Family is a basic and universal unit of human society. It performs functions that are necessary for the continuity, integration and development of social life. In most traditional societies family has been the unit of social, cultural, religious, economic and political activities and organisations. In modern industrial societies, the family performs primarily the functions of reproduction, socialisation and provision of emotional satisfaction.
Sociologists talk about family in two senses. It refers (i) to an empirical entity of a specific type, and (ii) to an analytical concept. The empirical type of family varies from community to community and region to region. As an analytical concept, family is a universal institution. It refers to groups composed of parents and children. If parents live with their immature — economically and emotionally dependent, usually unmarried — children, it is called nuclear or elementary family. If parents live with their mature children and their spouses, it is called joint family. Family as an analytical concept is primarily concerned with legitimate mating and sanctioned procreation in all human societies. In modern industrial and urban societies family provides the chief principle of kin-group formation. In traditional societies, however, the family is dominated by principles of kinship organisation and ties of filiations or blood relationships.
The group formed around the primacy of marriage is composed of spouses and dependent children. It is called nuclear or conjugal family. It is upon the conjugal relation that the solidarity of elementary family depends. The solidarity of joint family depends primarily on the mutual trust among family members.
Sociologists also talk about patrilineal and matrilineal families. A patrilineal family is constituted by the children of the ‘father’ and children are known by the name of the father. After marriage the daughter goes to live with her husband and the spouse of the male child comes to live with her husband’s family. Family property is primarily transmitted from father to son. A family or, in some societies, stay with his sister. The family property is transmitted from the mother to the daughter but it is usually managed by the mother’s br other. The management right is transferred from the mother’s brother to the sister’s son. Patrilineal families may be either nuclear or joint but matrilineal families are mostly joint.
The Family In India
According to I.P.Desai the concept of family as nuclear family is still not the Indian concept. To the Indian the family is that which is the joint family in English. Sociologists like A.M. Shah have differentiated between joint family and a residential household. In both modern and traditional India nuclear households did exist. Joint family remained for most Indians the ideal pattern of family life.
Contemporary sociologists have reported from different regions of India that nuclear family or household is merely a stage in the developmental cycle of the joint family. Households in India develop into joint and nuclear structures in a cyclical order. This is linked with the natural process of death of the older generation and birth of the new generation. This cycle according to I.P.Desai, co-residence and common kitchen are not as important elements of the joint family as intra-family relationships.
Types of Family
He has suggested that there are five types of family life in India:
1. Nuclear Family: The smallest family which consists of wife, husband and their unmarried children.
2. Functional Joint Family: When two families having blood relationship are living separately but function under one common authority, it is called functional joint family.
3. Functional and Substantial Joint Family: When a functional joint family is also joint in terms of property it is called functional and substantial joint family.
4. Marginal Joint Family: When two generations of family members live together functionally and substantially it is called marginal joint family.
5. Traditional Joint Family: It consists of three or more generations of people living together in one household, own property commonly and participate in the family rituals.
Joint and nuclear households and the cultural norm of joint family have existed side by side in India. Changes are now taking place both in the structure of households and the degree of sentiment of jointness.
Structural Features of Joint Households
1. Common Residence and Kitchen: The members live under one roof. The entire residence is divided into many small rooms for the use of different brothers and their families. Jointness in living fosters a common bond among the different members of the family. There is a single kitchen for the whole household. Generally, the wife of the head of the house or an elderly woman remains in charge of the common kitchen.
2. Large Size: It consists of a number of people. It may even consist of people of three or more generations including at least grandparents, grandchildren, uncles, aunts, cousins and so on.
3. Common Property: The property of the family is held in common. Both movable and immovable property are owned jointly. Everyone works according to one’s efficiency and earnings are pooled together in a common fund. Wealth and goods of joint family are produced and consumed collectively. The head of the family, known as the ‘karta’ remains in charge of it. Every male member is legally a co-owner of the family property.
Functional Elements of Joint Household in India
1. Common Rituals and Ceremonies: Every joint family has its own rites and rituals in accordance with the caste norms and religious obligations. This common pattern of worship is inherited from generation to generation. This brings unity and integration to the family. The common God they worship i.e., the family diety is known as kul devta.
2. Role of the Karta: In the household, the authority to take decisions and maintain peace and discipline in the family lies in the hands of the Karta. All the earning members keep their earnings with him and the entire property is kept under his control. Family ceremonies and celebra- tions are held under his guidance and direction. He also settles the disputes within the household. In nutshell, the Karta is the trustee of the family and enjoys unquestionable authority.
