Violence and Socialization of the Traumatized Children in Punjab

The present research work was conducted at Anandpur Saheb in Punjab, India. Recently the Tercentenary Celebrations of Creation of the Khalsa were held at this place. The work was carried out in a school, named as Baba Ajit Singh Jujhar Singh Academy, run by one of the Sikh religious saints through voluntary contributions made by individuals from abroad, from India and with the help of villagers in the form of grains, from Punjab and nearby states. The Academy is situated just near the historical gurdwara at Anandpur Saheb.

The research work was carried out with the background of turbulent period due to militancy in Punjab during the 1980s and the early 1990s. During this period, owing to abnormal circumstances, organizational aspects of life and harmonious functioning of society was impaired. Even the inter-community and intra-community relations were affected. Social, political and economic environment had suffered irreparable damage. Fast occurring events had a multiple bearing on the population of Punjab and the consequential social and psychological stresses and strains deeply told upon the modes of behaviour of the individuals, groups and the community. Though the intensity, dimensions and forms of turbulence and stresses varied at different times during this period, it has left no section of the society in the state unaffected. Some were affected directly, others were affected indirectly. It impinged upon peopled of all age-groups, sex, literacy and work groups. However, people in rural areas were affected to a greater extent than their counterparts in the towns and cities. People in rural areas remained unguarded and formed a soft target for militants. Most distinct and serious form of disturbance was in the form of violence unleashed by 'militants' and the State. Whatever the target of both, common people borne the brunt.

In the state, people of one religion and political conviction inflicted injury on people of their own as well as other religious and political affiliations to achieve their own goals. This even crossed the national boundaries sometimes. It is also alleged that the militancy was abetted by neighbouring hostile country to create instability in Punjab. In the present case violence has been used as one of the measures to create terror and fear-psychosis among people. It was also designed to disrupt communal harmony and, thus, to widen the gulf among various communities by consciously disrupting centuries old well-knit social , economic and psychological fabric.

In a situation like Punjab, individuals as well as groups encountered an unexpected, sudden, unpredictable violent onslaught which was directed towards specific and carefully selected targets. Sometimes the killings were indiscriminate and victimized innocent and unsuspecting people. Every person, in their eyes, was a target of terrorist activity and, thus, was an expandable material, a wasteful commodity, which can conveniently be dispensed with, when required. It is believed that those who were killed lost their life only, but worst affected were the surviving dependents, mostly women and children, without any substantial means of subsistence. This resulted into fractured network of social relationships and deep psychological scars on the individuals, families, groups and the kinsmen who were left behind. Whether through selected targets or indiscriminate killings, mostly males were killed as they ventured out for professional, social, economic, political or domestic activities. Whether the killings took place in their presence or absence, it resulted into a trauma for the affected women and children. It created a social and psychological upheaval in their life. Studies in violence have been conducted in different parts of the world. Not many of them have emphasized upon the effect of violence in different aspects of life of survivors, particularly women and the children. Here an attempt has been made to study the impact of militant violence on children, the extent and the kind of trauma experienced by them, and the process of their socialization while living in institutions and away from their parents and kith and kin. This has also been attempted to study as to what role their environment played in making the children as normal members of the society.

The children of one or both slain parents were traumatized in a number of ways, such as a wound, an injury, an emotional shock which became the origin of neurosis. The traumatic aversive experience inflicted serious psychological damage to the children. It also altered their perspective for social environment and social relationships. They were conditioned to believe in social reality not as it actually existed, but the way it was given to them to understand under the abnormal conditions. Traumatic experiences shattered the feelings of security, worth and played a very significant role in influencing their (children) evaluation of themselves and the environment.

In the initial stages the extent of trauma experienced by the members of different families could have been similar, but there was a great variation in the after-effects. It also depended upon as to which member of the family was killed . It was deeper and long-lasting for whose lone earning male member was killed and in such cases the recoverability rate was too low and slow.

