Compound Trauma: Exploring the Intersection of Spiritual Abuse and Racial Trauma on Mental Health in African American Muslim Communities
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Authors
Frederick, J Malik
Issue Date
2026-05
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Spiritual Abuse , Racial Trauma , Psychological Distress , Toxic Theology , Doctrinal Weaponization , Institutional Betrayal , Epistemic Injustice
Alternative Title
Abstract
Despite growing evidence that both spiritual abuse and racial trauma independently contribute to psychological distress, their intersection within racially marginalized faith communities remains poorly understood. African American Muslims are notably underrepresented in research on religious harm and race-based stress, creating a crucial knowledge gap about how congregational power dynamics and anti-Blackness together cause psychospiritual injury. This dissertation addressed this gap by examining the combined effects of spiritually abusive experiences and race-based stress on mental health while exploring institutional mechanisms that translate congregational practices into individual harm. The study is grounded in an intersectionality-informed minority-stress framework and incorporates concepts of institutional betrayal and moral-epistemic injury to guide investigation into multi-level sources of harm. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, the study combined quantitative self-report surveys with in-depth qualitative interviews. Participants were African American Muslim adults recruited through community networks and online platforms who had experience in Muslim congregational settings. Quantitative tools measured spiritually abusive experiences, race-based traumatic stress, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and moral-epistemic distress; analyses examined bivariate associations and multivariate relationships among these variables. Qualitative interviews adopted an idiographic, phenomenological approach to explore lived experiences and identify themes related to organizational behavior, leadership authority, and survivor responses. Findings from both methods were integrated to evaluate convergence and divergence in patterns and explanations. Quantitative findings showed robust associations between spiritual abuse, racial trauma, and elevated psychological symptoms. Substantial overlap between spiritual abuse and racial trauma measures limited some interaction testing but pointed toward mutually reinforcing effects. Thematic analysis of interviews revealed three institutional pathways, epistemic marginalization, doctrinal weaponization, and institutional betrayal, through which congregational norms and leadership practices undermined spiritual agency, eroded testimonial credibility, and damaged trust. Integration indicated that spiritual abuse and racial trauma frequently co‑occur and operate synergistically rather than as isolated stressors. These results frame spiritual abuse in racially marginalized religious settings as an intersectional public‑health concern, calling for culturally and spiritually informed clinical care, congregational accountability, and survivor‑centered policies, and future community‑engaged, longitudinal, multilevel research to refine measures and support institutional reform.