Types of Family

Family base on birth

i) Family or orientation; is the family in which you are born, you as a child.
ii) Family of procreation; individual sets up after his/her marriage in his/her
family of procreation.
Family based on marriage
i) Monogamous; (*Refer to class notes)
ii) Polygamous; (*Refer to class notes)
Family based on residence
i) Matrilocal; (*Refer to class notes)
ii) Patrilocal; (*Refer to class notes)
iii) Neolocal; (*Refer to class notes)
iv) Bilocal; (*Refer to class notes)
Family based on ancestry or descent
i) Matrilineal; (*Refer to class notes)
ii) Patrilineal; (*Refer to class notes)
Family based on authority
i) Patriarchal; Patriarchal families are commonly found in all parts of the world,
the head of the family is the father and authority is through the father. Descent
and property is passed through the male line and children are brought up in
father’s house.
ii) Matriarchal; matriarchal families are generally found in matrilineal societies,
woman is the head of the family, and the authority is vested in her.
Family based on nature of relationship
i) Conjugal; Conjugal family is made up of adults among whom there is a sexual
relationship. It refers to a family system of spouses and their dependent
children. The emphasis is place on the marital relationship that exists between
spouses.
ii) Consanguine; A consanguine family is made up of members among whom a
blood relation exists or those who are consanguineal kin.
Family based on size or structure
i) Nuclear family; Small group consisting of a husband, a wife, and children
(natural or adopted). Nuclear family is the characteristic of modern societies.
It is a family both the result and the cause of disintegration of joint family.
ii) Extended family; The traditional make up of extended family which include
grandparents, parents and children.
iii) Joint family; Consist of three generation, living together under the same roof,
sharing the same kitchen and purse on economic expenses.
Extended and joint family are interchangeably use together.

Joint Family in India

A joint family has been considered as an important feature of Indian social structure since
ancient times. It is a collection of more than one primary family on the basis of close
blood ties and common residence. The ideal joint family consists of a man, his wife and
their sons’ wives and children, and the younger unmarried children. The structure of

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family changes over a period of time in terms of size, composition, role and status, the
family and societal norms and sanctions. Sociologists like I.P. Desai, K.M Kapadia,
Milton Singer etc. hold the views regarding disintegration of joint family system in India
but still not wipe out fully where as the others like Aileen Ross, F.G.Bailey point out that
joint family is breaking down in India and is being replaced by the nuclear. Thus we shall
discuss various empirical studies on joint family was conducted by scholars from
different parts of India.

 Irawati Karve - (*Refer to class notes)

 Henry Maine - the Hindu joint family is a group constitute of known ancestors
and adopted sons and relatives related to these sons through marriage.
 K. Davis – (*Refer to class notes)
 K.M.Kapadia – (*Refer to class notes)
 I.P.Desai – he studied coastal a town called Mahua in Gujarat. Co-residence and
common kitchen are not as important dimensions of joint family as intra-family
relationships. Two families having kinship relationship are living separately but
function under one common authority, it will be a joint family and calls it
functional joint family. He calls a traditional joint family as one which consists of
three or more generation. According to him, joint family is decreasing but never
said it is disappeared. He had found that 60% are minimally joint, 20% are
moderately joint, 10% are maximally joint, 10% are fully joint.
 Aileen Ross - (*Refer to class notes)
 A.M.Shah – (*Refer to class notes)
 Pauline Kolenda’s – used data from 26 studies conducted between the 1950s and
1970s and found that majority of the families are nuclear. Regional differences in
the proportions of joint families, there are higher proportions of joint families in
Gangetic plain than in Central India or Eastern India. The joint family is more
characteristic of upper and land owing castes than of lower and landless castes.
 M.S.Gore – has said that a joint family should be viewed as ‘a family of co-
parceners and their dependents’ instead of viewing it as a multiplicity of nuclear
families. Gore’s joint family is of three types;
 Filial joint family; parents and their married sons with their offspring
 Fraternal joint family; two married brothers and their children
 Filial and fraternal (combination of the above two families) joint family
 Milton Singer - reports that the urban and industrial members of a family maintain
numerous ties and obligations with the members of the family who have remained
in the ancestral village or town or have moved elsewhere.

