P Pandya
Biographic Data
| ID | 48012 |
|---|---|
| NAME | P Pandya |
| GIVEN NAMES | P |
| FAMILY NAME | Pandya |
| SIGNATURE | PANDYA P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tata Institute of Social Sciences |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1304-5024 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 81 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 81 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Expanding Organizational Discourses on Inclusion
For diversity-equity-inclusion discourses in managerial and organizational contexts, it helps to understand what spirituality means to LGBTQ persons. This article reports a cross-sectional survey of LGBTQ youth across contexts to understand their views on spirituality as enabling ‘coming out’, identity assertion and imagining and living in newer family forms. For the majority, spirituality meant harmonious relations with self and others and a sen…
Supervisors in Residential Care for Older Adults, Compassion Fatigue, and Leadership Self-Efficacy
Purpose: Personnel in leadership roles in geriatric residential care facilities often face challenges in delivering efficacious person-centered care. This article explores the impact of online mindfulness training (OMT) for supervisors in residential aged care facilities across four Indian cities. Methods: A nonequivalent control group quasi-experimental design was used (intervention n pretest = 72; n posttest = 65; control n pretest = 70; n post…
Doctoral students in arts and humanities
Novena Prayer Traditions, Thriving, and Well-being
Novena (Latin: novem ) is an ancient Christian tradition of devotional praying repeated for nine successive days or weeks. There are multiple Christian denominations in contemporary India, with several churches having popular Novena praying traditions. This article is a single-group pretest–posttest survey on well-being and thriving (or flourishing and prospering) outcomes of Novena-goers of various churches in an Indian city. Results suggested t…
Workplace Spirituality, Job Satisfaction and Nonprofit Sector Workers
This article reports a study on the impact of a workplace spirituality training (WPST) programme for South Asian nonprofit sector workers. WPST participants reported higher post-test scores on workplace spirituality and job satisfaction vis-à-vis a waitlist control group. Post-test scores were particularly higher for female workers, gender non-disclosing workers, Hindus and Christians, workers in the child care, development and protection sector,…
Training dancers for virtuoso performances
Virtuoso performances and how virtuosity is attained are a growing domain in dance training literature. Mindfulness approaches are increasingly being seen as a way to enhance performance. This article reports a study on the effectiveness of online mindfulness training (OMT) sessions for Indian classical dancers for a self-experience of flow state during performances and expert-rated performance competence. Results suggested that dancers who parti…
Mindfulness in Liberal Arts Field Immersions
Background: In South Asian contexts, several countries have developed liberal arts education at the undergraduate level based on western models. Field immersion comprises an important component of these programs to bolster learning. Mindfulness interventions can potentially enhance learner productivity on various domains. Purpose: To study whether mindfulness training (MT) sessions offered online can augment field immersion learning in domains of…
Blended pedagogies in practice-based courses in undergraduate education
Community-dwelling older adults, music education, and performance self-efficacy
Community-dwelling older adults and research on various ways to manage their human condition is growing. There is evidence that music, particularly music learning and developing music performance self-efficacy, is enriching for older adults. Within this discourse, music improvisation for older adults is an emerging research domain. Jaques-Dalcroze improvisation method in learning music is evidenced to have therapeutic effectiveness for older adul…
New cultures of online and social-media-based religious and spiritual education for young adults
Religious and spiritual education (RSE) has taken new forms with emerging cultures of online learning and social media. As part of lifelong education, RSE for young adults is non-formal in nature. This article reports a study on the impact of year-long weekly online RSE lessons for Hindu young adults affiliated with transnational religious institutions in enhancing resilience, religious coping, wellbeing and purpose and meaning in life as compare…
Promoting Altruism and Reducing Materialism Among School Children
This article reports on a study with pupils of Amrita schools ( AS ) in India to examine the effect of yoga-based moral education on developing their altruistic potential and reducing materialism. Phase 2 altruism scores of the AS pupils were higher and materialism scores were lower vis-à-vis the comparison group and their own phase 1 scores, with moderate effect sizes ( Cohen’s d range=0.49–0.58, p =0.010–0.012). Within the AS cohort, at phase 2…
Work‐Related Migration and Couples in Long‐Distance Marriages
