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Papers by MADHUSUDANAN SUNDARESAN

Advances in social networking and online communities book series, Jun 29, 2023

The role of sibling relationship lasts for a lifetime as the siblings spend more time with each o... more The role of sibling relationship lasts for a lifetime as the siblings spend more time with each other than with their parents. The sibling bond is a special one. This paper addresses the initial results from the pilot study (April-May, 2016) of the research on siblings of children with disabilities. Twelve face-to-face interviews were conducted with siblings without disabilities in the age group ten and nineteen. The purpose was to understand the social attitudes and relationship of the siblings without disability with their siblings with disabilities; besides knowing how well they understand their sibling's impairment. Nevertheless the pilot study highlighted the serendipitous finding on non-disabled sibling's psychological well-being. The initial result signals psychological aspects of distress, worry about future as well as their disabled sibling, lesser parental availability, confusion over their role, lack of communication between parents and non-disabled siblings. These siblings expressed positive, negative as well as mixed responses when they understood their sibling has some kind of disability. It is envisaged that the ultimate outcome of the research would lead to interventions for both the non-disabled siblings as well as the children with disabilities' well-being. The pilot study has shown that the well-being of siblings without disability should be taken into account because of the presence of a child with disability in the family.

Sibling relationship is ascribed and not an achieved status. Most of us have a sibling or a two. ... more Sibling relationship is ascribed and not an achieved status. Most of us have a sibling or a two. If any one of the siblings have any kind of disabilities then the life of other siblings in the family would not be normal. They undergo various experiences as being part of the family and at sometimes as a caretaker of the siblings with disability. Understanding their sibling"s disability, sibling relationships and attitude toward disability, the birth order of the siblings, gender and age spacing between them plays a pivotal role in the well-being of the siblings without disability. The well-being of the siblings without disability is disturbed or affected owing to the disability status in her/his siblings. This paper discusses the experiences of the doctoral research work being undertaken in the field of disability and Social Work in general and in siblings and disability in particular.

Understanding disability is pertinent for purposeful engagement and fostering participation of pe... more Understanding disability is pertinent for purposeful engagement and fostering participation of persons with disabilities. Understanding the issues of disability varies with respect to the exposure, age and severity of the disability as well. Adequate understanding of the sibling"s disability is needed to maintain a healthy sibling relationship and poor relationship would affect thesibling relationship besides well-being of the non-disabled siblings.This paper addresses the initial results emanated from the pilot study (April-May, 2016) of the research on non-disabled siblings who have a sibling with disabilities. Tenface-to-face interviews were conducted with non-disabled siblings of age group between ten and nineteen.The role of parents are pivotal in understanding sibling"s disability. The pilot study has shown that appropriate interventions are required for nondisabled siblings and a positive dialogue between parents and non-disabled siblings should take place because of the presence of a children with disability in the family.

Communication is at the heart of the people and no one can do away with communication, be it verb... more Communication is at the heart of the people and no one can do away with communication, be it verbal or non-verbal communication. Social workers communicate in all spheres. This paper attempts to link the Seven C’s of communication namely complete, concise, consideration, clarity, courtesy, concrete and correct respectively with Thirukural. Thirukural is classical Tamil literature. This work reveals that the Indic values or Indic perspectives could develop appropriate and relevant culturally-based knowledge for a better understanding of the Western concepts. In this way, the Indic literature which is developed could add value to Bharatiyakaran of Social Work education.

No one can do away with human values and human values are indispensable in life. Human values are... more No one can do away with human values and human values are indispensable in life. Human values are beacon that shows the right path and direction. Human values are the crux of all values. Gawande proposed seven human values namely truthfulness, constructivity, sacrifice, sincerity, self-control, altruism and scientific vision. Thirukural an ancient treatise written in classical language Tamil is eons old. Thirukural addresses the myriad aspects of life such as ethics and moral to name a few and it is touted as the universal scripture and Tamil Veda. This paper attempts to link the human values propounded by Gawande (2002) with that of ancient Tamil literature Thirukural. Valluvar calls fraud as black-knowledge which is linked to being truthfulness. Doing good to others is discussed under benevolence which is akin to constructive behaviour in human values. This paper also urges the policy makers to consider incorporating such ancient treatise which advocates human values in curriculum.

