After-Effects of Inter-Caste Tension as a Form of Violence against Children – A Triangulation Study

Authors: U. Baskaran, J. Ganesh Kumar, R. Maharishi

Pages: 66-72

Abstract:

A large section of today’s children are exposed to violence and abuse in every aspect of their life. Some sources and forms of violence and abuse have been well documented - such as abuse in family, school etc. Yet some not-so-obvious forms of violence and abuse are neither well documented, nor studied scientifically. Inter–caste violence is a form of Communal violence, which can have a detrimental impact on children, even when they are not necessarily affected by it directly. The objective of this research is to study the general well being and stress levels of the children belonging to Nayakkan kottai village of Dharumapuri district Tamil Nadu, which was affected by communal/caste conflict. For this purpose, 80 school students studying in 8 th and 9th standards in Nayakkan kottai, which was the epicenter of communal violence in December 2012, and whose homes belong to its immediate peripheral areas of the incident, were selected by adopting incidental sampling technique. The study adopted a mix of both quantitative and qualitative methods simultaneously to collect and analyze data. Quantitative method was utilized to measure the stress and well-being levels of the students. Concurrently, the qualitative method of Critical Incident Technique was used to understand the source and intensity of stress among the students. Parametric statistics such as ’t’ test and ANOVA were used to analyse the quantitative data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Finally, semi-structured interviews were conducted to validate and confirm the findings. The findings of the study revealed that inter-caste violence that happened in Nayakkan kottai village had a detrimental impact on school students of the village and that it has directly affected the well-being of school students. The study concluded that inter- caste violence is also manifested as a form of violence against school children, which can be construed as an infringement on their basic human-rights. The implications of the study have been discussed.