family : definitions, forms and trends; universality of family; functions and dysfunctions of family

The word 'family' has been taken from the Roman word 'famulus', meaning a servant and a Latin word 'familia', meaning household. Family is the first and foremost institution. It is the oldest among the other institutions. Though the family has undergone many changes, yet it is the backbone of our social structure.

Definition:

1. Maclver and Page - "Family is a group defined by a sex relationship sufficiently precise and enduring to provide for the procreation and upbringing of children".
2. Kingsley Davis - "Family is a group of persons whose relations to one another are based upon consanguinity and who are therefore kin to one another".
3. Elliott and Merrill - "Family is a biological social unit composed of husband, wife and children".
4. Murdock - "Family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction".

Salient Features/Characteristics:

According to J.L. Rachroo, "Family is a universal concept. The sexual urge of men and women, the desire of woman to bear a child, of man to perpetuate his line and of both to look after their  procreation, coupled with desire of economic security for leisure and pleasure on the basic of division of labour may have contributed to the origin of the family. Sexual urge, the consequent affinity and the socio-economic expedieny appear to be the basics of this institution".

1. Universality
2. Fixed habitation
3. Financial provision
4. Limited size and nucleus
5. Emotional basis
6. Sense of responsibility among members
7. Social regulation
8. Closed Group
9. Permanency and temporariness
10. Persistence and change
11. Educative role
12. A mating relationship
13. A form of marriage

Functions:

Different sociologists have classified the functions of family differently. Maclver and Page divide the functions of the family into two broad categories : 1)Essential; and 2)Non-essential. Under essential functions he includes three functions,namely - 1) Stable satisfaction of sex need; 2)production and rearing of children; and 3)provision of home. Under the non-essential functions, he includes religious, educational, economic and recreational and other functions.

#1 Essential Functions (biological functions)

a)Satisfaction of sex needs - Satisfaction of sex instinct brings the desire for life long partnership among males and females. The modern family satisfies the sex needs in a greater degree.b)Production and rearing of children - The inevitable result of sexual satisfaction is procreation. The task of race perpetuation has always been an important function of the family. Family is an institution  par excellence for the production and rearing of children.
c)Provision of home and minimum basic facilities - It is the responsibility of the head of family to provide some minimum basic facilities to the members of the family, namely, those of food, clothing and shelter. The family members should cooperate with the head in using, sharing and maintaining them. The desire for a home is a powerful incentive for man as well as woman to live in and lead peaceful family life along with their children.
d)Giving love and sympathy - Family is in fact the most important cooperative society where one member helps the others. All members of family are supposed to solve each other's problems with a sympathetic and careful attitude. Children require love and affection from their parents. Similarly, husband and wife want love from each other.
e)Socialisation - The main function of the family is socialisation. Family transmits the moral ideas of group to its members. Socialisation is nothing but acclimatisation of the children to the society. Through language and their action, a child is able to learn about various customs and traditions of the society. It is the family that socialises the new generation.
f)Protection of young - The family has to protect the child as he cannot protect himself as he is open to every risk and danger till he is in a position to protect himself.

#2 Non-essential Functions

a)Economic Functions - Previously family was an economic unit. It was a center of both production & consumption. It used to fulfill the economic needs of its members such as food, clothing, housing etc. To maintain the family all the members take up responsibility and work co­operatively. The family used to follow simple division of labour i.e. women engaged themselves in all domestic work and the men work outside. The family was economically self-sufficient. But today, the situation has changed. The modern family is more a consumption unit than a production one. In many respect, the family is slowly transferring its economic functions to the external agencies.b)Educational Function - As an educational institution family used to teach the knowledge, skill and trade secret. The child learns the first letters under the direct supervision of the family members. All sorts of informal education i.e. manners, equates, discipline, obedience etc. the child receives from the family. Family also teaches morality, honesty, loyalty etc.Today, many of the educational functions of the family have been taken over by the schools, still it has increased the family's responsibility for the education of the children. No-a-days, the learning activities of the children are taking place mostly under alert supervision of the family members.c)Religious Functions - Family is a center of religious activity. All the family members together perform all religious ceremony at home. The children learn various religious virtues from their parents. The elder family members use to teach the children the religious values, morals etc. Thus, family helps in transmitting the religious belief from one generation to another.d)Recreational Functions - Family is one of the most important centers of recreation. It provides various entertainments to its members. Members of the family sit together, gossip, play, make jokes visit family relation for a change, interact with small children, observe different types of festivals etc. In this way, family provides reservation to all of its members.e)Function relating to health - Family not only rears the small children but also takes care of both young and old. It looks after the health of its member. It takes care of sick and disabled persons. As a whole, family takes up the responsibility of health and vigour of its member.