This article reports a study on the impact of online mindfulness sessions in improving marital quality, satisfaction, and happiness of couples from South Asian and African home countries in long‐distance marriages due to work‐related migration of partners either within domicile countries or overseas (pre‐test n = 96, post‐test n = 85) compared to a control group (pre‐test n = 83, post‐test n = 76). Mindfulness sessions were effective, and post‐te…
Social Work Practice in the Era of Artificial Intelligence
There is a growing proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) in most spheres and sectors of contemporary society including social work. This article reports a survey of South Asian social workers' views on AI and social work including application domains, usefulness, risks and challenges, training needs, and future of the profession. The majority of respondents have suggested that social workers need training on machine learning, reinforcemen…
Augmented dance lessons for diaspora Indian older adults
This article reports a study on the effectiveness of augmented dance lessons or dance lessons embellished with a meditation component, with diaspora Indian older adults in improving their cross-cultural adjustments, quality of life, physical activity, and balance confidence as compared to regular dance lessons. Results suggested that those who participated in the augmented dance lessons reported significantly higher post-test scores on all outcom…
Religiosity, Aging in the Homeland, and Growing Old in the Diaspora
This article reports a longitudinal study comparing religiosity among two cohorts of Indian older adults—those who age in the homeland of India (AIH cohort) and immigrants (to the USA) or diaspora older adults (DOA). Results indicated that AIH and DOA cohorts’ religiosity outcomes were comparable at baseline but there was a statistically significant increase in all outcomes of the DOA cohort at subsequent time points. Women and single older adult…
Older adults who prefer aging in place and corresponding challenges to social workers
This paper reports a study on the impact of a smartphone meditation app (M-App) in building resilience and competencies among social workers with aging in place (AIP) initiatives. Compared to a control group who used the leisure app (L-App), M-App users reported greater resilience and gerontological social work competencies 6 months posttest (T2). Women social workers, Christians, who specialized in home-based care, and whose core clientele compr…
Spirituality and creativity in the early childhood context
This article reports a study on the impact of a customised spiritual education programme (SEP) on improving creativity for kindergarteners. The SEP was effective, and participants (n = 529) scored higher on creativity domains of figural fluency, originality, elaboration, abstractness of titles, and resistance to premature closure, compared to the waitlist control group. Girls, kindergarteners whose primary caregiver parents had higher formal educ…
Adolescents raised by single parents
Building Resilience and Sense of Control among Adults with Sensory Disabilities as They Grow Older
This article reports a study of the effect of online prayer lessons in building resilience and sense of personal control among adults with sensory disabilities over a six-year period. Data from intervention and control group participants in select Asian and African cities were collected at baseline (T1) (N1=244) and at three-year intervals T2 (N2=217) and T3 (N3=194). Results indicated that the online prayer lessons were effective (Cohen’s d rang…
Pastors in Prisons and Correctional Settings, Resilience, and the Propensity for Social Entrepreneurship
This article reports a study on the impact of two continuing education programs for pastors working in prisons and correctional settings. Pastors who did the spirituality refresher training sessions reported greater resilience and social entrepreneurship inclinations posttest compared to those who did the expressive writing sessions. Male pastors, with a postgraduate degree and chaplaincy-focused training, prison pastors, ever-singles, pastors li…
Online Meditation Program Builds Resilience and Competencies Among Social Work Students Working With Older Adults
This article reports the results of a study on the impact of an online meditation (OMP) program in building resilience and geriatric social work competencies among postgraduate social work students across contexts. The OMP was fairly effective (Cohen’s d range=4.84–5.49, p≤.012), and students who participated in it exhibited greater resilience and geriatric social work competencies compared to the wait-list control group. Posttest resilience scor…
Enhancing high schoolers' creative thinking and complex problem‐solving abilities
High schoolers' creative thinking and complex problem‐solving abilities are important for determining achievement. There is a need to investigate whether spiritual training delivered via a microblogging social networking platform would be effective. This article reports a study that examines the impact of Twitter‐based spiritual posts on high school students' ( N pre‐test = 272; N post‐test = 234) creativity and problem‐solving abilities. Results…