Characteristics of Joint Family

A joint family jointness is reflected by the factor of commensality such as;
 Common residence
 Joint ownership of property
 Cooperation and sentiment of jointness, actual bonds like worship of common
deity
Structural characteristics
 Characterised by patrilineal descent, has three generation depth

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  Consanguine bonds are valued more than conjugal bonds
 Division of labour on gender, segregated roles based on gender
 Age and sex are the main principles of family hierarchy
 Several families living under one roof and common kitchen
 Encourage collective orientation rather than self orientation
Functional characteristics
 In agrarian society it is a unit of production and consumption
 Provide social security to the young, widows and ageing parents
 Basic unit of participation in political life, cultural activities etc.
 A lot of recreation time is found in joint family

Factors responsible for the Disintegration of Joint Family

India as a country came under many rulers like Mughal, Britishers however somehow
tried to preserved the characteristics of traditional society. The joint family has not
completely disappeared although transition from joint family to nuclear family are due to
various reasons like;
 Industrialization process,
 Liberalization
 Modernization
 People migrate from rural to urban areas in search of education (particularly girls
education) and job
 Exposure to technology
 Changes in the middle and upper class family in urban set up
 Increasing opportunity to individual members to achieve their aspirations and
diversification of occupations
 Exposure to western culture
 Over population and accommodation issues in the cities
 Changes in intra family relations
 Social legislation act and land reforms etc.
(* Explain in detail on the above points as discussed in the class).

Marriage
Marriage is one of the oldest institutions of human society. It is as old as human history.
Different scholars have defined marriage in different ways in different epochs. There is
no universal definition of marriage. As a social institution it has been defined by
Westermarck as, ‘A relation of one or more men and one or more women which is
recognised by custom or law, and involves certain rights and duties both in the case of the
parties entering the union and in the case of the children born of it’. Marriage is a socially
sanctioned union between a man and a woman which is accomplished by culture specific
rituals and ceremonies. It is a socially approved way through which families are
established.

According to Koos marriage is a dividing line between the family of orientation and
family of procreation. These individual roles are different in these two forms of family.
The roles in the family of orientation are different for the various stages as the child
passes through infancy, childhood and adolescent stage. These roles are not associated

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with duties and responsibilities. After marriage an individual enters into the family of
procreation and plays the role of a husband, a father and an earning member. All these
roles are associated with a number of duties and obligations. An individual plays a
variety of roles in his/ her life which are associated with different status. The marital role
is associated with primary relationships which are particularistic, altruistic and have high
degree of emotional involvement.

There are various views in regard to the functional significance of marriage. In a general
sense, the concept of marriage in India differs from the concept in western countries.
According to the traditional Hindu society, marriage is regarded as a religious sacrament.
On the other hand, in the western countries, marriage is regarded as merely social
contract, which enables one to fulfill personal needs and happiness in life. According to
Malinowski, marriage in not merely ‘Sexual appropriation’ but is regarded as an
institution based on complex social condition" and that sexual appropriation is not oven
its main aspect and it is not based on sexual alone.

Mazumdar, defines marriage as a socially sanctioned union of male and female, or as a

secondary institution devised by society to sanction the union and mating of male and
female, for purposes of (i) establishing a household (ii) entering into sex relations (iii)
procreating and (iv) providing care for the off-spring.

Marriage in all societies is regulated by certain rules. On the basis of these rules there are
various forms of marriage, which are different for different societies.

Rules of marriage

In all societies there are certain restrictive and preferential rules regarding marriage.
These rules determine the choice of marriage partners. The rules are as follows:

Endogamy; This rule restricts the choice of mate within a certain group. It is a marriage
within caste, tribe, race or other groups. Caste endogamy is prevalent in Indian society.
According to this rule of marriage it is required that the marriage partner should be
selected from same group that is within the same caste or tribe. The endogamous groups
refer explicitly to the caste, and sub-caste. Caste endogamy specifies that the marriage
should compulsorily take place within the caste and the sub-caste endogamy limits the
marriage relations within the same sub-caste. According to Radcliffe Brown the
elementary systems are characterized by preferential marriage which can be further
classified into restricted and generalized marriage system.