The siblings function as important agents of socialization and contribute to socio-emotional deve... more The siblings function as important agents of socialization and contribute to socio-emotional development. This article traces the roles and differences as perceived by non-disabled siblings who are biological siblings through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted with the respondents (non-disabled siblings). In each FGD 10-12 respondents participated and four FGDs were carried out on the themes (1) Roles of non-disabled siblings towards their siblings with disabilities (2) Perceived differences between the respondents and the siblings with disabilities (3) How the non-disabled siblings felt when they heard their sibling(s) have some disability (4) Ways in which the non-disabled siblings are affected because of their siblings with disabilities respectively. The non-disabled siblings expressed their concerns and views on the domains of education, caregiving roles, and the future needs of siblings with disabilities. The article also outlines the feelings of non-disabled siblings when they heard their sibling (either brother or sister) has some disability and how the non-disabled siblings are affected because of their sibling’s disability. The sibling relationship is a life-long relationship which plays a vital role between siblings and the sibling relationship is even more pertinent and must be studied among siblings with disabilities and their non-disabled siblings. The article stresses the sibling relationship could be strengthened by the parents discussing the actual condition of the disability and not concealing the facts.

“Art is long, but life is short” is the adage and a teacher is no such exception to this adage. A... more “Art is long, but life is short” is the adage and a teacher is no such exception to this adage. As a late twenty-first-century school/college student, I have witnessed a few classroom transitions from blackboard to overhead projectors. However, the present scenario is different, and the teaching and learning process can be written or viewed from pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19. The online classes were conducted during the lockdown to have a continual teaching-learning process. This article is based on the premise of my understanding of e-learning as a faculty to survive and sustain in online platforms or web-based learning platforms such as Google Meet, Zoom, MS Teams and Google Classrooms. The article also shares the journey of a teacher becoming a student in exploring these online platforms. The use of Mentimeter, poll everywhere, slido in classroom teaching both online as well as offline has been refreshing to students to have real-time interaction and this paved way for formative assessment too. The article also discusses the pitfalls of using online platforms in teaching-learning.

Hybrid work enables a combination of working from home and working in an office and Employees spe... more Hybrid work enables a combination of working from home and working in an office and Employees spend adequate time with family and coworkers. The study is quantitative in nature. A descriptive research design was used in this study, non-probability sampling technique (purposive sampling) was used to select the respondents (n=60) from IT companies who were working from home. The objective of the study was to find (1) the push factors of hybrid working, (2) the pull factors of hybrid working. The self-prepared questionnaire consisted of four parts socio-demographic profile, factors of online working, factors of offline working, and factors of hybrid working respectively. The questionnaire was circulated through google forms to the respondents and the responses were collected online. The study found that two-thirds of the respondents (66.7%) have clear work-from-home (WFH) policies. The study respondents preferred to work in hybrid mode (55%) and more than half of the respondents (55%) are not looking for going to the office. Nearly half of the respondents have a good work-life balance when working from home. The respondents mostly want to get to work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Interestingly, respondents with work experience of 11-15 years and in the age group of 41-50 years prefer to work from the office. The socio-demographic variables such as gender, type of family, and marital status have no significant results on working from home, office or in hybrid mode. The study came out with a few suggestions such as the organization charting out WHF policies, and providing necessary materials to the employees to easily adapt to hybrid work mode.

ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2015

Life skills refers to a large group of psycho-social and interpersonal skills which can help peop... more Life skills refers to a large group of psycho-social and interpersonal skills which can help people make informed decisions, communicate effectively, and develop coping and self-management skills. Social work methods, tools and techniques have been extensively practiced in different fields and social work professionals invariably use these life skills in their day-to-day practices. Thirukural is a beacon and a guide to life. Though written millenniums ago its principles are still relevant in present day contexts and stand as an embodiment of human life. This paper superimposes and connotes the concepts of Thirukural on ten core life skills listed by World Health Organization and attempts to understand the life skills concepts in Indian contexts.

Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018

International Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 2015

Social Casework is a micro practice in Social work Profession. The seven casework principles name... more Social Casework is a micro practice in Social work Profession. The seven casework principles namely individualization, acceptance, self-determination, controlled emotional involvement, confidentiality, nonjudgmental attitude and purposeful expression of feelings proposed by Felix Biestek is taken up to indigenize with Thirukural. Thirukural a sacred Tamil language literary classic is used for this purpose. Indigenization is a cross-cultural practice. This paper attempts in the line of Global definition of social work to indigenize the western concepts with the treasure trove of regional knowledge.

