Understanding youth in the Indian context

Pages: 321-323
Shefali Mishra and Vrushali Pathak (Department of Psychology, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University, Delhi)

The conception of youth proposed in theories and practices is exclusively dictated by western vision of social life. As a result, the popular and academic imagery of youth we have is typically western. The initiatives undertaken, whether in the domain of program or policy development, social behaviour or psychological functioning of youth, have all been based on framework that have limited applications in our developmental contexts. The present paper argues for theoretical contextualization of ‘youth’ within indigenous theories. It makes an attempt to explore cultural sources, particularly, mythology, to re-construct an Indian view of youth, which parents, educators and policy makers can follow.