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Patna University researcher Supriya Krishnan has been awarded a two-year grant from the ICSSR to examine how Indian family structures function as repositories of cultural capital. The Rs 15 lakh project will document traditions across four Bihar districts and produce practical tools to inform policy on family resilience amid migration and rising mental-health pressures.
What the research will cover
Krishnan, a faculty member in the personnel management and industrial relations department, plans fieldwork in Darbhanga, Madhubani, Chhapra and Bhojpur. The aim is to capture everyday cultural resources that sustain families — from local songs and ritual practices to storytelling traditions — and to assess how these resources contribute to household wellbeing today.
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- Geographic focus: Four districts in Bihar (Darbhanga, Madhubani, Chhapra, Bhojpur).
- Funding and duration: Rs 15 lakh over two years from ICSSR.
- Sample and subjects: Surveys and interviews with about 120 households, with special attention to women and households affected by migration.
- Data to be recorded: Nearly 60 cultural elements such as Maithili folk narratives, Bhojpuri migration songs, ritual practices and shared family routines.
- Planned outputs: A culture-sensitive model of family resilience and a district-level family systems index (DFSI) for evidence-based planning.
Field methods will mix structured surveys with qualitative interviews and culturally adapted instruments, allowing researchers to measure both material conditions and less tangible strengths rooted in ritual and kin networks.
Bridging tradition and contemporary psychology
The project sets out to combine classical Indian concepts — including the household-centered idea of Grihastha — with modern family psychology to create a resilience model tailored to the local context. This approach aims to avoid one-size-fits-all frameworks by recognizing how spiritual, cultural and social practices buffer stressors such as economic change and migration.
Alongside theoretical work, the team will construct the DFSI to quantify family-system health at the district level. Planners and service providers could use that index to target interventions where cultural supports are weakening or where households face greater vulnerability.
Patna University vice-chancellor Namita Singh welcomed the award, saying the study could reshape understanding of the family’s role in contemporary India and provide useful evidence for policymakers in the state.
Why this matters now
Internal migration, shifts in livelihoods and rising mental-health concerns have strained traditional support networks. By documenting living cultural practices and measuring their effects on wellbeing, the research intends to produce actionable findings for social policy, community programmes and mental-health services.
The study’s emphasis on women and migrant families signals a focus on groups that often shoulder disproportionate burdens during economic and social transitions.
Work will proceed over the next two years, with the expectation that documented cultural resources and the DFSI will offer both scholars and policymakers regional evidence on how family systems can remain sources of resilience in rapidly changing environments.
