Minor Psychological Disorders among Child Rag Pickers in Patiala

Rag picking is known for hazardous work and people involved in it usually live in filthy conditions with no basic amenities such as running water, bathrooms, toilets and drainage. As a result rag pickers constitute the most vulnerable section of the society particularly more so children under the age of 14 years. Apart from dirty living and working conditions, these children are exploited socially and morally due to nature of their work. They are more involved in anti-social activities viz. prostitution, drug abuse and robbing due to their work environment. Poor living and working conditions, lack of basic amenities and social and moral exploitation lead to various psychological complexities. Therefore, socio-demographic conditions, behavioral and work characteristics of 150 child rag pickers were studied profoundly to know the relationship of these characteristics with minor psychological disorders (MPD) with the help of Self Reporting Questionnaire-20 a user’s guide developed by world health organization (WHO) for screening the psychological disorders in developing countries. The study reached at the outcome that poor demographic conditions, deviant behavioral attitude and bad working conditions of child rag pickers have negative influence on their mental health. Prevalence of MPD among the respondents has been reported to be 42.7 percent that is very high as compared to general population due to their adverse/hazardous working and living conditions and unorganized social life.