As a result of militant activity a number of children were rendered homeless, rootless and were thrown upon to vagaries of hunger, poverty, deficiency and negligence. They also faced cruelty at the hands of surviving relatives in the form of rejection. The questions that faced them were: who helped them to survive ? who helped them to become worth-living in the society ? what were the effects of all this treatment on their socialization to become normal citizens ? what were the gaps left wide and open during this process which, otherwise, would have been filled while living with their families in their homes.

Universe of Study:
One of the religious Sikh saints has started a school named Baba Ajit Singh Jujhar Singh Academy at Anandpur Sahab in Punjab. There were two types of children admitted to the Academy. One, boys and girls whose one or both the parents were killed by the militants . Second, whose parents were poor and could not afford them to send to school. All of them stayed in the hostel run by the Academy. All of them constituted the universe. Thus, there were in all 85 children, both boys and girls.

Objectives:
The following were the objectives of the study:
1.To study the consequences of violence on the affected families.
2.To study the effect of traumatization on the children.
3.To understand the role of govt. and non-government agencies and other institutions in helping the children to come out of their trauma.
4.To understand the process of socialization of these children in an environment other than their homes .
5.To study the role of Present and Distant Environment on the process of socialization of the children.

Methodology:
The Children in the study fell in various age groups which ranged from 5 to 15 years. As small children could not respond to questions, more than one techniques, suited to various age-groups, were used as follows:
1.It was proposed to interview those children who could talk, articulate and recollect their past incidents that affected them. A structured interview schedule was used.
2.It was also decided to observe children during their interaction with other children in the hostel and the school.
3.To obtain information through interviews of the teachers, guides, head of the institution and mothers of some of the children staying in the school, and any other person related to children.

The children:
The school had two categories of children on its rolls
(a) There were 58 children who were victims of militant violence and whose one or both parents were killed. They did not have anybody to look after them in their home. All of them lived in the hostel and were fully supported by the school. Seven of them were below 3 years of age and were not formally registered. All of them were from Punjab and among them 39 were from district of Amritsar, 12 from Gurdaspur, three from Ludhiana and four from Ropar. Among them 36 were males and 22 were females. All of them were Sikhs. Out of them 57 were Jats and one was Suniyar (Goldsmith) by caste. All of them hailed from rural areas of Punjab.

(b) There were 27 children in the second category. Parents of all the children were alive but they faced threats of elimination either by the militants or police. To save their children from threats and hardships at home, they were admitted to this school. Twenty two children were from rural areas of Punjab, three from Rajasthan, one from Haryana and one from Uttar Pradesh. All of them were Jat Sikhs. Among them 18 were from district of Amritsar in Punjab and four were from Ropar district. All the children were males. All of them were staying in the hostel.

In the present conditions the Academy and its surroundings constituted the Present Environment whereas the places where these children were born and lived before coming to the Academy constituted their Distant Environment
The Distant Environment had left a permanent impression in the minds of the children. While living in their homes, the children had a very close and intimate relationship and interaction with their parents, siblings, the home, relatives, friends, teachers, cattle, fields and all those tangibles and intangibles that were a part of their life. The children were also influenced by the things and activities at home. All of them had a combined and cumulative impact on their growth and the formation and development of their personality, attitudes, values, self-image and world view about their surroundings and people. They had assimilated this environment in them. Because of unanticipated circumstances, these children were bereaved and in traumatized condition were shifted to their present abode which constituted their Present Environment. These children interacted with their distant environment in a number of ways. This paved the way for the children in forming attitudes towards society and in developing adaptability and non-adaptability in the present environment. This also facilitated or hampered the process of socialization and recoverability from trauma of these children.

Socialization of the Children:
Both the distant environment as well as the present environment played a significant role in the socialization of the children.

In the distant environment the children were born, grew up and acquired the behaviour characteristics of their group. However, in the context of these children the distant environment lasted for a short while and they were shifted to their present environment under abnormal conditions. They had to abandon their home environment (distant environment) and shift to the new abode or the present environment.