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.

Diversity

Diversity (politics)

In sociology and political studies, the term diversity (or diverse) is used to describe political entities (neighborhoods, student bodies, etc.) with members who have identifiable differences in their cultural backgrounds or lifestyles.

The term describes differences in racial or ethnic classifications, age, gender, religion, philosophy, physical abilities, socioeconomic background, sexual orientation, gender identity,intelligence, mental health, physical health, genetic attributes, behavior, attractiveness, or other identifying features.

Two distinctive features of India are its vastness and variety. Because of its vastness; it is often called a sub-continent. Its size is twenty times that of Great Britain and it is as large as Europe excluding Russia. The population of some of the states is more than that of many important countries of the world. It presents one of the most remarkable arrays of geographical, climatic and attendant economic features with racial, linguistic and religious differences.

One is puzzled at her many contrasting features such as the splendours of her temples, mosques and tombs, alongside the squalor of her villages, the intellectual brilliance of the educated men and women at the top, alongside ignorance and superstition of the majority of people. The tribes living within kilometers of Rabindranath Tagore's last residence, Santi Niketan had no idea whatsoever about Gitanjali or the Nobel Prize he had won. When Tagore was being awarded Nobel Prize for Literature, the Santhals living around Santi Niketan were still at the food gathering stage.

Racial Diversity:

It is a arduous task to construct a systematic ethnography of the teeming millions of Indian population. Different ethnic groups came to India as invaders, mingled with the Indian population and developed their own civilization and language. India contains a large variety of human types. The three primary broad types of mankind such as the Caucasian or white type, the Mongolian or yellow type and the Ethiopian or black type are found in India. As per the 1901 census the following eight different ethnic groups are found here.

1. Pre-Dravidian 2. Dravidian 3. Indo-Aryan

4. Turko-lranian 5. Scytho-Dravidian 6. Arya-Dravidian

7. Mongoloid 8. Mongoloid-Dravidian

India has been described as an ethnological museaum. Race formation is a dynamic process and environmental stimuli have caused many changes in the ethic types. However, it is said, "The bridge which links the Pathans of North west to the hill tribes of Travancore is still in existence." There are primitive tribesmen as well as city dwellers. There is a wide variety of differences in physical features, complexion and even in language. Often linguistic terms like Aryan and Dravidian have been applied to ethnic units.

It is difficult to assume that this vast subcontinent was once a vaccuum and the races have migrated into this ethnological paradise from faraway places. There have never been attempts to ascertain how far India bred her own races.

Linguistic Diversity:

The ethnological differences gave rise to a large number of languages. The linguistic survey of India records as many as 179 languages and 544 dialects. Among the Dravidian languages, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam are popular. Similarly, among the north Indian languages, Hindi, Bengali, Gujrati, Punjabi, and Urdu are prominent. The Constitution of India recognizes 18 languages in the country. Many foreign languages like Arabic ad Persian are also in use.

Religious Diversity:

All the main religions of the world are found here along with religions which are born here. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Sikhism etc. have adherents in India. All these religions have grown freely along with their sects. Many beliefs, superstitions, dogmas, cults and gods and goddesses are worshipped here. Hinduism, the religion of the majority has a number of cults and creeds as Vaishnavism, Saivism, Shaktism, Tantricism, Ganapatya cult, Sun cult etc. There have been religious reformers like Kabir, Nanak and Chaitanya who have preached synthesis of religions. The primitive tribes have their own religions. Various fairs and festivals are also observed in different parts of the country. Even the Hindus differ widely in respect of observance of fairs and festivals.

Ethnic Diversity:

The variations in climatic condition, land structure and political set-up have resulted in considerable differences in dress, food habit and social customs and practices. The dress of the people of Rajasthan due to heat is bound to differ from that of the people of Kashmir due to cold. The people of the south under Saivite influence put sandal marks on their forehead whereas the people of the north under the influence of Vaishnavism were more liberal and catholic. The Hindu society as such is divided into a number of castes or varnas with well-defined functions for each Varna.

A modern writer, who has attempted a vivid portrayal of the diversities in India says, "Everybody looks different and dresses differently. Complexions range from white to black coffee, nose for Biblical spurs to Mongolian pugs; some people are very tall, others very; short. Dress, like a botanical classification, reveals the exact identity of the bearer, his or her religion, caste, region and occupation. The variety is endless."