INTERFACE OF LAW AND PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS OF CHILDREN

Children are the most important asset and wealth of a nation. Healthy children make a healthy nation. The children under 15 years of age constitute about 40 % of the population and school aged children 1i.e. 6 to 14 years age constitute 22 % of children population. The child is not a miniature, but an individual in his own right. The quality of childhood one has lived will determine the ultimate nature of adulthood. The foundations of child's social attitude and skills are laid in the home. Now a days, because of the rapid industrialization and urbanization, majority of young couples are employed, so unavoidably they get less time to look after their children. Under these circumstance, emotional, 2behaviour and psychiatric problems are on the rise. Source: Census of India 2001 In India, the earliest document to record child development was Ayurveda. The study of child psychopathology was considered as a downward extrapolation of psychopathology of adults. Thus, the growth of child psychiatry in India has occurred following the growth of adult psychiatric services. Though in the Western world, child mental health services were started about eight decades ago, In India, its origins can be traced back to only about four decades. This is probably because psychiatry was introduced in India by the former colonial powers having a different cultural background an