Black Barbershops: Exploring Informal Mental Health Settings Within the Community

Abstract

The barbershop is a landmark in the Black community, providing a site for cultural exchange, discussion forums and a point of psychological connection for African American men. Barbershops offer safe spaces for culturally responsive engagement, discourse, and guidance without stigma. Researchers and service providers have utilized Black barbershops for physical health outreach, understanding Black masculinity, exploring intersections of sexuality, and informal mental health support. The Black barbershop offers a nuanced, culturally relevant perspective of African American men, which is valuable to current and future human service providers, educators, and stakeholders in formulating effective interventions and practices with Black men. Utilizing video voice participatory action research (PAR) qualitative methodology, this study explored the experiences of African American (or Black) men using community barbershops as informal mental health care settings. The study explored the experiences of ten (N = 10) African American men, ages 18-75, from either the San Bernardino County or Los Angeles County areas who utilized Black barbershops as informal mental health care settings. The results suggested that African American men were willing to embark on conversations about their mental health within their barbershops, reporting that these experiences yielded them significant psychological, emotional, and social well-being. The authors recommend future collaboration efforts to join with existing informal mental healthcare settings such as Black barbershops to support community-based, culturally relevant healing spaces for African American men.