Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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A second generation South Asian can be faced with contrasting and conflicting cultures which can impact the formation of a healthy ethnic identity. The present study investigated what facilitated and hindered a South Asian's adolescent experience of becoming bicultural. Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique was used in interviewing 8 adult participants, including 5 females and 3 males, aged 20 to 26 years of age. The results identified 88 critical incidents, forming 10 helping categories and 4 hindering categories. The 10 Helping categories were: (1) Cross Cultural Friendships, (2) Speaking both Punjabi and English, (3) Personal Attributes, (4) Shared Experiences with Peers in the 'Same Boat', (5) Family Support and Influence, (6) Involvement in Recreational, Cultural and Religious Community Activities, (7) Visiting India, (8) High School Experience, (9) University Education and (10) Acceptance of Parent's and / or Grandparent's Views. The Hindering Categories were: (1) Parental and / or Familial Expectations, (2) Media Influence / Societal Expectations, (3) Personal Conflict of Cultural Values and (4) Experiencing Racism. The categories were found to be reliable and valid through procedures such as exhaustiveness, independent raters, co-researcher's cross checking, participation rate and theoretical agreement. The resulting categories provide a list of comprehensive factors that can facilitate and hinder an individual's process towards developing a bicultural identity. The findings are discussed in relation to implications for counselling theory and practice, and future research. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The Nath sampradāy, a community whose early Hindavi literature propagates a selfhood which is deeply enmeshed in both Hindu and Islamic traditions, has been at the forefront of Hindu right-wing agitations in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Examining an extensive vernacular corpus of texts–– from seventeenth-century manuscripts to twentieth-century printed books–– this dissertation investigates the changes that took place in the Nath community over the longue dureé. Analyzing this oeuvre, along with historical records, I explore both how the yogis portrayed themselves in their literature and how they were viewed by others. Specifically, this dissertation addresses how modern technologies and ideologies–– such as print, nationalism, and democracy–– merged to help create a more rigidly Hindu identity for the sampradāy in the twentieth century: a novel selfhood unlike the one previously propagated. In particular, it examines how the influential twentieth-century leader of the Goraknath temple in Gorakhpur, Mahant Digvijaynath, reimagined his Nath identity to make his community a center of Hindutvā politics in modern India.

This dissertation draws inspiration from one of most iconic exchanges across the Indian Ocean in antiquity: that of Indian spices for Roman gold coins on the Periyar River in Malabar. While previous scholarship has outlined how these goods arrived at various entrepots like that on the Periyar, the larger impacts of Indian Ocean imports within new socio-cultural environments have yet to be explored. "Beyond the Periyar" articulates these impacts from a new perspective, the commodities themselves and the rippling patterns of consumption and industries that contribute to or arise from their importation. Roman coins changed functions as they changed hands, and surviving specimens often show the multiple stages of their long lives as objects through physical adaptations by Indian consumers. Their superficial design further held aesthetic value, provided useful idioms for Indian die-cutters, and inspired an industry of high-quality imitations. Indian spices like black pepper, cinnamon leaf, and ginger contributed to Roman culinary and cosmetic practices, as attested by Roman authors and associated utensils. These products have been discussed in the context of notions of “luxury” in reactionary texts—however, such critiques must be balanced against larger considerations of literary genre and known economic factors like prices vis-à-vis real wages. A hive of human activity throughout the Indian Ocean world underpinned these acts of consumption, which often stands behind the veil of consumer apathy. Human agents range from the investors financing transoceanic ventures and the traders manning oceangoing vessels, to state interests and regional security personnel, to the processors, craftsmen, and vendors who marketed these products to consumers. When we look beyond the Periyar, the consumption of long-distance imports appears not as a marginal force, but as a transformative component of ancient economies and societies with a far wider reach than previously assumed.

