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Persistence of Caste Violence in Contemporary India: Psychosocial Underpinnings

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Caste in Everyday Life

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Abstract

Despite proactive and preventive legislative approaches, caste violence persists in contemporary Indian society. This chapter assumes that caste violence is not only a social phenomenon but also psychological in nature and offers insights into the changing nature and patterns of caste violence. The analyses are undertaken at different levels, including an analysis of the lived experiences of ‘victims of violence’ and perpetrators’ perspectives on caste violence. Efforts are made for a theory-driven empirical examination of why caste violence persists, what mental health consequences are and how the cyclic relationships between causes and consequences accentuate conditions for such oppressive behaviours.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste-related_violence_in_India on 11 April 2022, and https://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/11-major-incidents-of-violence-against-dalits-which-show-how-badly-we-treat-them-258944.html; and https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india/India994-07.htm on 13 June 2022.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS), New Delhi, India

    G. C. Pal

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  1. G. C. Pal
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Correspondence to G. C. Pal .

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  1. Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Dhaneswar Bhoi

  2. University of Edinburgh, Edinbrugh, UK

    Hugo Gorringe

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Pal, G.C. (2023). Persistence of Caste Violence in Contemporary India: Psychosocial Underpinnings. In: Bhoi, D., Gorringe, H. (eds) Caste in Everyday Life. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30655-6_2

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