Caste, mental health and self-harm: emotive experiences of Dalit students at the Indian University

Abstract

This study examines the daily social realities and emotive experiences faced by Dalit university students. It analyses their mental and emotional suffering caused by the university’s social dynamics, casted behaviours, particularly from upper-caste groups. These contour Dalit students’ casted experiences, potentially leading to self-harm with, in extreme cases, a fatal outcome. The study analysed the gathered data through theoretical frameworks such as ‘humiliation’, ‘disgust’ and ‘everyday social dynamics’ in the university. In a mixed-method approach, quantitative survey data was collected from 250 students and qualitative responses from 10 case studies and 5 focus group discussions with Dalit students in a university located in Odisha, India. Using data triangulation, the study reveals the underlying causes of mental health struggles among Dalit students. The study shows how societal bias, stigma, discrimination, untouchability and a pervasive sense of ‘unseeability’ within the university environment plays a significant role in fostering despair and self-harm.