High-Skilled South Asian Immigrants to the USA
Single Adoptive Parents and Their Adoptee Adolescents
Single adoptive parents and their adoptees who transition into adolescence are likely to face several challenges. This article reports the impact of a WhatsApp-based spiritual education lessons (SEL) intervention on bolstering parenting competencies and secure attachments of single adoptive parents-adoptee adolescent dyads (Npre-test = 86; Npost-test = 76). An active control group based experimental design was used with WhatsApp-based general pos…
Social Welfare and Social Development
Feminist Social Work
Based on an analysis of the work done by a field action project addressing issues of violence against women which then went on to become a national state sponsored scheme, this article talks about the flavor of feminist social work that it has proposed in the Indian context. The dimensions of feminist social work and the nuances such as working with women, men, families, and communities and addressing the systems and structure have been discussed…
Marital satisfaction of highly qualified professionally achieving women post-retirement
This paper examines the aspect of the post-retirement marital satisfaction of highly qualified professionally achieving (HQPA) women in six cities in India. Deploying the ENRICH marital satisfaction (EMS) scale, this study compares the pre- and post-retirement scores of HQPA women. Findings show that average pre-retirement scores are higher. Analyses of variance with respect to the pre-retirement EMS scale scores showed that effects of women’s re…
Online Spiritual Counseling Mitigates Immigration Stress and Promotes Better Marital Adjustment of South Asian Young Dual-Earner Couples Who Emigrate to Western Countries
Food, faith, social service and institution building
Based on fieldwork with the Annamrita programme, a food-based social service of ISKCON or the Hare Krishna movement in India, I look at the intricate connection between food, faith, social service and institution building. Formally known as the ISKCON Food Relief Foundation, the Annamrita programme has partnered with the government’s midday meal scheme for school children. From the point of view of sociology of food and sociology of religion, I p…
New Strategies of New Religious Movements
Teaching About Faith-Based Organizations in the Social Work Curriculum
Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have an important presence in contemporary civil society and have gained further prominence through their repertoire of social welfare and services. This study engaged social work educators (n = 316) across nine countries to examine their perceptions of including discourses on faith and FBOs in the social work curriculum. Findings are discussed in terms of intercountry variations on whether FBOs should form a part…
Sociality and guru-led movements
This article discusses the various facets of sociality of guru-led movements in the contemporary social milieu. It argues that sociality is the key to deciphering the numerous manifestations of the guru-led movements within the social domain. Sociality is the essence of tradition, continuity and perpetuation of these movements. This sociality as imagined here is a result of a meta-analysis of the guru-led movements, reflecting on their socio-poli…
The Vivekananda Kendra in India
This article is based on field work with the Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari, India. The Vivekananda Kendra ("the Kendra") is a Hindu spiritual organization founded in 1972, based on principles promoted by Swami Vivekananda. The organization's members translate Vivekananda's Vedanta and Yoga ideals into national reconstruction. The efforts of Eknath Ranade as the key transmitter of Vivekananda's ideals, the way he effectively wove austerity, re…
"All for Faith"
1. Samta P. Pandya[1][1] 1. 1Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India 1. Samta P. Pandya, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai 400088, Maharashtra, India Email: pandya.samta19{at}gmail.com This article is based on a study of a sample of 481 member adherents across nine Indic faith-based organizations (IFBOs) in India. Findings revealed that higher socioeconomic status, socially privileged ethnicity grouping, and fairly higher…
Beneficiaries of Social Initiatives of Indic Faith-Based Organizations
This article is based on a study of a sample of 966 beneficiaries of selected social initiatives across nine Indic Faith-Based Organizations (IFBOs) in India. Findings revealed that IFBO beneficiary profiles resemble the general public welfare user in terms of financial/economic status. Service experiences entailed duration, type, influence of faith in terms of teachings, vision–mission familiarity, and personnel contact. In general, there was a …
Social’ Face of the Brahmakumaris in India
Based on fieldwork, this article analyses the Brahmakumaris movement in India in terms of its contemporary perspectives and praxis nuances. The focus is that its contemporary stance is a mix of millenarianism, simultaneous accommodation-assimilation and subtle exclusivity. Commencing with a brief overview of the charisma, genesis and cultural geographies, the contemporary perspectives and visions on society, stratification, ethics and transformat…