International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences, 2015

This article indigenizes the characteristics of good governance with special reference to Thiruku... more This article indigenizes the characteristics of good governance with special reference to Thirukural. Thirukural a sacred Tamil literary classical text is taken to link with the characteristics of Good Governance outlined by UNDP. The couplets of Thirukural are linked, intertwined and superimposed with the definitions and explanations of the Good Governance characteristics given by UNESCO. This paper also argues for home-made social work and also calls for indigenization of social work theory and methods to local contexts.

Indian Journal of Tuberculosis, 2022

Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has de... more Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has declared that who so ever spends more than Rs 32/- and Rs 26/- per day in urban and rural areas respectively is not poor. In the midst of furore do we a need a shift in the poverty line with respect to Persons with disabilities (PWDs)? This paper addresses the question with a case study of a leprosy cured-person from Arisipalayam panchayat (a rural area), Madukkarai block in Coimbatore. Purposive sampling and semi-structured interview schedule were employed in this study. The respondent’s wife is the sole breadwinner and the employment in the unorganized sector dooms the future. He receives social assistance; will it alone make him cross the poverty line? Respondent works under MNREGA, though MNREGA doesn’t state PWDs equal opportunity in work. Are policy revisions necessary in the need of the hour? The researcher deems that this work will support other research studies being taken up for ...

Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has de... more Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has declared that who so ever spends more than Rs 32/- and Rs 26/- per day in urban and rural areas respectively is not poor. In the midst of furore do we a need a shift in the poverty line with respect to Persons with disabilities (PWDs)? This paper addresses the question with a case study of a leprosy cured-person from Arisipalayam panchayat (a rural area), Madukkarai block in Coimbatore. Purposive sampling and semi-structured interview schedule were employed in this study. The respondent’s wife is the sole breadwinner and the employment in the unorganized sector dooms the future. He receives social assistance; will it alone make him cross the poverty line? Respondent works under MNREGA, though MNREGA doesn’t state PWDs equal opportunity in work. Are policy revisions necessary in the need of the hour? The researcher deems that this work will support other research studies being taken up for ...

Advances in social networking and online communities book series, Jun 29, 2023

The role of sibling relationship lasts for a lifetime as the siblings spend more time with each o... more The role of sibling relationship lasts for a lifetime as the siblings spend more time with each other than with their parents. The sibling bond is a special one. This paper addresses the initial results from the pilot study (April-May, 2016) of the research on siblings of children with disabilities. Twelve face-to-face interviews were conducted with siblings without disabilities in the age group ten and nineteen. The purpose was to understand the social attitudes and relationship of the siblings without disability with their siblings with disabilities; besides knowing how well they understand their sibling's impairment. Nevertheless the pilot study highlighted the serendipitous finding on non-disabled sibling's psychological well-being. The initial result signals psychological aspects of distress, worry about future as well as their disabled sibling, lesser parental availability, confusion over their role, lack of communication between parents and non-disabled siblings. These siblings expressed positive, negative as well as mixed responses when they understood their sibling has some kind of disability. It is envisaged that the ultimate outcome of the research would lead to interventions for both the non-disabled siblings as well as the children with disabilities' well-being. The pilot study has shown that the well-being of siblings without disability should be taken into account because of the presence of a child with disability in the family.

Sibling relationship is ascribed and not an achieved status. Most of us have a sibling or a two. ... more Sibling relationship is ascribed and not an achieved status. Most of us have a sibling or a two. If any one of the siblings have any kind of disabilities then the life of other siblings in the family would not be normal. They undergo various experiences as being part of the family and at sometimes as a caretaker of the siblings with disability. Understanding their sibling"s disability, sibling relationships and attitude toward disability, the birth order of the siblings, gender and age spacing between them plays a pivotal role in the well-being of the siblings without disability. The well-being of the siblings without disability is disturbed or affected owing to the disability status in her/his siblings. This paper discusses the experiences of the doctoral research work being undertaken in the field of disability and Social Work in general and in siblings and disability in particular.

Understanding disability is pertinent for purposeful engagement and fostering participation of pe... more Understanding disability is pertinent for purposeful engagement and fostering participation of persons with disabilities. Understanding the issues of disability varies with respect to the exposure, age and severity of the disability as well. Adequate understanding of the sibling"s disability is needed to maintain a healthy sibling relationship and poor relationship would affect thesibling relationship besides well-being of the non-disabled siblings.This paper addresses the initial results emanated from the pilot study (April-May, 2016) of the research on non-disabled siblings who have a sibling with disabilities. Tenface-to-face interviews were conducted with non-disabled siblings of age group between ten and nineteen.The role of parents are pivotal in understanding sibling"s disability. The pilot study has shown that appropriate interventions are required for nondisabled siblings and a positive dialogue between parents and non-disabled siblings should take place because of the presence of a children with disability in the family.

Communication is at the heart of the people and no one can do away with communication, be it verb... more Communication is at the heart of the people and no one can do away with communication, be it verbal or non-verbal communication. Social workers communicate in all spheres. This paper attempts to link the Seven C’s of communication namely complete, concise, consideration, clarity, courtesy, concrete and correct respectively with Thirukural. Thirukural is classical Tamil literature. This work reveals that the Indic values or Indic perspectives could develop appropriate and relevant culturally-based knowledge for a better understanding of the Western concepts. In this way, the Indic literature which is developed could add value to Bharatiyakaran of Social Work education.

No one can do away with human values and human values are indispensable in life. Human values are... more No one can do away with human values and human values are indispensable in life. Human values are beacon that shows the right path and direction. Human values are the crux of all values. Gawande proposed seven human values namely truthfulness, constructivity, sacrifice, sincerity, self-control, altruism and scientific vision. Thirukural an ancient treatise written in classical language Tamil is eons old. Thirukural addresses the myriad aspects of life such as ethics and moral to name a few and it is touted as the universal scripture and Tamil Veda. This paper attempts to link the human values propounded by Gawande (2002) with that of ancient Tamil literature Thirukural. Valluvar calls fraud as black-knowledge which is linked to being truthfulness. Doing good to others is discussed under benevolence which is akin to constructive behaviour in human values. This paper also urges the policy makers to consider incorporating such ancient treatise which advocates human values in curriculum.

The siblings function as important agents of socialization and contribute to socio-emotional deve... more The siblings function as important agents of socialization and contribute to socio-emotional development. This article traces the roles and differences as perceived by non-disabled siblings who are biological siblings through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted with the respondents (non-disabled siblings). In each FGD 10-12 respondents participated and four FGDs were carried out on the themes (1) Roles of non-disabled siblings towards their siblings with disabilities (2) Perceived differences between the respondents and the siblings with disabilities (3) How the non-disabled siblings felt when they heard their sibling(s) have some disability (4) Ways in which the non-disabled siblings are affected because of their siblings with disabilities respectively. The non-disabled siblings expressed their concerns and views on the domains of education, caregiving roles, and the future needs of siblings with disabilities. The article also outlines the feelings of non-disabled siblings when they heard their sibling (either brother or sister) has some disability and how the non-disabled siblings are affected because of their sibling’s disability. The sibling relationship is a life-long relationship which plays a vital role between siblings and the sibling relationship is even more pertinent and must be studied among siblings with disabilities and their non-disabled siblings. The article stresses the sibling relationship could be strengthened by the parents discussing the actual condition of the disability and not concealing the facts.

“Art is long, but life is short” is the adage and a teacher is no such exception to this adage. A... more “Art is long, but life is short” is the adage and a teacher is no such exception to this adage. As a late twenty-first-century school/college student, I have witnessed a few classroom transitions from blackboard to overhead projectors. However, the present scenario is different, and the teaching and learning process can be written or viewed from pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19. The online classes were conducted during the lockdown to have a continual teaching-learning process. This article is based on the premise of my understanding of e-learning as a faculty to survive and sustain in online platforms or web-based learning platforms such as Google Meet, Zoom, MS Teams and Google Classrooms. The article also shares the journey of a teacher becoming a student in exploring these online platforms. The use of Mentimeter, poll everywhere, slido in classroom teaching both online as well as offline has been refreshing to students to have real-time interaction and this paved way for formative assessment too. The article also discusses the pitfalls of using online platforms in teaching-learning.

Hybrid work enables a combination of working from home and working in an office and Employees spe... more Hybrid work enables a combination of working from home and working in an office and Employees spend adequate time with family and coworkers. The study is quantitative in nature. A descriptive research design was used in this study, non-probability sampling technique (purposive sampling) was used to select the respondents (n=60) from IT companies who were working from home. The objective of the study was to find (1) the push factors of hybrid working, (2) the pull factors of hybrid working. The self-prepared questionnaire consisted of four parts socio-demographic profile, factors of online working, factors of offline working, and factors of hybrid working respectively. The questionnaire was circulated through google forms to the respondents and the responses were collected online. The study found that two-thirds of the respondents (66.7%) have clear work-from-home (WFH) policies. The study respondents preferred to work in hybrid mode (55%) and more than half of the respondents (55%) are not looking for going to the office. Nearly half of the respondents have a good work-life balance when working from home. The respondents mostly want to get to work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Interestingly, respondents with work experience of 11-15 years and in the age group of 41-50 years prefer to work from the office. The socio-demographic variables such as gender, type of family, and marital status have no significant results on working from home, office or in hybrid mode. The study came out with a few suggestions such as the organization charting out WHF policies, and providing necessary materials to the employees to easily adapt to hybrid work mode.

ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2015

Life skills refers to a large group of psycho-social and interpersonal skills which can help peop... more Life skills refers to a large group of psycho-social and interpersonal skills which can help people make informed decisions, communicate effectively, and develop coping and self-management skills. Social work methods, tools and techniques have been extensively practiced in different fields and social work professionals invariably use these life skills in their day-to-day practices. Thirukural is a beacon and a guide to life. Though written millenniums ago its principles are still relevant in present day contexts and stand as an embodiment of human life. This paper superimposes and connotes the concepts of Thirukural on ten core life skills listed by World Health Organization and attempts to understand the life skills concepts in Indian contexts.

Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018

International Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 2015

Social Casework is a micro practice in Social work Profession. The seven casework principles name... more Social Casework is a micro practice in Social work Profession. The seven casework principles namely individualization, acceptance, self-determination, controlled emotional involvement, confidentiality, nonjudgmental attitude and purposeful expression of feelings proposed by Felix Biestek is taken up to indigenize with Thirukural. Thirukural a sacred Tamil language literary classic is used for this purpose. Indigenization is a cross-cultural practice. This paper attempts in the line of Global definition of social work to indigenize the western concepts with the treasure trove of regional knowledge.

International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences, 2015

This article indigenizes the characteristics of good governance with special reference to Thiruku... more This article indigenizes the characteristics of good governance with special reference to Thirukural. Thirukural a sacred Tamil literary classical text is taken to link with the characteristics of Good Governance outlined by UNDP. The couplets of Thirukural are linked, intertwined and superimposed with the definitions and explanations of the Good Governance characteristics given by UNESCO. This paper also argues for home-made social work and also calls for indigenization of social work theory and methods to local contexts.

Indian Journal of Tuberculosis, 2022

Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has de... more Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has declared that who so ever spends more than Rs 32/- and Rs 26/- per day in urban and rural areas respectively is not poor. In the midst of furore do we a need a shift in the poverty line with respect to Persons with disabilities (PWDs)? This paper addresses the question with a case study of a leprosy cured-person from Arisipalayam panchayat (a rural area), Madukkarai block in Coimbatore. Purposive sampling and semi-structured interview schedule were employed in this study. The respondent’s wife is the sole breadwinner and the employment in the unorganized sector dooms the future. He receives social assistance; will it alone make him cross the poverty line? Respondent works under MNREGA, though MNREGA doesn’t state PWDs equal opportunity in work. Are policy revisions necessary in the need of the hour? The researcher deems that this work will support other research studies being taken up for ...

Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has de... more Poverty line has myriad definitions. Recently National Planning Commission of India (2011) has declared that who so ever spends more than Rs 32/- and Rs 26/- per day in urban and rural areas respectively is not poor. In the midst of furore do we a need a shift in the poverty line with respect to Persons with disabilities (PWDs)? This paper addresses the question with a case study of a leprosy cured-person from Arisipalayam panchayat (a rural area), Madukkarai block in Coimbatore. Purposive sampling and semi-structured interview schedule were employed in this study. The respondent’s wife is the sole breadwinner and the employment in the unorganized sector dooms the future. He receives social assistance; will it alone make him cross the poverty line? Respondent works under MNREGA, though MNREGA doesn’t state PWDs equal opportunity in work. Are policy revisions necessary in the need of the hour? The researcher deems that this work will support other research studies being taken up for ...