Marriage : Definition, forms, trends; dowry and divorce

Definition

Collins Dictionary of Sociology - " Marriage is a socially acknowledged and sometimes legally ratified union between an adult male and an adult female".

Horton and Hunt - "Marriage is the approved social pattern whereby two or more persons establish a family".

Malinowski - "Marriage is a contract for the production and maintenance of children".
Mark and Young - "Marriage is the institution or set of norms which determines the particular relation of harmony to each other and to their children".

Characteristics of Marriage :

1. Marriage is universal.
2. Marriage is basic for the formation of family
3. Marriage forges new social link.
4. Marriage fixes the responsibility of bringing children on the parents.
5. Marriage is a result of civil or religious ceremony.
6. Marriage is a means of contact of opposite sex for sexual gratification, which is biological need.
7. In marriage, the male and female get the right of mutual relationship in economic, social and biological spheres.
8. Legitimization of children born out of such union, which is a social need.

Functions/Importance of Marriage :

1. Biological Functions - The institution of marriage regulates and socially validates relatively long-term legitimate sexual relation between males and females. Marriage serves as a means for getting together to satisfy sex needs and to start reproductive process. It is true reproduction, human species is replicated and society is perpetuated. Therefore, the institution of marriage serves biological functions.
   
2. Social Functions - Marriage is also a way to acquire new kinsmen, for at marriage one adds not only a spouse but also of a spouse's relatives to one's own group of kin. Marriage links one kin group to another kin group.
   It is only after marriage a family comes into being, it is after marriage that there is desire to perpetuate the name of the family. Women get security with marriage.
   
3. Economic Functions - The institution of marriage performs economic function in the form of bringing economic cooperation between men and women and ensuring the survival of individuals in every society. Actually the children born as a result of socially recognised marriage are accepted by the society as legitimate and legal heirs to the property and other assets of the family.
   
4. Educational Functions - The care and protection of offspring are the heart of human social organisation. The institution of marriage enables the parent to educate their young through enculturation process.
   

Forms of marriage :

In all the cultures and societies marriage is not entirely of free choice because the institution of marriage is socially derived and socially sanctioned.Every society places certain limitations on the range of persons from among whom spouses may be chosen.There are two major rules of marriage that are almost always present in all societies.They are exogamy and endogamy.

Exogamy is the social rule that requires an individual to marry outside a specific culturally defined social group of which she/he is a member.The universal nuclear family is always exogamous. It is even said sometimes that exogamy results from the effects of the incest prohibitions.The social group beyond which marriage is required to take place may either be a lineage or a clan or a phatry or a moiety.Thus the exogamous unit is always a subdivision of a large society. Exogamous practices serve to enhance and improve sociability among people by connecting groups of people.

Endogamy is the social rule that requires an individual to marry within a specific culturally defined social group of which he/she is member.

The occurrence of endogamy is not as common as exogamy. There is no particular universal type of social group to which the endogamous rule applies unlike exogamy. The function of endogamy is probably to regulate marriage in a way that preserve the cultural identity of a group.

A classic case of endogamy within the Indian subcontinent is caste endogamy. Persons who are members of a caste group are required to select their marital partners from the same caste group. Endogamous caste marriages are supported,reinforced and rationalized by ritual explanations which are in turn manifest in everyday behavioral patterns.Concepts of physical pollution are related to the caste endogamy. A person of a higher caste who comes into physical contact with a person of a lower caste becomes polluted the severity of the pollution being dependent upon the relative rank of two castes. Endogamy with its reinforcing concepts such as pollution helps to set one group apart from others.

Examples of endogamy can be seen among ethnic groups within larger societies.

Dowry :

A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to a marriage. Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it. Dowries continue to be expected in some parts of the world, mainly India.

"Dowry" refers to money, goods or property that a woman brings into the marriage - it is paid by the woman's family to the man's family. Dowry is practiced mainly in South Asian countries, such as India.

Today, dowry is a common practice in some parts of the world, especially in South Asia, in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Dowry is most common in patrilineal societies, which expect women to live with or near their husband’s family.

In India, dowry (known as Dahej in Hindi) is a payment of cash or gifts from the bride's family to the bridegroom's family upon marriage. It may include cash, jewellery, electrical appliances, furniture, bedding, crockery, utensils and other household items that help the newly-weds set up their home.

In India, the dowry system puts great financial strain on the bride's family. This has been cited as one of the reasons for families resorting to sex selection, favouring the birth of sons over daughters. This has distorted the sex ratio in India (933 females per thousand males) due to sex-selective abortion.

Divorce :Divorce (or the dissolution of marriage) is the termination of a marital union, the canceling of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and the dissolving of the bonds of matrimony between a married couple. Divorce is unlike annulment which declares the marriage null and void. Divorce laws vary considerably around the world, but in most countries it requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process. The legal process of divorce may also involve issues of alimony (spousal support), child custody, child support, distribution of property, and division of debt. In most countries monogamy is required by law, so divorce allows each former partner to marry another; where polygyny is legal but polyandry is not, divorce allows the woman to marry a new husband.
Divorce can be a stressful experience affecting finances, living arrangements, household jobs, schedules and more. If the family includes children, they may be deeply affected.