3. Mutual Obligations: Members of the joint family are bound together by mutual obligations. No one works against the interests of the others. All members are responsible for each other and are bound by mutual understanding, love, reciprocal relationships and co- operative spirit. These bonds and relation-ships are said to be the sustaining force of the joint family. The individual’s interests are sub- ordinate to the interests of the family as a whole.
4. Socialist System: It is a functional unit based on socialistic norms. Everyone works for the welfare of the family as a whole. The rights and privileges are distributed equally among the members. Each member contributes according to her or his capacity and gets according to her or his needs.
Functions of the Joint Family
The Indian joint family system is considered the backbone of Indian social organisation. As a system of social organisation it has been prevalent for many centuries till today. It, evidently, follows that this ancient institution has performed some beneficial functions for the society. Some positive functions of the joint family are the following:
Reproduction
The family functions as the usual legitimate site of reproduction. Human fertility and procreation are determined to a large extent by the family. The responsibility of child raising is shared with the wider kin group. Consequently, numerous offsprings are viewed as a positive asset to the group, providing security to the parents in their old age.
Socialisation
Following from the family’s role as the site of reproduction, the family is the first and primary agency of under constant guidance and discipline. The family imparts the values of tolerance, co-operation, sacrifice and sympathy to its members. It involves the young in the care of elders. It helps one to grow into a mature, responsible full-fledged social being. In the process of growing as an adult it emphasises among its members inculcation of traditional norms associated with general roles as a female or male. The family is greatly concerned about children’s education, employment and marriage; and it plays a crucial role in the social placement of the younger generation.
Agency of Social Control
The joint family is a self-regulating administrative unit, operating under the guidance of the Karta whose authority is questioned only in terms of exceptional use of power. It acts as an informal means of social control. The elder members in a joint family check the indiscipline and anti-social tendencies of its young. The family ensures that its members grow up as well behaved and disciplined people.
Welfare
A major function of the family is that of care and nurture of the young, the handicapped, the sick, and the aged. It takes special care of the infant and the pregnant or lactating mother. The joint family organisation is well adapted to provide the maximum degree of security to its members, especially so in the times of distress. The joint family, thus, creates a conducive and friendly social environment for its members. It also provides opportunities for recreation and participation in cultural functions.
Production, Distribution and Consumption
Crucial to the familial organisation of production is the sexual division of labour, both within the household itself and outside. The women usually take charge of the domestic and reproductive sphere. They may also contribute to home-based industrial activities. The men are employed in the public domain and contribute to the family’s earnings. However, this sexual division of labour has come under criticism in recent times.
The joint family is a single unit of consumption. This implies an economically efficient arrangement as large amounts of consumable commodities are purchased at low prices, while non-consumable commodities are shared among the large number of family members. The members pool in their earnings and expenses are made depending on the needs of the whole family.
Dysfunctions of the Joint Family
Despite the numerous advantages, there are also dysfunctions and pathological aspects of the joint residential pattern of the family in India. Some of these, noted by sociologists, are as follows:
The joint household is a centre of conflict with respect to petty issues. There is often lack of adjustments, accommodation and assimilation between the members. Differences and bitterness lead to internal contra- dictions and thus prepare the way for dissolution of the household.
The joint family stands in the way of development of the individual’s autonomous personality. Since the family-head makes important decisions, there is less scope for taking into consideration limitations of individual members or their likes and dislikes. Thus, independent thinking is restrained and creative potential of members is not fully tapped or expanded.
Sometimes there is psychological dissatisfaction and misunderstanding as intimacy fails to develop between newly married couples. Under the joint family system, most of the time of young married women may be spent on catering to the needs of all the members. This sometimes leaves them with little free time or opportunities to enjoy and sometimes even to look after their health properly.
Since the joint family has both oldand young members, there is an inter- generational conflict. The old people strictly abide by the traditional norms and beliefs and do not accept new cultural limits and trends. This sometimes creates problems and disrupts peace in the family. The young oppose supposedly authoritarian, unfair, unjust behaviour and emphasise on individualism. There is difference in attitude des to social customs.
Changes in the Joint Family
The following changes in the joint family or household have been observed by sociologists:
Structural Changes
The facts and values which nurtured, stabilised and sustained the joint family organisation are: (1) filial devotion of sons; (2) the readiness of the economically viable members to stand by those other members of the joint family who lack in the capacity to support themselves and their spouses and children economically; (3) lack of state organised system of social security for old women and men; and (4) a material incentive for organising the size of the land and the capital and the labour required to utilise the same profitably.
