Identity issues among young adult and middle-aged Anglo-Indians

Abstract

Anglo-Indian community came into existence as a result of the intermarriages between the British East India Company employees and native women, is said to have experienced both, a preferential treatment over the Indians and being the target of marginalization and discrimination for generations. With India attaining its Independence, Anglo-Indians not only lost their stand on their reasons for living in India, but also faced socio-economic threats. Also, a major threat was posed to their identity, leading to the emergence of severe issues in identity in them. The present study titled, ‘Identity Issues among Anglo-Indians’, is aimed at studying the identity issues faced by the Anglo-Indians, as well as their socio-cultural experiences, from a psycho-social dimension. The participants of the study include 22 young adults and 28 middle-aged Anglo-Indians, recruited using snow-ball sampling method. The Semi-Structured Interview Schedule on Identity Issues among Anglo-Indians, developed by the researcher (2018) was used as a tool for data collection. A thematic analysis of the obtained data was conducted, which resulted in the emergence of various themes such as the withdrawal from social situations which made them feel uncomfortable; avoidance of trusting social relationships; retaliation in response to the comments received and other such.