The Present Environment was constituted by the school, the teachers, the day scholars, the mother of some of the children living in the school, the hostel, the hostel manager, the servants and the voluntary workers working for the children, the surroundings which included an historic gurdwara nearby, and the children themselves. All the children interacted with almost all the constituents continuously. Their interaction with the day scholars and the teachers was restricted only to the school hours and could not take place during vacations.

In the beginning the children were brought to the Academy with the only expectation of getting financial assistance, shelter and security. Education and other facilities were of secondary importance. However, after staying in the Academy, they were extended the facilities for education, boarding, lodging and clothing, in addition to financial and security aspects. In the Academy children expressed happiness and satisfaction over the facilities extended to them.

Though the degree of privacy enjoyed by the children at their homes could not be provided in the Academy, they shared their times and emotions with other children. Here they learnt to share their things with others. They also learnt to live with those with diverse attitudes, aptitudes, interests and habits. Though facilities to develop individual interests could not be provided, such interests remained dormant in their minds to be developed and flourished later in life. Whereas, children desired to be treated and viewed as individuals with independent interests, desires and personality, this could not be made possible by the Academy within its own limitations and resources.

The Academy made many efforts to recreate distant environment in the present environment, i.e., it was tried to make available to the children all those facilities that they got at their homes. It was tried to make it possible by helping the children to meet their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing and creating in them the feelings of love and belongingness . The decision for food was taken by the staff of the hostel. Some of the mothers staying with the children also expressed satisfaction for the food and told that they themselves used to prepare a very simple food at their homes. All the children in the Academy used to eat their food while sitting in a Pangat (a line) . The teachers and the Principal joined all the students for food during lunch. Except during the school hours, all children were free to wear clothes of their choice. Some relatives of the children visiting them offered clothes and some other items.

In the hostel one room was shared by four children. There they learnt to live together and share things, to accommodate one another's views, ideas and attitudes. This helped them to tolerate, to accommodate, to cooperate and develop an understanding for one another . Elder children were taught to help younger ones. In this manner they acquired an elderly and responsible role towards the younger ones. The children were made to learn one kind of role and then perform it towards others. The teachers, the Principal and the hostel manager told that this was a difficult task indeed. Another difficult task that the teachers and management of the school had to perform was to bring out the children psychologically out of their Distant Environment and make them feel comfortable and easy with their present environment. It was here, in the present environment, that the children developed their aspirations and got inspiration and the required thrust to realise them.

The children were also taught to observe discipline in various walks of life while living in the Academy. They were not allowed to meet any outsider or relative without the prior permission of the Principal or the hostel manager. Gifts and other items offered by the visitors to the nearby historic gurdwara were shared by all the children. All the children were treated in equal terms while in the Academy. All were taught in English medium and all were offered the same subjects.

Initially, the children faced problems in adjusting to the Present Environment. Still they carried in their minds the impressions of their home environment and it took great efforts and long time to detach themselves from their home environment. In the beginning they faced some problems which were physical as well as psychological. However, with efforts of teachers and other people, the children were able to adjust themselves. It was partly due to persuation, good behaviour, tender care and better facilities and partly due to the compulsion of living in the Academy as the children had no alternative to go anywhere else. Even then, the children told , the memories of home kept on haunting them and, sometimes, they felt desperate to visit home.