The factors which are now leading to the breaking-up of the joint household are:
1. Differential earnings of brothers,generating tensions in the household.
2. Disinclination of sons and their wives to share the joint responsibilities of the household.
3. Growth of individualism,especially among the young and the westernised sections of society.
4. The growing importance of the service sector in the economy and external earning opportunities, which are leading to nuclearisation of the joint household.
Functional Changes
These can be examined at three levels:
1. Wife-Husband Relations: In the traditional household, the wife had a sub-ordinate voice in decision- making. But in the contemporary household, the wife plays a more active role, often at par with her husband. It requires mutual adjustment between the wife and the husband as well as between work and home.
2. Parent-Children Relations: In the traditional family, while power and authority was totally vested in the Karta and he was virtually all- powerful in decision-making about education, occupation and marriage of children in the family, this is not the case in the contemporary household. Today, in most joint households all members are part of decision- making.
3. Relations between Daughter-in- law and Parents–in-law: A significant change has come about in their relationship. The educated bahu does not observe purdah from her father-in-law. The relationship between the bahu and the mother- in-law is often less strained now. The mother-in-law is not a powerful figure but she remains a respected kin like the father-in-law.
The Family in Contemporary India
Although the cultural norm of family in most socio-religious-cultural groups in India has been joint, nuclear households have existed since earlier times at the empirical level. During the modern period different factors like urbanisation, migration, industriali- sation, spread of western education and the process of westernisation have led to the development of a new type of household and family in India. These factors have not led to the demise of the joint family in the structural sense, but have certainly strengthened the existing nuclear households and families. To some extent nuclear families have even emerged as an alternative cultural norm. The modern media has played a significant role in the spread of the new cultural norm of the nuclear family.
Demographic factors, however, have strengthened the institution of joint family and joint households. Census data and ethnographic studies have shown that it is the older people rather than children who have contributed to an increase in the average size of the Indian household. For various reasons, life expectancy was so low in the past that it reduced the chances of forming a joint household and preserving it for a long time. This situation has changed now since medical facilities and other factors have significantly raised the average life expectancy.
A.M. Shah says that while the average size of household in urban areas has been lower than in rural areas, since 1951, it has been steadily increasing in both. There is, however, one section of urban society, particularly in metropolitan cities, where the institution of nuclear family and household is gaining popular acceptance. This is the middle and professional classes and westernised upper caste sections in metropolitan cities. This is a modern and rapidly growing section of Indian society. It has been under the maximum impact of the ideology of individualism. This section has developed a liberal attitude towards daughters, whereby the absence of a son does not create over-anxiety.
The middle class professionals have accepted the small family norm. Consequently, this class has usually followed the one or two child norm. The children after marriage may not live necessarily in a joint household with their parents. The age at marriage in this class is high and usually sons and daughters-in-law have jobs in places away from the parents’ place of residence. They may continue to uphold the norm of the joint family but do not live together as an integrated household unit for long. Among the nuclear households the following features are reported:
(1) Small size of the household facilitates greater freedom and independence to the members.
(2) Sense of individual responsibility is greater in such households in comparison to the joint households.
(3) In the urban context, nuclear households have become economically more viable for the prosperous middle classes.
(4) Nuclear households are supposed to promote more adaptability to cope with crisis situations in the contemporary context. Modern facilities like insurance, banking and medical clinics have made the traditional security and care offered by joint households less attractive to the prosperous professional classes.
(5) From children’s point of view, however, nuclear households have both negative and positive aspects. The role of grandparents and other senior relatives in child development is well recognised by psychologists and social scientists. In nuclear households, sometimes, both the parents are working outside. As a result, children feel a lot of loneliness and anxiety. They have to rely on servants, house-keepers, play- schools and other formal child- care agencies. In many instances this leads to emotional strain and emotionally vulnerable persona- lities, although in most cases children learn to cope and develop an attitude of independence and individualism.
A large number of Indians even today live in joint households and the norm of joint family is more or less intact. The cultural ethos of jointness and the emotional bond between the members is, however, under strain. The moral authority of the family head or Karta has been undermined. Instead, family decisions are mostly the result of negotiated procedures. The Indian parliament has passed various Acts to safeguard the interests of female members in the family. Education has also empowered women and children. Therefore, joint family norms and customs are changing rapidly. The joint households are adapting to the changing norms and customs. As a reflection of these changes, in the last two decades, the popular media such as cinema and television programmes have often dealt with the changing joint family and households in the modern context. On the whole, the institution of joint family and household is undergoing adaptive changes. Resilience of Indian society and culture is reflected in the institution of the family even today.
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