From medieval to modern times, mental illness is a construct that has been deeply misunderstood and stigmatized by humankind (Dubin & Fink, 1992). Individuals living in the United States experience a fear of being judged or ridiculed for their psychopathological symptomology as a result of mental illness stigma (Bharadwaj et al. 2015). Mental illness stigma impacts how individuals choose to seek help and whether they choose to seek help at all (Rusch et al., 2005). Individuals from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds face unique barriers to access to mental healthcare (Cauce et. al, 2002). Specifically, individuals from diverse backgrounds are affected by the social and cultural environment they are a part of where cultural factors can impact whether or not these individuals choose to seek help from mental health service providers (Cauce et. al, 2002). The theory of “Double Stigma” (Gary, 2005) proposed that individuals from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds face impactful barriers to mental healthcare as a result of of mental illness stigma combined with racial discrimination. Different ethnic minority groups face unique barriers to mental healthcare. African Americans are a group of individuals who have been found to associate seeking mental health treatment with feelings of embarrassment when compared to European Americans (Snowden, 2001). Additionally, Asian Americans are a group of individuals who have often referred to as the “model minority,” a problematic notion which suggests that in terms of mental illness, this ethnic group has had little to no social or psychological problems and have assimilated well to life in the United States (Sue & Morishima, 1982). This theory has contributed to Asian American communities internalizing the idea that they must uphold the standard that has been set for them, ultimately impacting their decision to seek help for mental illnesses (Sue & Morishima, 1982). Within the Asian American community, South Asians are the third largest and fastest growing ethnic group in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). Within the South Asian community, stigma is highly prevalent and perpetuated by discrimination (Neelam, Mak, & Wessely, 1997). This discrimination and judgement from one’s own community impacts if and how individuals from South Asian communities choose to seek help. Loya, Reddy and Hinshaw (2010) found that relative to European American college students, South Asian college students presented with higher level of reluctance to seek help through University-based counseling services. Loya and colleagues (2010) also found over all poorer attitudes toward individuals with mental illness from South Asian college students. This study investigated perceptions of mental illness and help seeking across racial groups, with a specific focus on South Asian communities. Specifically, a model examining informal and formal help seeking was utilized to explore differences in perceptions of help seeking practices across racial groups. Through multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM), changes in model fit were explored to assess whether negative perceptions of mental illness predicted informal and formal help seeking behaviors across racial groups. Participants included 355 individuals, 18 and older, across the United States who identified as South Asian, White/European American or Black/African American. Based on previous research which has found that ethnic minority groups face unique barriers to accessing appropriate mental healthcare (Cauce et. al, 2002; Gary, 2005; Snowden, 2001; Sue & Morishima, 1982; Neelam, Mak & Wessely, 1997; Loya, Reddy & Hinshaw, 2010), it was hypothesized that South Asian individuals would have more negative perceptions of individuals with mental illness as well as more negative attitudes towards all modes of help seeking compared to their non-South Asian counterparts. Additionally, it was hypothesized that South Asian females will have more positive attitudes towards mental illness than South Asian males. Results indicated that a more positive perception of mental illness is associated with more likelihood of seeking help for mental illness for all racial groups examined through SEM. Results also indicated similar fit indices and invariance across all racial groups examined through SEM. Through univariate analyses, South Asian females were found to have a more positive view of individuals with mental illness than South Asian males. Univariate analyses also revealed that compared to White/European Americans, individuals who identified as Black/African American perceived mental illness more negatively when assessing individuals their own racial group. Implications, strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. / School Psychology

No / To examine the beliefs and experiences of South Asians with epilepsy and the extent of provision of appropriate information and accessible services for them by health professionals. Methods: Qualitative interviews with 30 South Asians with epilepsy, 16 carers and 10 health professionals. In addition, two focus groups were held with 16 South Asians without epilepsy recruited from community centers. The interview sample was divided by religious groupings (Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims). Fieldwork was conducted in Bradford and Leeds (England Results: Beliefs that epilepsy is caused by spirit possession (Muslims) or attributable to sins committed in a past life (Sikhs and Hindus) were reported as being widely held among South Asians living both in the UK and the Indian subcontinent, although few informants themselves subscribed to such views. Compliance with conventional medication was high; however, those who experienced seizures most often were most likely to turn to traditional South Asian therapies. Most informants used both treatments simultaneously. The main issues regarding the provision of services were: lack of appropriate information and advice; language and communication barriers; problems in interaction with health professionals. Also discussed were the potential merits of attending support groups. Greatest dissatisfaction was expressed in relation to primary care, whereas the highest praise was reserved for specialist epilepsy nurses. Conclusions: Our findings show both similarities and differences between participants¿ experiences, where gender, age or other aspects of personal biography can be as important as religion, culture or country of origin. Furthermore, the impact of being diagnosed with epilepsy can be exacerbated by structural impediments to accessing information and appropriate services.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

