DR. SUJATA SRIRAM
Associate Professor

Centre for Human Ecology
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

E-mail: sujata@tiss.edu

Qualifications

• M.Sc. (Child Development), University of Delhi
• Ph.D., University of Delhi

Areas of Interest

• Ethnotheories and folk beliefs in the areas of

  • Illness
  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Folk medicine
  • Intelligence
  • Creativity
  • Heredity
  • Childhood
• Socialisation and childcare:
• Patterns of disciplining in the family
• Roles and role allocation
• Gender socialization
• Growing up as only children
• Single parent families
• Families without children
• Patterns of childcare
• Dynamics of family interaction
• Interface of the family and the peer group
• Family and school interface.
• Values and belief systems
• Work and the family
• Family decision making
• Allocation of household budget
• Retirement and its effects
• Development of the self
• Dialogical models of constructing the “self”
• Interdependent vs. independent self paradigms
• Influence of family in self development
• Role of peers
• Wellness and Quality of life
• Development of children in orphanages.
• Psycho-social counseling of children, adolescents and families.
• Qualitative research methods.

Teaching

• Family in India: A compulsory course for M.A. Social Work students specialising in Family and Child Welfare in the 3 rd semester. The course offers a holistic approach to the study of families in India, using a multi-disciplinary orientation, drawing from sociology, anthropology, psychology, human development and social work.

Research

• Capacity-Building Project on Food and Drug Safety: Household Survey on Food Safety and Quality Control of Drugs . Sponsored by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and World Bank. (In progress) (Co-investigator)
• Beliefs and Practices of Pregnancy and Childbirth in Select Communities of Western India . Sponsored by the Board of Research Studies, TISS. (In progress) (Co-investigator).
• Support Systems in Selected Mumbai Neighbourhoods: A Study of Family Well-being . Sponsored by the Board of Research Studies, TISS. (Completed 2005). (Co-investigator).
• Assessing Familism: The Development of a Scale . Sponsored by the Board of Research Studies, TISS. (Completed in 2004).

Training

• UGC Refresher courses on Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Sponsored by UGC, organised by Department of Research Methodology, TISS. (Resource Person)
• Research in Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities. Training programme sponsored by Rehabilitation Council of India, Organised by National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped Regional Centre, Navi Mumbai. (Resource Person)
• National Workshop on Qualitative Research Methodology. Sponsored by TISS, organised by Unit for Child and Youth Resarch, TISS. (Resource Person)

• Book Review: Birth on the Threshold: Childbirth and Modernity in South India, Culture, Health and Sexuality. In Press.
• Review Essay: An Ethnography of Love in a Tamil Family, Culture and Psychology, 2004. (Co-author)
• Culture Level Dimensions of Social Association and their Correlates across Cultures, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2004. (Co-author)
• Family Studies in India (1995–2003): A Classified Bibliography, The Indian Journal of Social Work, 2003. (Co-author)
• The Dialogical Self: A Commentary, Culture and Psychology, 2001. (Co-author)