Under the circumstances mentioned above, socialization of such children becames a very difficult process in a place like school where the children found it difficult to involve physically as well as mentally simultaneously. They did not have any option but to stay and study in the Acadmey. They reflected stress, helplessness and sadness on their faces. However, the staff in the school did not consider it as a deterrant in their mission. to bring up the children and make them normal and fruitful citizens of the society. The staff was able to convert their difficulties into motivation through their close interaction and humour with the children. Through their knowleldge and experience the teachers succeeded, to a great extent, in handling the children and their problems. This reflected the involvement of the teachers in the welfare of the children. The teachers made every possible effort to help the children to come out of trauma and to help them to adapt to the Present Environment. The teachers and school staff did not coerce the children to accept the norms and values of the school, but persuaded and motivated them to accept the reality of life in the school and beyond that. The teachers expressed that they did not merely teach, they helped the children out of their problems in their personal life as well. The Academy, thus, acquired a multiplicity of roles: the role of bringing up children; supporting them financially, providing them social and psychological security; meeting their basic needs; imparting them formal education; and preparing them to become normal citizens and leading a normal life.. It is believed that in normal situations, socialization at school is formal and impersonal. However, in the Academy it was not so. It extended personalized attention to each child living in the hostel who suffered traumatisation. The school attempted to inculcate those values among the children that they, otherwise, would have acquired in their home environment. Through its efforts, the Academy further succeeded in bringing these children to the mainstream of society by educating them and strengthening the social, psychological and religious aspects of their life. The children observed that the faith in God helped them to tide over adverse conditions. They also developed self-confidence.

It was also observed that the role played by the school staff helped the children in alleviating them from horrors of the experiences that they have had in their Distant Environment. They were also trained to be self-reliant. By doing so, the teachers told, it was attempted to bring the children closer to the society where from they had come and where they had to go finally and where the life -realities awaited them. The teachers and the other school staff considered the children as a raw material which was molded into good citizens of the future. The children were also taught in up keeping the personal hygiene and civic habits. These habits were inculcated in them through long sustained efforts. The children were also kept away from a number of vices, such as alcohol or drugs. 

Though it was emphasized that it was attempted to create home-like environment, there was still some differences in the process of home socialization and school-hostel-socialization in the Academy. There were some gaps. The love and care of the parents was not there. The talents and potentials of thought play much role in their life as there were not exposed to it. The school staff and the peer-group was the male children remain unexplored due to availability of limited facilities and opportunities. All of them longed to live in their own homes and waited for revival of normal conditions in Punjab

Concluding Remarks
Though violence is ingrained in the nature of all living organisms, it has expressed itself in human beings not to fight for survival alone but for many other reasons also. Violence is executed, inter alia, to wield power and control over resources through physical injury and psychological damage and elimination of enemies and those who create hurdles in achieving the goals and fulfiling the desires of those indulging in activities of violence. In the process not only the targets are hit, but the peripheries are also damaged. More often than not, even those people are affected who are not related to the phenomena at all. It cuts across all boundaries of religion, race, age, or sex. However, depending upon the circumstances, one may be pitted against the other, or one may be exploited to enhance the interests of others. Those indulging in violence may adopt any means to achieve their ends.

In the past Punjab has witnessed violence from two fronts: (a) from the 'militant' groups who said that they were fighting against the injustice perpetrated by the State; (b) from the State itself which declared that the 'militants' were organizations of outlawed persons who indulged in violence not to meet the ends of any justice but created disharmony among the people, killed them, threatened and tortured them, extorted money and indulged in immoral activities. Thus, the State tried to contain such actives through the use of force. Under such conditions, most of the time, it was the general public that suffered the most. The 'militants' evoked fear and submission by masses to attain their objectives of exercising control over resources and wield power. In the process a large number of children were rendered orphans and they faced trauma over the killing of their parents. The victimized children passed through the moments of anxiety, tension, loss of freedom, physical and mental torture, stress and strain and were rendered homeless.

A large number of such children were moved away from their homes to places, such as schools under study. The children suffered from fractured relationships and displacement in environment. Through management of resources and environment, the school succeed in providing an alternate home, environment and security to the children. Through intimate interaction, the school was able to remove, to a large extent, the horrors of violence from the minds of the children and were able to bring them up and socialize them to behave normally and to become normal and fruitful members of the society.

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(Dr. R.K.Choudhary)
Reader,
Centre for Research in Social Change,PunjabiUniversity, Patiala (India).

Source: Punjabi University, Patiala