Exogamy; It is the rule which restricts the selection of spouse from certain groups. It
forbids marriage within the same group. The blood relatives are prohibited from having
marital connections among themselves. There are two forms of exogamy: Gotra and
Sapinda, both of which are practiced in Hindu society. Members of a same gotra are
supposed to have descended from a common ancestor of a rishi, therefore same-gotra
exogamy marriages are prohibited. Sapinda means the individuals who carry the particles
of the same body. Sapinda relationship arises from being connected by having particles of
the same ancestors. Hence the marriage between sapinda is prohibited. Since there is no

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known limit of persons related by blood, the prescribed limit for prohibiting marriage
according to sapinda is within from the father’s of seven generations and five generations
from mother’s side.

Thus every society prescribes different rules of marriage which specify the partners and
also the groups among which marriage is not permitted. Prohibition of marriage between
certain individuals is called incest taboo. The incest taboos and preferential rules
regarding marriage differ from caste to caste, religion to religion and across cultures.

Forms of marriages

The different kinds of marriage are different in different societies. The most common
classification for forms of marriage is on the basis of number of mates;

Base on social group

 Endogamy; (*Refer to class notes)

 Exogamy; (*Refer to class notes)

Base of number of spouses

 Monogamy; Monogamy is a form of marriage in which an individual is

institutionally permitted to have only one spouse at a time. This form of marriage
is the common form in most societies.
 Homogamy; (*Refer to class notes)
 Heterogamy; (*Refer to class notes)
 Polygamy; Polygamy is a form of marriage in which a man is permitted to have
two or more wives at the same time. A general term for polygyny and polyandry.
Either a man or a woman having more than one man or woman.
 Polygyny; a man with more than one wife is known as polygyny. (Use
diagram)
 Sororal polygyny; a man having more than one wife and if he is
married to wife’s sister. (Use diagram)
 Polyandry; Where one woman have more than one husband. (Use
diagram)
 Levirate polyandry; one woman having more than one husband
and if all man are brothers it is called levirate polyandry. This is
done to conserve the family’s property.
 Group marriage; Group marriage is a form of marriage where marriage is
between several men with several women. In this type of marriage, a man
and more than one woman also form a family unit. According to Murdock,
the Caingang people of Brazil practiced group marriage.

Functions of marriage

Marriage is not only a basic unit or the institution of the society, rather it is also an
indispensable part of a social system. Some or other forms of marriage are found in all

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societies of the world. The universality of marriage points to its functional importance for
maintaining social equilibrium. The functions of marriage are as follows:

 Develops Family: Marriage is an institution which brings a family in to existence.

Marriage establishes a family of procreation. It is here the children are born and
bred up. It is responsible for perpetuation of lineage and establishment of kinship
relations. The relations established after marriage help in maintaining social
solidarity and thus contribute to the unity of society.
 Provides Security: The system of marriage provides social and financial security
to elderly members and children. It gives stability to relationships.
 Satisfaction of affiliation needs: The system of marriage also satisfies affiliation
needs. Marriage is considered to be life long relationship between a man and a
women. Married couples are considered as lifelong companions who share ideas,
attitudes and emotions with each other.
 Provides for economic cooperation: Marriage makes division of labour possible
on the basis of sex. After marriage partners distribute and divide work among
themselves.
 Regulation of sex relations: Marriage is the powerful instrument for regulating the
sex life of man. It sets moral standards for the society and helps in regulation of
moral life of the members of society.

Thus marriage serves protective, emotional, regulatory, and economic functions and
plays an important role in stabilizing adult personalities. This institution also represents
commitment of individuals and family at multi-dimensional levels which help in
maintaining social organization. Apart from the above mentioned functions marriage also
gives rise to a network of social relations known as kinship system. This is an important
system which determines the status of a person in the family.

Marriage is a universal social institution. It is associated with mutual rights and

obligations. It serves protective, regulatory, emotional and economic functions. Marriage
ties result in formation of kinship network which organize individuals into social groups.