許多學者討論了現代社會之非正規移民；然而，我們對這些移民的主體性知之甚少。世界體系的發展令國家邊界及公民身份政治有所改變，當今世界有超過五千萬非正規移民，理解其生活的志向和追索其現實有一定意義。香港大約有七千名非華裔非正規移民，其中估計75%來自南亞，此研究通過分析香港法外移民的案例，探索非正規移民之理想的建構與達成。儘管香港自從1841年成為英國殖民地後，與這個次大陸關係密切，此現象僅僅追溯到十年前，部分原因來自於後9-11歐美西方的嚴格移民政策之變化。 / 在香港這個單一民族的社會，貧困的非華裔移民鶴立雞群，收到社會和政治的不公正待遇，為什麼這些移民還要過來？這裡的故事並非人們對非正規移民所想像的人口販賣、恐怖手段和暴力，而是關於移民文化所導致的需要研究出口移民的必要性，以及尋找全球和都市身份的媒體影響，和失足移民假扮成功人士，以掩蓋他們未能實現離家時許下的諾言的羞恥。儘管他們知道被罪化人生的風險和危險，也許還有更重要的未來等待他們的失敗，為什麼南亞人選擇在社會邊緣以非法公民的身份生存，而且繼續複製在海外出人頭地的神話？此研究基於一年的深入訪問和超過三個月的參與觀察，觀察香港非法南亞人的人生軌跡，分析他們如何建構非法的夢想，實現了什麼志願，以及如何延續由始至終以渴望成功打造的幻覺。 / Many scholars have discussed irregular migration in contemporary societies; however, we know little of the subjectivities of these migrants. With considerable developments in the world system marking changes in the policing of national borders and politics of citizenship, it is of some significance to understand the processes that drive the motivations and trace the realities of over fifty million irregular migrants living in the world today. This research sheds light on the construction and realization of aspirations for irregular migration by examining cases of extralegal migrants in Hong Kong, where estimates suggest that 75 percent of the approximately 7,000 strong irregular non-Chinese migrant population comes from the South Asia. Despite Hong Kong’s close connections to the subcontinent since the city’s establishment as a British colony in 1841, this particular phenomenon dates back only ten years, stemming partially from strict changes in migration in the post-9/11 Euro-American West. / In a society that is as ethnically homogenous as Hong Kong where the poorer non-Chinese immigrants clearly stand out and are open to social and political injustice, why do these migrants still come? The stories heard here are not of trafficking, terror and violence as one might expect from cases of irregular migrants, but instead, of cultures of migration creating obligations to engage in out-migration, media influence encouraging the search for global and cosmopolitan identities, and false aspirations created by fallen migrants feigning successes to hide the shame of not meeting promises they had once left home to pursue. Despite knowing the risks and dangers involved in living criminalized lives, and perhaps more importantly, of the failures that await them, why do South Asians choose not only to live their own lives at the margins of society as extralegal citizens, but also continue to reproduce the perpetual myth of success in the promised foreign land? Based on a year of in-depth interviews and over three months of participant research, then, this research looks at the life courses of extralegal South Asians in Hong Kong to examine how their dreams of illegality are constructed, what realities are met, and how the mirage of success is perpetuated by maintaining the thirst that first induced it. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Murgai, Gaurav. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-132). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / 摘要 (Abstract in Chinese) --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Important Definitions and Glossary --- p.iv / Contents --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.vii / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / On Extralegality --- p.3 / Contribution of Study --- p.4 / Literature Review --- p.5 / Methodology --- p.13 / Sampling and Participant Observation --- p.14 / Collecting Data: Methods and Concerns --- p.16 / Ethical Concerns --- p.17 / Personal Statement --- p.18 / Thesis Organization --- p.20 / Chapter 2. --- Where Dreams are Made --- p.22 / Rites of Passage: Mobility and Responsibility --- p.24 / The Question of Money --- p.30 / Tradition, Development, and Instability --- p.35 / Conclusion --- p.41 / Chapter 3. --- The Places of Dreams --- p.43 / South Asian Migration --- p.44 / Cultures of Migration --- p.46 / Laws and Location --- p.48 / Global Awareness and New Media --- p.53 / Feigned Successes and Tempting Lies --- p.57 / Agents of Opportunities and Lies --- p.62 / Conclusion --- p.63 / Chapter 4. --- Below the Mark --- p.65 / The Meaning of “Making It“ --- p.66 / Remittances --- p.66 / Symbolic Prestige --- p.69 / Personal Goals --- p.70 / Success and Systems of Connection --- p.72 / Cultures of Migration --- p.72 / Meeting Points --- p.74 / Performing Friendships and Masculinities --- p.80 / Man, the Provider --- p.81 / Man, the Worker --- p.82 / Man, the Lover --- p.83 / Objective Reasoning and Subjective Truths --- p.85 / Conclusion --- p.86 / Chapter 5. --- Living at the Margins --- p.87 / Making People Il-/Extra-Legal --- p.88 / On Path for Extralegality in Hong Kong --- p.92 / Limiting Labour --- p.100 / Living at the Margins --- p.101 / Conclusion --- p.108 / Chapter 6. --- Hunting Mirages of Success --- p.110 / Bibliography --- p.124

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