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“What is strange is that we don't have more children coming to us”: A habitography of child psychiatrists and scholastic pressure in Kolkata, India

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  • Ecks, Stefan
  • Kupfer, Christine

Abstract

The mental health of Indian school children could be expected to be a major topic of research. More people below 15 years are living in India than in any other country in the world, and India has undergone rapid social, economic, and demographic changes that have greatly increased the pressures on children to do well in school. Yet there is a striking dearth of research in this field. In this article we present the first-ever study focused on child psychiatrists in India. Based on long-term fieldwork and interviews with psychiatrists in the Kolkata metropolitan area, we present a habitography of how psychiatrists experience young people's problems. Child psychiatrists are greatly concerned about the nexus between heightened expectations of educational success and a rise of mental problems among young people. At the same time, they wonder why not many more children are coming to them with school-related complaints. To date, there is not enough research that could either confirm or disconfirm the psychiatrists' analysis of social changes, but some conclusions on the plausibility of their views can be drawn.

Suggested Citation

  • Ecks, Stefan & Kupfer, Christine, 2015. "“What is strange is that we don't have more children coming to us”: A habitography of child psychiatrists and scholastic pressure in Kolkata, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 336-342.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:143:y:2015:i:c:p:336-342
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.048
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Singh, Ilina, 2004. "Doing their jobs: mothering with Ritalin in a culture of mother-blame," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(6), pages 1193-1205, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Slagboom, M. Nienke & Bröer, Christian & Berg, Jonathan, 2021. "Negotiating ADHD: Pragmatic medicalization and creolization in urban India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).

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