Is Dalit Identity a Cause or an Effect of Social Marginalization?

Abstract

We studied whether Dalit identity is a cause or an effect of social marginalization by examining stigmatization and discrimination of Dalit Christians on account of Dalit social identity. Using multistage sampling procedure, a total of 210 Dalit Christians were recruited and interviewed using standardized measurements. The results revealed that the Dalit Christians perceived high level of personalized stigma, negative selfimage, frequent everyday life and major life event discrimination. The socio-demographic variables significantly correlated with domains of stigma and discrimination. The dimensions ofs tigma and discrimination varied significantly between gender. caste, place of residence, marital status, occupational and educational groups. The sociodemographic variables and discrimination accounted for 66.5% of variance on perceived stigma. Perceived stigma, discrimination and selected socio-demographic variables predicted 52.1% of variance on everyday life discrimination. An empirically guided discussion was initiated on whether discrediting caste identity was a cause or an effect of social marginalization. The study concluded that the deficits in socio-demographic aspects of Dalit Christian life dispose them socially vulnerable.