Charisma, Routinisation, and Institution Building
Sudarshan Kriya and Pranayama
This article is based on an Indic spiritual practice called the Sudarshan Kriya and Pranayama (SK&P) developed by Art of Living Foundation, a fast-growing, transnational, and popular new religious movement started by the charismatic teacher Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in India. Drawing from the experiences of 828 participants of this spiritual and meditative technique, the focus is to look at its efficacy to promote well-being. Factors that led the part…
Feminist Social Work
Based on an analysis of the work done by a field action project addressing issues of violence against women which then went on to become a national state sponsored scheme, this article talks about the flavor of feminist social work that it has proposed in the Indian context. The dimensions of feminist social work and the nuances such as working with women, men, families, and communities and addressing the systems and structure have been discussed…
Seva in the Ramakrishna Mission Movement in India
This article is based on an understanding of seva in Ramakrishna Mission, one of the oldest Hindu-inspired faith movements in India. Seva which is panegyric for the movement has been studied through content analysis of texts and archives, discussions with key informants and non-participant observation. Points of analysis have been the ‘social’ as embedded in the repertoire of faith, the basket of social initiatives and implications on the social …
Syncretism and Pilgrimage in India
This article, partly based on fieldwork with the Saibaba Sansthan of Shirdi, examines the complex interplay of syncretism, pilgrimage and associated Hinduisation which contributes to the contemporary countenance of the Sansthan, its recreation and recasting of Saibaba memories and the transposing of Shirdi social geographies. Through syncretism and pilgrimage, eventually usurped by the dominant Hindu majoritarian lens, Saibaba devotionalism compl…
The Vivekananda Kendra in India
This article is based on field work with the Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari, India. The Vivekananda Kendra ("the Kendra") is a Hindu spiritual organization founded in 1972, based on principles promoted by Swami Vivekananda. The organization's members translate Vivekananda's Vedanta and Yoga ideals into national reconstruction. The efforts of Eknath Ranade as the key transmitter of Vivekananda's ideals, the way he effectively wove austerity, re…
Adolescents, well-being and spirituality
This paper is a study of adolescents, well-being and spirituality. I have looked at the All Round Training in Excellence (ART-Excel) program for adolescents developed by an international spiritual organisation called the Art of Living Foundation (AOL Foundation). Adolescents participants (n = 396) of this program from four cities – Vancouver, London, Johannesburg and Mumbai – comprised of the sample. An equal number comprised of the control group…
Pilgrimage and devotion to the divine mother
Based on a study of 10,354 devotees of Mata Vaishno Devi, a popular shrine in North India, this article focuses on how devotion to the Mata, and undertaking the arduous pilgrimage regularly, contributes to the happiness and mental well-being of her followers. Their scores on the Mature Religiosity Scale (MRS) were high. Analyses of variance showed that religiosity scores, duration of being a devotee, education and pilgrimage frequency influenced …
Sudarshan Kriya of the Art of Living Foundation
This paper draws from the experiences of 1099 participants of the Sudarshan Kriya technique of the Art of Living Foundation. The randomly drawn sample of participants had successfully completed the Sudarshan Kriya part 1 and 2 and/or the Sahaj Samadhi Meditation courses in the city of Mumbai, India. Sudarshan Kriya was largely perceived to be effective for a general feeling of peace and well-being. The analysis brings out differentials in the per…
New Strategies of New Religious Movements
Promoting spiritual well-being among Hindu children in South Asian, Southeast Asian and African Countries
The main objective of the study is to examine whether the Bala Vihars (BVs) of Chinmaya Mission promote spiritual well-being among Hindu children in different cultural contexts. Deploying a comparative survey design, 1194 BV participants aged 11–15 years, across 13 South Asian, African and Southeast Asian cities comprised the sample and an equal number comprised the comparison group. Email questionnaire was used comprising scales to assess spirit…
Hindu women in religious orders
The study aims to understand determinants of well-being of Hindu women in old age who have committed their lives to religious orders. Data was obtained across eight countries from a sample of 12,082 older Hindu women renunciants belonging to two religions orders: Brahmakumaris and Chinmaya Mission. An e-mail questionnaire was administered comprising basic background profile questions and four scales to measure aspects of well-being, satisfaction …
What do highly qualified professionally achieving women do after retirement in India? Exploring time use, leisure, and volunteering
