“Sense of Community: a Cultural Study” Dr
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© 2019 JETIR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 5 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) “Sense of community: A cultural study” Dr. Vijay Rathee (Faculty in Management) MDU-CPAS, Sector 40, Gurugram, Maharshi Dayanad Unversity, Rohtak, Haryana, India, Ms. Sweta Sharma (Faculty in Management) Gurugram University, Gurugram, Haryana, India. Abstract: The present study about an immigrant community enables one to understand the hardships and hopes. It also helps to know their attitude towards the host community. It enables one to understand the psychological impact of migration.Three forms of data collection methods were involved. These include qualitative interview, visual community and archival data.The data obtained was thematically analysed. Thematic analysis is an analysis of the major themes to be found in qualitative data. There were two major themes that occurred from the participant’s interview. Ultimately it has been concluded that, a sense of community enhances the environmental, psychological, and relational quality of life of an individual. Key words: Immigrants study, thematic analysis, qualitative data, archival data, visual community. Introduction The present study was aimed at studying Sense of community in an immigrant population. Not just international migration but internal migration from one area to another in search of improved livelihoods is also a key feature of human history. While some regions and sectors fall behind in their capacity to support populations, others move ahead and people migrate to access these emerging opportunities. Industrialization widens the gap between rural and urban areas, inducing a shift of the workforce towards industrializing areas. There is extensive debate on the factors that cause populations to shift, from those that emphasize individual rationality and household behavior to those that cite the structural logic of capitalist development (Haan&Rogaly, 2002). Moreover, numerous studies show that the process of migration is influenced by social, cultural and economic factors and outcomes can be vastly different for men and women, for different groups and different locations. Studying about an immigrant community enables one to understand the hardships and hopes. It also helps to know their attitude towards the host community. It enables one to understand the psychological impact of migration. It is necessary to consider the long-term requirements of this population and the implications of permanent settlement on both the migrant and the host country.Since migration is diverse, attention has generally been focused on different groups of international migrants rather than internal migrants. However, there is a high rate of migration observed in urban cities. The cities of Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata are all among the world’s top ten most populous urban areas, and India has 25 of the 100 fastest-growing cities worldwide. A significant source of this growth is rural-to-urban migration, as an increasing number of people do not find sufficient JETIR1905T43 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 1685 © 2019 JETIR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 5 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) economic opportunities in rural areas and move instead to towns and cities. Migrants belonging to different parts of India move to the urban cities. One such community that is expanding at an immense rate is the Garhwali community from the Uttarakhand region. According to various estimates, there are at least 2.5 million Garhwali migrants living in Delhi and the National Capital Region. However, there is a dearth of research available on this community as it continues to grow rapidly. Hence the researcher was interested in finding the Psychological Sense of Community in a Garhwali participant living in Delhi since fifteen years. The participant was interviewed by preparing a probe list tapping on the elements of Sense of Community as given by McMillan and Chavis. In light of the research topic, the following review was carried out. Berry’s (1997) model of acculturation and migrant adaptation contains four common responses to intercultural contact, including integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization. These responses are characterized by shifts in attitudes and behavior toward one’s own and other communities. The different responses are also characterized by different mental health outcomes with integration being the most favorable and marginalization the least. There is general agreement among these models that those who are rooted in their home culture report better social and psychological wellbeing compared to those who are not. Thompson (1998) discussed research showing that participation in ethnic community activities and strength of ethnic identification has positive links with self-esteem and wellbeing. Ghaffarian (1998) found support for the bicultural hypothesis that those who hold onto their home culture while adopting the host culture report better health outcomes. Miglietta and Tartaglia (2008) shows that immigrants adapt best in relation to their ability to negotiate between the cultural entities they confront. Factors such as cultural knowledge, length of stay in the new culture, and linguistic competence strongly influence this process. Length of stay and linguistic competence may be essential for cultural knowledge acquisition that, in turn, may be enhanced by mass media consumption. A questionnaire is completed by 576 immigrants (196 Romanians, 179 North Africans, and 201 Latino Americans) investigating time spent in Italy, proficiency in the Italian language, familiarity with Italian and homeland mass media, and acculturation. The authors hypothesize that language plays a central role in the acculturation process and assume that length of stay influences acculturation mostly through linguistic competence and mass media knowledge. A structural equation model is tested to verify the hypothesis. The model results are acceptable, invariant across genders, and partially invariant across ethno-cultural groups. To contextualize, the archival data related to the community was obtained. JETIR1905T43 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 1686 © 2019 JETIR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 5 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) Background of the Garhwal Region Garhwal is the northwestern region and administrative division of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand which is home to the Garhwali people. Lying in the Himalayas, it is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Kumaon region, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state, and on the northwest by Himachal Pradesh state. It includes the districts of Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, PauriGarhwal, Rudraprayag, TehriGarhwal, and Uttarkashi. The people ofGarhwal are known as Garhwali and speak the Garhwali language. The administrative center for Garhwal division is the town of Pauri. Aim:The aim was to study the sense of community in Immigrants living in Delhi since the past ten years. On the whole, it can be said that the difficult terrain, lack of transport, the lack of employment along with small farm sizes and low arm incomes are the major reasons that has fuelled large migration from rural areas of the state to the cities across the country. Method Sample The participant in the present study was a 43 old male Garhwali migrant residing inDelhi. The participant originally belongs to the Pauri district of Garhwal. He migrated in the year 2001 and has been living in Delhi since then. He is currently working in an export company in Mayapuri. Data collection In the present study, three forms of data collection methods were involved. These include qualitative interview, visual community and archival data. First, the data was collected using qualitative interview. The probe list was developed keeping in mind the four elements of sense of community described by McMillan and Chavis. The researchers brainstormed and finalised the list. The second method of data collection was visual mapping. Mapping is the visual representation of data by geography or location, the linking of information to place. Community mapping does this in order to support social and economic change on a community level. Mapping is a powerful tool in two ways: (1) it makes patterns based on place much easier to identify and analyze and (2) it provides a visual way of communicating those patterns to a broad audience, quickly and dramatically. The central value of a map is that it tells a story about what is happening in our communities.Thirdly, archival data refers to information that already exists in someone else’s files. Originally generated for reporting or research purposes, it’s often kept because of legal requirements, JETIR1905T43 Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org 1687 © 2019 JETIR May 2019, Volume 6, Issue 5 www.jetir.org (ISSN-2349-5162) for reference, or as an internal record. In general, because it’s the result of completed activities, it’s not subject to change and is therefore sometimes known as fixed data. Some of the most common sources are Public records from governmental agencies, Research organizations, Health and human service organizations Schools and education departments, Academic and similar institutions. The researcher gathered information about the Garhwali community from different newspaper articles, blogs, photographs, government reports and websites. Data analysis The data obtained was thematically analysed. Thematic analysis is an analysis of the major themes