Psychosocial Interventions for Social Issues in Contemporary India

This edited volume focuses on psychosocial interventions for some of the most persistent social concerns in contemporary India. These social issues range from agrarian distress and farmers’ suicide, violence against women, socio-economic disparities and mental health concerns, contexts of social and political conflict and inter-group tensions, to substance use in youth, suicide in students and youth in particular, and the recent public health crisis of Covid. The field of mainstream psychology, particularly in India, is primarily preoccupied with interventions to alleviate psychological distress at the individual level. This volume, however, expands this traditional focus on the individual and spotlights, instead, the psychosocial. Through illustrative examples of psychosocial interventions, it underscores the necessity of blending a recognition and understanding of the structural inequities and power imbalances that impact well-being with psychological processes of intervention that are attuned to the principles of social justice, human rights, and inclusion. This volume is based on interventions that have either been carried out or are a work in progress located in regions across India. This volume is helpful to students, researchers, and practitioners of varied fields, spanning psychology, social work and allied disciplines, as well as those in the development and social policy sector, for gaining new perspectives and insights. It aims to stimulate new ideas for conceptualizing and setting in practice interventions that integrate the psychological and the social while addressing issues of contemporary social concern. This edited volume focuses on psychosocial interventions for some of the most persistent social concerns in contemporary India. These social issues range from agrarian distress and farmers’ suicide, violence against women, socio-economic disparities and mental health concerns, contexts of social and political conflict and inter-group tensions, to substance use in youth, suicide in students and youth in particular, and the recent public health crisis of Covid. The field of mainstream psychology, particularly in India, is primarily preoccupied with interventions to alleviate psychological distress at the individual level. This volume, however, expands this traditional focus on the individual and spotlights, instead, the psychosocial. Through illustrative examples of psychosocial interventions, it underscores the necessity of blending a recognition and understanding of the structural inequities and power imbalances that impact well-being with psychological processes of intervention that are attuned to the principles of social justice, human rights, and inclusion. This volume is based on interventions that have either been carried out or are a work in progress located in regions across India. This volume is helpful to students, researchers, and practitioners of varied fields, spanning psychology, social work and allied disciplines, as well as those in the development and social policy sector, for gaining new perspectives and insights. It aims to stimulate new ideas for conceptualizing and setting in practice interventions that integrate the psychological and the social while addressing issues of contemporary social concern.