This study analyzes the time use of highly qualified professionally achieving (HQPA) women after retirement. Data were collected from a random sample of 1,023 HQPA women in the city of Mumbai, India. HQPA women spent their postretirement time in caregiving and family responsibilities, leisure activities, and volunteer work. Several HQPA women volunteered at social service organizations as the main postretirement activity. In a developing country …
Seva in Mata Amritanandamayi Mission
Based on fieldwork with Mata Amritanandamayi Mission (MAM) headed by Mata Amritanandamayi and headquartered in Kollam, Kerala, India, I discuss its aspects of seva or social service. I propose that seva in MAM is done by followers and disciples volitionally and then it becomes a doctrine in Amma’s ministry. I observed two social service projects in terms of their interfaces with various systems such as economic-political-social, partnerships and …
‘Guru’ Culture in South Asia
Guru culture is a prominent phenomenon in contemporary South Asia. The guru is a charismatic figure and the bedrock of the concerned institution, which very often assumes the form of a movement. Recognition of the power of that charisma is the central aspect in the social and psychological dynamics of guru-led movements. They attract a large number of followers and social service engagements are a part of their common repertoire, reflecting and f…
Sect Culture and Social Service
This article is based on fieldwork with a branch of the popular Hindu sect, the Swaminarayan, in Gujarat, India. The branch is called the Bochasanwasi Shree Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS). It has spread throughout the world. I examine its cultural nuances and its seva, that is, its social service and outreach work. Seva implements the mandate for, and ideology of, social service and entails aspects of volition and institutionalize…
Teaching About Faith-Based Organizations in the Social Work Curriculum
Faith-based organizations (FBOs) have an important presence in contemporary civil society and have gained further prominence through their repertoire of social welfare and services. This study engaged social work educators (n = 316) across nine countries to examine their perceptions of including discourses on faith and FBOs in the social work curriculum. Findings are discussed in terms of intercountry variations on whether FBOs should form a part…
Marital satisfaction of highly qualified professionally achieving women post-retirement
This paper examines the aspect of the post-retirement marital satisfaction of highly qualified professionally achieving (HQPA) women in six cities in India. Deploying the ENRICH marital satisfaction (EMS) scale, this study compares the pre- and post-retirement scores of HQPA women. Findings show that average pre-retirement scores are higher. Analyses of variance with respect to the pre-retirement EMS scale scores showed that effects of women’s re…
Our Aim Is to Link Humanity to the Divine”
This article is based on the fieldwork with Sri Aurobindo Society (SAS), a faith-based organization headquartered in Pondicherry, India. SAS is based on the ideals of Sri Aurobindo and his spiritual consort Mirra Alfassa, the Mother. I have focused on the social philosophy and social service of SAS, particularly one of its rural development projects, Sri Aurobindo Rural and Village Action and Movement (SARVAM). I have reviewed the organizational …
Governmentality and guru-led movements in India
The concept of governmentality has a textual and philosophical basis as well as being concerned with what might be called the practices of government. This article discusses and develops the governmentality argument with respect to the guru-led movements. It outlines the basics of Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality, its analytical frame, the fact that governmentality moves beyond only the practices of the state and its nuances in a neol…
Sociality and guru-led movements
This article discusses the various facets of sociality of guru-led movements in the contemporary social milieu. It argues that sociality is the key to deciphering the numerous manifestations of the guru-led movements within the social domain. Sociality is the essence of tradition, continuity and perpetuation of these movements. This sociality as imagined here is a result of a meta-analysis of the guru-led movements, reflecting on their socio-poli…
Spirituality and Parents of Children With Disability
Based on a study of 1,138 practitioners in the field of disability across 12 countries, the author examines the practitioners' views on spirituality for parents of disabled children. Results of the logistic regression analysis showed that the following practitioners were more likely to see spirituality as an instrument to help parents to cope and build resilience against disability: those from European countries, the United States, Australia, and…
Psychology (56 works) · Social Psychology (38 works) · Sociology (37 works) · Medicine (36 works) · Political science (33 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (33 works) · Clinical Psychology (22 works) · Law (21 works) · Spirituality (21 works) · Philosophy (19 works)