The objective of the book is not just to question Maslow's hierarchy of needs; or just to verify a hypothesis that the Dalits exhibit meta values and experience self-actualization in spite of unmet basic needs; or to prove that Ambedkar self- actualized in a discriminating world of his time; or to create awareness that the pastoral care and counselling has to recognize the presence of aliveness of the values among the Dalits; but to correct a historical misconception that Dalits are 'broken people' and to affirm that the Dalits are self- motivated and potentially powerful to bring changes with their positive nature because they exhibit the innate and nurtured divine values.
Israel David's book is breaking new grounds in the area of research on the quintessential ingenuity of Dalits. His research is innovative and brings a new dimension to the concept that Dalits can be agents of change. He brings out the hidden potential, nature and attitude of Dalits which have never been given importance to as Dalits are seen and understood as the scum of the society, useless, dirty and stinking, very often considered as the problem creators and even as non-existent. Such a thought balloon has been created, promoted and flown high by caste people. The book seems to be the pin to burst this balloon blown by caste people.
This topic is very relevant in to-day's context. The last four decades have been flooded with literature on Dalits and Dalit theology, opening the flood gate for an influx of literature on Dalits and their experiences. The writings of both secular and theological authors reveal rich and diversified themes which are descriptive, epistemological, theological as well interpretative of their arts, literature, culture, folklore, riddles, etc., Some theologians have broken new grounds moving from the classical dominated applied theology to acontextual theology, bringing into the theological world the need forgenerating Dalit and other subaltern theologies. In the earlier stages, Dalit theology was characterised by an exclusive methodology which was seen as limited and reductionistic. Subsequently, the wave then moved from being an exclusive methodology to evolve into an inclusive methodology. paving the way for various methodologies and hermeneutics in order to re-read and reinterpret the scriptures. Simultaneously, the folklore, music and Dalit songs/ drums have revolutionised the cinema world, reflecting in the growing popularity of Dalit songs.
Abraham Maslow, one of the major proponents of humanistic psychology,' proposed a process by which human beings can achieve self-actualization, a state consisting of Meta values, which he calls 'Being Needs' such as truth, justice, and creativity. To experience this state of self-actualization, the lower or Deficit needs such as food, shelter, sex, safety, security, and belongingness are to be fulfilled. However the researcher has witnessed several underprivileged communities who have experienced self-actualization and have contributed to the society and nation even though their basic needs were not met. The present research attempts to empirically test and investigate Maslowian theory of self-actualization in select Dalit communities.
Abraham Maslow was called the father of American Humanistic Psychology. He was the founder of the American Association for Humanistic Psychology (AAHP), which was later known as the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP). In 1961, he founded the journal of 'Humanistic Psychology along with Anthony Sutich. He worked with Harry Harlow and after his PhD, worked with E.L. Thorndike, Adler, Fromm, Horney, and Gestalt psychologists. Eventually he was influenced by Kurt Goldstein's self-actualization. Abraham Maslow believed that one cannot understand the human nature by studying their pathology alone, as put forth by Freud who studied the dark side of the human nature underrestricted conditions. Further, Maslow was not convinced of the mechanistic determinism of humans proposed by both psychoanalytic movement and behaviorism. Though he found them to be reductionistic, he does not reject them. He integrates both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and proposes his theory. To put it in Maslow's own words, interpret this third psychology to include the first and second psychologies, and have invented the words 'epi-behaviouristic' and 'epi-Freudian' (epi-upon) to describe it. This also helps to avoid the sophomoric two-valued, dichotomized orientation, for example, of being either pro-Freudian or anti-Freudian. I am Freudian and I am behaviouristic and I am humanistic."
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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