NIRMA UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF LAW
B.Com.LL.B. (Hons.)Course
ACADEMIC YEAR 2011-2012


COURSE FAMILY LAW I

INTRODUCTION


A STUDY ON THE DEGREE OF RELATION BETWEEN THE
MENTAL HEALTH OF THE HUSBAND & WIFE AND THE FAMILY
LAWS





SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:
ROHIT LALWANI (10BBL035) MS. SUNITA SHARMA
B.COM.LL.B. (HONS.)
TITLE A Study on the degree of relation between the mental health
of the husband & wife and the family laws

INTRODUCTION
Marriage is one of the most important events of life affecting social status as well
as the psyche of an individual. It not only serves to satisfy the fundamental
biological need of sexual gratification through a socially acceptable way but also
helps the individual to achieve a higher level of personality maturation.
Historically marriage existed in one form or another in every culture, ensuring
social sanction to a physical union between man and woman and laying the
foundation for building up of family. It is widely accepted that separation and
divorce rank among lifes most traumatic experiences, for adults and children. In
children there is an increased risk of acute distress, depression and behaviours that
are often regarded as stemming from poor self esteem. For adults there are
increased rates of depression, substance abuse, suicidal behaviour and anxiety.2
Thus it is not surprising that people who are vulnerable to mental illnesses appear
reasonably frequently in family law courts. When it is raised, mental illness is
often a pivotal issue in the determination of parenting cases, or the case is prepared
as though it is. In property proceedings the issue usually centres on matters of
capacity and future needs. In this paper I will discuss the applicable law for
determination of cases involving mental illness including practice and procedure.
This scoping study examined the family law system and how well it responds to
people who have mental health issues. A range of materials were collected from
various sources that dealt with family separation. This report considers the issues
raised regarding the effect of divorce, separation, custody of the child etc on the
husband, wife, children and the other family members and it has been related to
the Family Laws prevalent in our country and recommendations have been given
as to how the situation can be made better so that the court cases and the
procedures dont hamper the mental health of the family.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Federal Magistrate Judy Ryan, Mental Health and Family Law A Degree
of Question 2006
www.fmc.gov.au/pubs/html/mental_health.html
This article has been referred to study the different reasons as to how the
court cases and the judicial process makes the husband, wife or the children
vulnerable to mental illness and how it affects their day to day normal life
and turn it into adversity.

Dr. T.S.Sathyanarayana Rao , Dr. S. Nambi & Dr. Chandrashekar .H,
Marriage, Mental Health and the Indian Legislation 2005
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2918313/
This paper has been referred to know more about how marriages in India are
affected by this problem of mental health and also what actually causes an
effect on the mental health of either of the spouse due to divorce or
separation.


Denice Wolf Markham, Mental Illness and Domestic Violence:
Implications for Family Law Litigation
www.ncdsv.org/images/Mental%20Illness%20and%20DV.pdf
This article has been referred to know the implications of family laws on the
institution of marriage and how far the laws need to be improved for the
betterment of marriages in India.
S. Nambi, Marriage, mental health and the Indian legislation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2918313/
Article on Mental Health
www.familylawwebguide.com.au/attachment.php?id=866&keep...

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
To know the different factors that affects the mental health of either of the
spouse or the children in the institution of marriage in different personal
laws.
To know about the relationship between the family laws of our country and
their effect on the mental health of the people.
To know the vulnerability of the mental sickness of the people due to
divorce, separation or any other matter relating to the family laws.
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
There is a highly adverse effect on the mental health of the people due to
divorce, separation or custody of child etc.
The way things go in the proceedings in the court should be improved so
that peoples mental health dont get affected because of that and it should
be easier for them to deal with it.
The family laws in our country favor the fact that it is difficult for the
husband or wife filing a case in the court to deal with the trauma of divorce,
judicial separation etc.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What percentage of cases actually ends up with affecting the mental health
of either of the parties?
What is the extent to which the degree of mental illness and the family laws
are related?
What are the prevailing family laws in the country that help people to not to
get mentally affected by divorce, cases of custody of the child etc?
RESEARCH COVERAGE AND SCOPE
The research has not been confined to a particular area, region or a country and all
data collected from various sources related to various situations and conditions
throughout the world.
RESEARCH DATA COLLECTION -
The research is based on secondary data collection through various sources on the
internet. Various researches, articles and journals were used and the research is a
completely doctrinal/non-empirical one and no primary data has been used. Only
theoretical data collected from the various sources has been analyzed and used.