The International Journal of Indian Psychology

5

Authors: Mr. Sujith M1*, Mrs. Lallu Mariam Jacob2

Meow – Meow is a latest street drug available in the market as a recreational and euphoretic agent at minimal rate when compared to other prominent agents like cocaine, heroin etc. Chemically it is 4 – Methyl Methcathinone or 4 – Methyl ephedrone, which has various pharmacological and severe harmful effects. The maximum effect is produced when the agent is snorted. It is mostly used by teenagers with high prevalence rate who are doing their schooling, high schooling as well as professional college students around the globe especially in the age group of 15 – 30 years. The agents might be used accounting for various factors such as easy availability, cheap rate and excessive stimulant action. Even though this agent produces such a high level of stimulation and euphoria it is short lived and leads to permanent deterioration of health or even death of the user. The social impact of such an agent should be viewed seriously as it destroys the future generation of any country especially in a developing country like India. The compound can be ordered online and will be delivered to the door step of prospective buyers. The compound being a novel agent it is not included under the narcotics and psychotropic substances act of 1958 of India, hence control by the authorities is limited. In such a scenario, social awareness of such a notorious agent among the mist of young and energetic future citizens of any country should be taken up as a social responsibility.

7

Authors: Prakashkumar R. Thakor

There are two concepts for Equality where one is giving the notion of formal Equality means everyone is equal before the law, and second one says about proportional Equality in which the state has responsibility to take affirmative action in protection of Equality. Art 14 to Art. 18 of the constitution stands for the right to Equality, by the lot many efforts of the parliament, state legislature and judiciary, we can realize that the right to Equality is actual protective discrimination of the society.

8

Authors: Sreeja Gangadharan P1*

Indian is witnessing an alarming fall in child sex ratio2 since 1961. Sex selective abortions and female infanticide due to cultural preferences for male child are considered as the causes of this menace. Government of India had enacted various laws such as Medical Termination of Pregnancy act 1971 and Pre-conception and Prenatal Diagnostic Technique (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) act, 1994 to penalise such sex determination and selective abortion, but the ratio is still showing an alarming decline. The study hypothesis that improvements in female literacy rate and labour participation rate helps to bring changes in the overall attitude of the society toward women and girl child and there by helps to reduce female infant mortality and sex selective abortions. The study analyses female literacy rate and labour participation rate of various states and the corresponding Child Sex ratio. The study found that improvements in the female literacy rate had not adequately reflected in the female labour participation rate. Even those states having a commendable improvement in both the parameters failed to reflect an adequate improvement in the CSR. The study concludes that mere improvements in female literacy rate and labour participation rate, wouldn’t improve the status of women unless it is supplemented by targeted social and economic empowerment. Analysing CSR from a multidimensional perspective, this paper argues how and why gender sensitisation and women empowerment should be brought into the policy circle to tackle this menace via transforming the life of the women and thus the society.

11

Authors: Ms. Dipal Patel Shah, Dr. Mehul Jadav

The approach to investigating the following research question “To what extent does Birth Order affect our personality?” was the examination of the different factors in which an individual’s personality can be affected by the sequence of their birth in the family. The paper begins with the examination of the birth order theory suggested by Alfred Adler in the 1900s which agrees with the common notion that the first born is often the conscientious leader, the second born is the outgoing mediator and the youngest is the most charming and affectionate of the siblings who receives and enjoys the attention from the parents .The various researches undertaken to test the validity of the common stereotypes created over the years by society (Jacobs and Moss, 1976) have also been looked into .The discussion leads to questioning the basis of stereotypes and criticisms to the widely presumed birth order theory (Ansbacher & Ansbacher, 1956). Another factor, such as cultural traditions that make the birth order theory inapplicable have been elaborated. For example, in countries such as India, the birth of a male child is always celebrated and he most likely to receive the treatment and accept the role that a first -born would. The conclusion was that despite the widely accepted pre- conceived characteristics that we give to children based on their birth order, this debate will never entirely come to rest as there is always a contradictory research accompanying one that supports the birth order theory. Also, there is no biological or genetic proof, which can give these studies a scientific backing. However, the assumed roles and personalities of children in a family according to their birth order are not entirely baseless and must hold some truth due to the overwhelming number of researches carried out, investigating this topic.

13

Authors: Shabbeer Ahmed

The profile of a rural woman is that of a poor, ignorant, illiterate, superstitious and suppressed being. She has low levels of skills. Her access to information, assets, and opportunities is also low. She is unorganized and under-represented. Rural women are subjected to several socioeconomic, psychological and environmental disabilities. The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels. India has also ratified various international conventions and human rights instruments committing to secure equal rights of women. Key among them is the ratification of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1993. The women’s movement and a wide-spread network of non-Government Organizations which have strong grass-roots presence and deep insight into women’s concerns have contributed in inspiring initiatives for the empowerment of women. To bring women into the mainstream and to encourage their participation in the process of national development has, therefore, been a major concern of the Government. However, there still exists a wide gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution, legislation, policies, plans, programmes and related mechanisms on the one hand and the situational reality of the status of women in India, on the other. The empowerment of Rural Women is crucial for the development of the Rural India. The present paper attempts to highlight the current reality in the ray of various programmes and laws for the empowerment of women.