Running head: THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE 1 AND FAMILY THERAPISTS THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS: THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY FIELD A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Applied Psychology Department Antioch University New England In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements of the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Marriage and Family Therapy Leila Linntoya R. James, M.A., LMFT August, 2019 THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS ii Abstract In this dissertation, I seek to understand the factors that play a role in the success of African American Scholars in the Marriage and Family Therapy field, by conducting an extensive literature review of factors that may affect matriculation and retention through lived experiences. In the study, I use narrative inquiry, research questions and Husserlian Phenomenological methodology to explore the challenges important to the African American journeys toward success. In the first chapter, I introduced the criteria in which the study focused which highlighted four areas of accomplishments including clinical, teaching, supervision, and research. dissertation that follows. The second chapter presents a critical review of the literature, discussing factors of theoretical orientation, critical race theory and the five tenets that are essential factors within the study. In the third chapter, I discuss the biography of each African American scholar as it relates to the underlined accomplishments overtime including, research, publications, teaching and therapy. Chapter four describes the methodology used to determine the impact of the experiences and how they were interpreted as results. In Chapter five, I discuss the results and common themes found within the African American scholar experiences. Finally, in Chapter six I summarize the results in its entirety and discuss the studies overall impact on the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. Moreover, I discuss the limitations, and future research directions. The electronic version of this dissertation is available in open access OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd Keywords: African American Marriage and Family Therapists, Husserlian Phenomenological, tokenism, critical race theory, marginalization, institutional racism, counter storytelling, permanence and intersectionality, color blindness, interest convergence EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS iii Copyright Page Copyright 2019, Leila Linntoya R. James All rights Reserved EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS iv Antioch University New England Keene, New Hampshire Applied Psychology Department August 16th 2019 WE HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE DISSERTATION BY Leila Linntoya R. James Entitled THE EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS: THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY FIELD BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY APPROVED BY: DISSERTATION CHAIR ______________________________________________________________________________ Kevin Lyness, Ph. D. COMMITTEE MEMBER ______________________________________________________________________________ Walter Lowe , Ph. D. COMMITTEE MEMBER ______________________________________________________________________________ Nicholas Jordan, Ph. D. EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS v Dedication I dedicate my dissertation work to my family and many friends. A special feeling of gratitude to my loving parents, Leila and Charles Evans whose words of encouragement and push for tenacity ring in my ears. I would also like give a special thanks and dedicate this work to my husband Dr. Eric N. James Sr., who’s unwavering support, inspiration and reassurance has stood the test of time. I would also like to dedicate this work to my wonderful children Eric Jr. and Yara Linn James, they are the apples of my eye. I dedicate this work and give special thanks to my best friends and sisters Amanda Cannada, Brittani, Alicia, Precious, Velma and Shioban, whom have never left my side and are very special. Lastly, I would like to thank my late Father, Dr. Emerson Washington, who helped me see my dream through. EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS vi Acknowledgments I would like to express my utmost gratitude to the scholars who shared their time, energy, experience and wisdom with me and with the world. You have given such a gift, and I hope it returns to you many times over. Thank you, as well, to all of the people who reached out to those they knew in order for me to get connected with the generous scholars who participated in this study. I would also like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Kevin Lyness, for all of his advice, support and encouragement. Additionally, my gratitude also goes to my committee members, Dr. Walter Lowe and Dr. Nicholas Jordan, for their support, feedback, and availability. EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS vii Table of Contents Introduction: .................................................................................................................................... 1 Esteemed Marriage and Family Therapy Scholars .................................................................... 2 Purpose of the study ........................................................................................................................ 3 Problem Statement .......................................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Problem ........................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 2: Theoretical Orientation ................................................................................................. 5 Critical Race Theory ................................................................................................................... 5 The First Tenet ........................................................................................................................ 6 The Second Tenet ................................................................................................................... 8 The Third Tenet ...................................................................................................................... 9 The Fourth Tenet ..................................................................................................................... 9 The Fifth Tenet ..................................................................................................................... 10 Literature Review ...................................................................................................................... 11 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 3: Extended Biography of African American Scholars ................................................... 15 Extended Biography of Notable African American scholars .................................................... 15 Nancy Boyd-Franklin ............................................................................................................ 16 Kenneth V. Hardy ................................................................................................................. 19 Paulette Moore Hines ............................................................................................................ 22 Scott Johnson ........................................................................................................................ 24 Elaine Pinderhughes .............................................................................................................. 25 William Turner ...................................................................................................................... 26 EXPERIENCES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS viii Marlene F. Watson ................................................................................................................ 28 Dee Watts-Jones .................................................................................................................... 29 Contribution to MFT supervision ............................................................................................. 30 Kenneth Hardy ...................................................................................................................... 30 Nancy Boyd-Franklin, Paulette Moore-Hines, and Dee Watts-Jones ................................... 31 Marlene Watson .................................................................................................................... 31 Contribution to MFT Teaching ................................................................................................. 32 David Baptiste ....................................................................................................................... 34 Nancy Boyd-Franklin ............................................................................................................ 34 Kenneth Hardy ...................................................................................................................... 34 Paulette Moore-Hines ..........................................................................................................