The present research studies the interrelationship between insurgency and mental health in
the state of Manipur through both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research is an
ethnographic account of the violence and its impact as lived by the people and compares the
distress among two populations of Manipuris, one exposed to insurgency and one unexposed
in order to arrive at a comparative understanding of effects of violence on mental health and
quality of life.
Chapter 1 gives a broad overview of various theories and approaches used in anthropology
and other disciplines to understand violence, its different types and implications as well as
detailed review of literature on political and ethnic violence in Manipur, north east as well as
abroad. It also discusses the theoretical trajectories of the present research.
Chapter 2 discusses the materials and methods employed to conduct this study, and gives
both phenomenological layout of the qualitative design as well as an inventory of various
psychological measures used to collect quantitative data on mental health variables and
quality of life. It also discusses the limitations and scope of this research.
Chapter 3 present a bird's eye view on ethnographic genesis of insurgency throughout the
history as experienced by the people of Manipur. In addition to listing in detail the insurgent
groups and associated violence, it also discusses socio-political and ecological aspects
interweaved with the insurgency as affective of mental well being.
Chapter 4 discusses the physical distress experienced by the insurgency affected group of
people as opposed to those unexposed to the violence due to out migration. The data is
collected with the help of questionnaires and interviews.
Chapter 5 covers the psychological personality traits of both exposed and unexposed group of
people and their association with various socio-economic variables, etc.
Chapter 6 discusses the overall quality of life of both the groups including differences of sex
and residence based on various contributing factors of their socio-cultural environment.
Chapter- 7 summarizes the findings of the entire research vis-à-vis various findings and gives
a wide overview of obtained results.
