Date of Award

6-2025

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Tangela Roberts, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Samuel T. Beasley, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Mariam Konate, Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor

Vincent Walford, Ph.D.

Keywords

Black men, childhood sexual abuse, critical constructivist grounded theory, gender role conflict, romantic attachment

Abstract

Contemporary research typically characterizes Black heterosexual relationships by dismal marriage and divorce rates, largely ignoring the reality of how Black men develop attachments with their romantic partners and therefore continuing to perpetuate deficit perspectives of Black men (e.g., the cause of conflictual romantic relationships and “broken” Black families). What may be less understood about these relationships is the influence of childhood trauma, such as childhood sexual abuse, and Black men’s experiences of gender role conflict. Research shows that Black men’s experiences of childhood sexual abuse and socialization about masculinity have important implications for how they come to view themselves and their romantic partners. However, a dearth of literature exists that explicitly explores this gap. Thus, this study utilized Critical-Constructivist Grounded Theory (CCGT) to explore the concept of gender role conflict and its applicability to understanding the romantic attachment styles of cisgender heterosexual Black men with histories of childhood sexual abuse.

The participants included 10 United States Black men who self-identified as cisgender and heterosexual, were 18 years or older, had a history of childhood sexual abuse, and were currently in a heterosexual romantic relationship. A hierarchy of themes was generated to reveal commonalities across participants’ experiences. Five clusters emerged from a CCGT analysis of the data: (1) descriptions of current romantic attachment styles, (2) restrictive messages received about gender role ideologies, (3) recognition of restrictive gender role ideologies, (4) interaction with restrictive gender role ideologies, and (5) types of romantic attachment styles shaped by restrictive gender role ideologies.

Implications for research, teaching, clinical practice, and social policy were discussed. In centering the lived experiences of Black men with CSA histories, this study aims to raise public awareness, facilitate critical consciousness, enable survivors to disclose, and foster advocacy, community, and connection so that Black men can receive the healing they deserve. Therefore, ensuring that practitioners are better able to help Black men who are CSA survivors to begin to move from a space of surviving to thriving.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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