Understanding Vulnerabilities in Contemporary Society: Psychological Insights and Reflections explores the constructs of ‘vulnerability’, with an aim to move beyond the linguistic and normative appropriation of the word. It does this by uncovering diverse life experiences of varied individuals and communities who have largely remained unseen and unheard. With dynamically transitioning sociocultural circumstances, the boundaries demarcating the included versus the excluded, the accepted versus the unacceptable other, the endeared versus the disparaged continue to multiply. As we struggle with these numerous identities and categories, we are forced to encounter compounded vulnerabilities. The book explores the various ways in which an individual encounters and even embraces vulnerability in order to ensure survival. To help readers arrive at a broad understanding of the many underlying concerns, the book explores diverse issues such as gender, sexuality, adolescence, child abuse, exploitation, forced migration and homelessness. Based on rigorous empirical work, using traditional and alternative approaches to inquiry, the book provides critical insights for psychosocial and clinical interventions and will especially be of interest to psychologists, therapists and counsellors. Contents: Foreword by Girishwar Misra Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction Pallavi Ramanathan and Nandita Babu Everything That We Could Carry: Understanding Vulnerabilities in Refugees Revathy Kumar and Sarita Y. Shukla Growing Up Asian-Indian in USA: Identity Development and Psychosocial Adaptation Divyani Khurana and Ishita U. Bharadwaj Mental Health Vulnerabilities of the Third-Gender Community Ritu Singh and Alka Bajpai Voicing Vulnerabilities Around ‘Caste’ Stigma: A Qualitative Study Sujata Satapathy and Rajesh Sagar Psychological Trauma in Child Sexual Abuse: Withstanding Vulnerability and Nurturing Resilience Supreet Kaur Bhasin and Ishita U. Bharadwaj Invulnerable Parkinson’s Caregivers: An Existential Phenomenological Perspective Rajbir Singh, Lokesh Gupta and Dinesh Chhabra Positive Deviance: Use of Phenomenon in Vulnerability to Depression Padmini Ravindra Nath and Chandrika Soni Women and Work in Post-reform India: Reality of Vulnerability and Exclusion Annie Baxi Vulnerabilities of Desire: A Qualitative Study with Indian Housewives Ishita U. Bharadwaj Reflections on Psychic Pain around (In)Fertility and ‘Being’ of a Woman Nandita Babu and Varuni Sethi The Experience of Vulnerability and Resilience of Adolescent Girls in Slums Nidhi Prakash Managing Vulnerabilities of Institution Building and Organizational Change: The Role of Trust Index