Emotion of Caste, Mental Health, and Self-Harm: Emotional Reflections in Social Psychology

Friday, 11 July 2025: 15:00-16:45
Location: FSE020 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
RC49 Mental Health and Illness (host committee)

Language: English

Does the caste system intersect with emotions, or does sociology examine the mental harm it inflicts? This inquiry delves into psycho-social perspectives on caste identity and stigma, enriching ongoing research. It scrutinises the roles of caste-based stigma and its affect on dominated caste communities.

Additionally, it explores how caste influences emotions and their societal reproduction, steering communities towards either dignity or exploitation. Negative emotions among dominated castes can undermine self-esteem and prompt self-harm. This panel welcomes papers (abstracts) from across the globe on stigma formation, stress processes, emotional reactions, mental health, and the self-harm process, integrating pertinent theories.

The session centres on justice within institutional frameworks, specifically examining societies structured by caste in South Asia and its diaspora worldwide. It analyses caste's influence on social behaviour and humiliation, while also theorising about culture, justice, social psychology, and freedom within the South Asian and diasporic contexts. Abstracts of up to 250 words are invited, shedding light on the social dynamics of emotion and various psycho-social caste issues in the South Asian subcontinent, recognising their global significance.

Session Organizers:
Dhaneswar BHOI, London School of Science and Technology (Lecturer)& University of Edinburgh (Honorary Fellow), United Kingdom and Neelima LAKRA, London School of Management Education, United Kingdom
Co-chairs:
Neelima LAKRA, London School of Management Education, United Kingdom and Dhaneswar BHOI, London School of Science and Technology (Lecturer)& University of Edinburgh (Honorary Fellow), United Kingdom
Oral Presentations
Dalit Becomes Me: The Perversion of Caste and Relegated Casteism in Indian Higher Education
Harshul SINGH, SOAS University of London, India; Ahlam FATHIMA, University of Birmingham, India
Caste and Causality in Development Discourses on Suicides in Tharparkar, Pakistan
Laila RAJANI, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom