"ant" Psychological Distress Research

During the Reform and Opening up periods, and the development of the socialist market economy, it has brought social transformation, together with rapid changes in ideology to the general public. These have created development opportunities, but they also bring a strong shock and vibration to the public. Within the rapidly changing social environment, old and new concept conflict each other, the pace of life accelerates, and the rapid modernization all cause stress and mental disorders to the public. Most countries have difficulty avoiding such phenomenon in their process of modernization. rom a planned economy to a market economy, the agricultural and closed society transforms and becomes a industrial, urban, open and modern one. In China's transitional period, there is no exception for her situation.The subject of this article-the group of people known as the "ant community" are born in this era of great changes. They are to some degree marginalized today's society. They are usually ambitious and vibrant people, with ideals, and willing to take on challenges. They learn about virtue and are equipped with knowledge from higher education from universities, which promise them a better future. However, when they start to work, they have to face the reality of low wages and high labor intensity, while there is usually no guarantee of quality living. Therefore, they have to learn to tolerate anxiety and uncertainty of such difficult time. They are optimistic with a cheerful spirit, and thus they tend to believe their own choices, and are willing to start from the most basic roles. By doing so, they anticipate future success. But the potential crisis within such situation is evident. In the past 2000 years, the traditional Chinese society remained relatively stable, and this was partly achieved by the smooth social mobility mechanism, which allowed people from the lower classes to move upwards. In the old time China, every year, there were tens of thousands of students changed their destiny by following this path. However, in the present time, power and human relationships weigh much more than knowledge in the society. Children from ordinary families, even studying hard, do not have much opportunity to success. It is difficult them to approach, many of the powerful organizations and monopoly industries. This situation is most vividly reflected in the case of the "ant community". The "ant community" defines those from rural areas or small villages, with low-incomes, and their parents are in the middle and lower strata of society. With those family backgrounds, children are told to obtain good degrees in university would be the way to change their life. However, after graduating from university, they would realize that without extensive human-relationships, they can barely achieve anything, but returning to their villages. When dreams are shattered, the disappointed young men inevitably blame their failure onto the society, and feel antagonism towards others. In the long run, this tension would lead to serious social problems. Therefore, the "ant community"has become one of the social groups we have concerns. William Francis has pointed out in his book, Ant Communities-Village, Inhabited by University Graduates Record, that the "ant community" is the fourth largest minority group, following the three minority groups of farmers, migrant workers, laid-off workers. However, at present, both the society and the academic have very little concern for the "ant family".Living in unsatisfactory conditions, and struggling to defend their place in the city are the real life scenario for most "ant community" nowadays. The inevitable result of living in such poor living conditions is often psychological distress. My research is focused on the psychological distress of the "ant community". I selected Xiaojiahe, a typical region where the "ant community" reside in the Haidian District,for my case study. I spent more than five months time at Xiaojiahe. By using questionnaires and interviews, I aim to conduct a thorough investigation the "ant families" living there. On this basis, use sociological methods and theoriesto analyze the psychological distress status of the ant families, the causes, as well as the self and social solutions to the real situation.My article is divided into five parts:PartⅠ:the background of this research, covering its significance, relevant concepts, research methods, research status, site of investigation and so forth.PartⅡ:Introduction of the case study, as well as the basic situation of the case, using survey data obtained to summarize the status of psychological distress of the case.PartⅢ:From the three aspects of economic, social, self to analyze the ant family in detail, to find out the reasons for the formation of psychological distress. This part is combined with cases, in order to give a more concrete argument.PartⅣ:The self-solution and strategies of the ant communities in the face of psychological distress.PartⅤ:Explore the external support for the ant family psychological distress, from the government, mass media, civil society organizations.