The Intersection of Disability and Religiosity among Elderly Beggars: A Qualitative Inquiry in Galle City, Sri Lanka

Begging persists as a marginalized survival strategy shaped by changing socio-structural systems. In Sri Lanka, the decline of traditional extended families and a rapidly aging population have pushed vulnerable older adults into severe destitution. This qualitative study explores how physical disability and religious beliefs intersect to shape the daily experiences of elderly beggars within the Galle City administrative boundaries. Utilizing a qualitative research design, primary data were gathered through structured in-depth interviews with 15 purposely sampled elderly beggars, supplemented by secondary data for literature contextualization and qualitative descriptive data analysis. The empirical findings indicate that physical disability serves a dual, paradoxical role, it completely bars older individuals from conventional labour markets while functioning as a form of visual capital that increases personal sympathy and material donations from passersby. Concurrently, internal religiosity heavily conditions the participants' psychological coping mechanisms. Entrenched cultural beliefs in past-life karma and destiny provide existential meaning to their current suffering, yet they simultaneously in still a fatalistic framework that restricts their proactive capacity to cope, dampens their courage, and limits their ability to escape chronic street dependency. This study bridges a vital literature gap by demonstrating how structural physical limitations and internal cultural-religious systems interact to reinforce and normalize chronic socioeconomic marginalization among elderly urban populations.