility of these results on the other hand raise eyebrows given the exactness of the results to the hypothesis statement. This brings out the notion that the target respondents had not been varied appropriately. The researcher cites certain limitations such as the sexual orientation of the respondents, the ethnicity of the research team and the influence of affiliations to church but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The research shuns other forms of religion besides Christianity which might be a pivotal focus of this study. This seemingly mundane statistic might have had great bearing on the result of the study. In discussing these findings, it is perceived that most the men involved in the study agreed that church indeed influenced the attitude of African American men to marriage and relationships. 63% of them related marriage to stability and strong families (Collins and Perry 2015). They also identified church as a preferred institution to undertake family and marriage strengthening initiatives. Of note is the comparison the authors of the article made to another study that involved urbane African American men who didn’t have plans of settling down. The family strengthening initiatives that the church would conduct to save marriages in the African American community were said to have potential of making great impact on implementation. In conclusion, the authors of the document recommended various church programs that would involve the church members more in their ministry and make a mark in the running of their families.
The first assessment of this research reveals one crucial aspect which has the potential to invalidate the findings documented. The sample of men, which is 33 is too small a number to justify the behavior of such a large group of people. The paper also has several consistencies especially not revealing the geographic reach of the sample space. The possibility that this group was derived from one location can’t be overruled. Another aspect this research visibly shuns is the emergence of a class of African Americans whose work schedules wouldn’t allow for certain commitments like church meetings. Focusing on just the aspect of movement to suburbs as a factor in the changing marriage trend would be a gross understatement of facts with more crucial research points left out (Hurt 2013). The overall goal of the study, its results and its alignment to the hypotheses that inspired it, is perfectly captured given the practical nature of its findings. Small improvements in terms of sample space and variance of co-factors in the study would have produced a more credible report.
References
Burdette, A. M, Haynes S H and Ellison C G. (2011). Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Perceived Barriers to Marriage among Working-Age Adults. Sociology of religion, retrieved from < doi: 10.1093/socrel/srr053>
Collins W L and Perry A R. (2015) Black Men’s Perspectives on the Role of the Black Church in Healthy Relationship Promotion and Family Stability. Social Work and Christianity , Vol 42. Issue 4. Pp 430-448
Hurt, T R. (2013). Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Meaning of Marriage Among Black Men. Journal of Family Issues , Vol 34. No. 7. Pp.859-884
Lewis, C and Trulear H. (2008). Rethinking the Role of African American Churches as Social Service Providers. Black Theology, An International Journal , Vol 6. Issue 3.pp. 343-365
Perry, A R. (Jan 2015). African American Men’s Attitudes Toward Marriage. The journal of black studies, Vol 44. No. 2. Pp. 182-202.
