Social Exclusion and Mental Health

In the Indian context, the caste identity has been a dominant factor in the discourse of social exclusion. This is largely due to the pervasiveness of the caste-based discrimination and violence. The Indian psychological literature has provided considerable insights into psychological attributes of caste groups and its linkage to their dis(advantage). However, there are unexplored questions in the social science literature of social exclusion which are fundamental to psychological research. How caste-based discrimination and violence are socio-psychological constructs? How these social behaviours have exclusionary consequences to effect on mental health of the lower caste groups? An understanding of these questions would have more to offer to the need for strategic social interventions. This article focuses on the possible functions that caste-based discrimination and violence perform, the adverse social and psychological consequences of such social behaviours and their implications for the social exclusion and mental health of the lower caste groups. Drawing evidence from empirical research and relevant literature on caste-based discrimination and violence, and social exclusion, the article argues that these social behaviours are not just extreme actions but patterns of distancing lower caste groups from social relationships to create threatening social conditions. These accentuate social exclusion and adversely affect their mental health. Any support services in the form of reliefs or compensations for the victims may not stamp out negative social and psychological consequences for long. Both legal and social interventions need to focus on human security—economic, social and psychological—in the process of promotion of social justice and human development.