Experiment no 2: To measure the social attitude of Brahmin and Chhetri ethnic group towards Dalit by using Borgadus Social Distance scale Introduction • This study has been conducted so as to measure the social attitude of Brahmin and Chhetri ethnic group towards Dalit by using Borgadus Social Distance Scale . It has the following sub topics ; Background of the topic • Social attitude refers to the negative or positive evaluation of social or ethnic groups in the society • According to Dockey and Bedian, social attitude is a behavior pattern , anticipatory tendency, predisposition to specific adjustment or more simply a conditioned response to stimuli. • Brahmin and Chhetri are regarded as high caste ethnic group that comprises 12.2% and 16.6% respectively whereas Dalit is regarded as low caste ethnic group that comprises 13.03% • Dalit being below of the all caste have to face various problems because of the prejudice and negative social attitude towards them. We can take example from the “Soti incident”. The group of 18 people went to fetch the girl Sushma Parajuli. Sushma Parajuli and Nabaraj Bk had been in relation about three years. Nabaraj Bk including 17 other went to Rukum to take the girl. However, the dead bodies of two men including Nabaraj Bk was found . According to villagers, the incident occurred due to difference in caste . Sushma Parajuli was of high caste Brahmin whereas Nabaraj Bk was of low caste Dalit. • In terms of martial relations, Brahmin , Chhetri and even other castes are strictly not allowed to marry Dalit people. They have the negative social evaluation towards Dalit. • Not only in terms of martial relations but also in job opportunities, educational sector they are backward Review of the topic • According to the survey conducted by Dalit Human Organization, there is undervalued representation in the census data of Dalit population • According to source of Wikipedia, “Soti incident” occurred due to the difference in caste between the girl and the boy. The boy Nabharaj Bk was of low caste Dalit and the girl Sushma Parajuli was of high caste Brahmin. • According to Feminist Dalit Organization(FEDO), Dalit women are exploited sexually, refused to enter any kind of public temples, tea shops ,schools and denied the use of public wells and taps. Objective • The main objective of this study is to find out the social evaluation of Brahmin and Chhetri towards Dalit group. • This study is broadly focused on the martial relations between high caste and low caste. • This study helps to determine how the society evaluates low caste people when it comes to keep them close in afamily. Method • The participants were asked some of the questions through the survey. The data was gathered in the following ways; Description • Total number of 10 participants were asked questions. Four of them were Brahmins , Four of them were Chhetri and two of them were Newars. • They were selected for this study because it favors the topic of the study. Description of test measures • Ten number of questions were asked to the participants through survey by using Borgadus Social Distance Scale • Borgadus Scale: Emory Borgadus had developed this scale. It is a social distance measure to identify an individuals attitude toward different groups. There are different attitude scores for different groups. People can be compared on their prejudice behavior from their score. It can be used to measure attitude toward objects also. • The main purpose of this scale is to measure the attitude towards a particular racial group. The scale is measured by the closeness of relationship that a respondent is willing to accept. Borgadus scale usually applied to the study of ethnic relations, social classes, and social values. Procedure • Ethical consideration: The information about this study by the participants was given in a convenient manner. They were given a clear explanations and hence it was conducted on the basis of their acceptance . The study and research was done by ensuring them that their name will not be exposed and they can write letters A,B instead of their names. Testing Procedure • When I first told about my project work they were quite hesitant about it. I explained about them a little longer. It took about 3 to 4 minutes to them to finish the survey. • Introspective Report: When the participants were asked about their feelings and thoughts during the survey their common answers were they were nervous about it at first however when the other questions followed they were quite comfortable with it. Result • The participants were given to tick the questions each for Brahmin, Chhetri, Magar ,Dalit and Newars. • Chhetri got 6 points for to close kinship by marriage, 3 points for to club as my friend, 1 point for to citizenship in my country • Brahmin got 3 points for to close kinship by marriage and to citizenship in my country, 1 for to my street as my neighbor and to visitor only to my country , 2 for to my close as my personal friend. • Magar got 1 points for to close kinship by marriage, 3 for to club as my personal friend, to my street as my neighbor and to employment in my occupation. • Dalit got 1 point for to close kinship by marriage ,3 to club as my personal friend , 4 points to street as my neighbor 1 for to employment in my occupation and 1 for to visitor in my country. • Newar got 2 points for to close kinship by marriage 1 for to club as my close friend, 3 points to my street as my neighbor and to visitor only to my country and 1 for to citizenship in my country. Discussion and Conculsion Chhetri and Brahmin got more points for to close kinship by marriage whereas Dalit got less points for to close kinship by marriage. The theory of this report suggests that Brahmin and Chhetri have negative social evaluation towards Dalit. Hence, the result of this finding supports the theory of this report. Since, Dalit got only 1 point for to close kinship by marriage it clarifies that Dalit people are kept at distance when it comes in martial relation.
