Amity Law School, Lucknow

SOCIOLOGY-II ASSIGNMENT

‘FAMILY’

Submitted to: Prepared by:

Ms. Ritu Agarwal Animesh Kumar
iB.A.LL.B.(H), IV Sem.
Enroll.No.A8108309035
 PREFACE

This assignment take cares of the topic family of sociology from social
perspective. History of family, Economic function, Political function,
Classification of family, Family type, Sociological views, Nuclear family and
Joint Family all have acquired very important place as a subject of Sociology.

I am sure my effort would these inclusions and will keep on guiding me as

faculty have done earlier.

I am extremely thankful to my faculty Ms. Ritu Agarwal for the extra time
given to me for preparation of this assignment I took too much time to complete
the given task.

Animesh Kumar

[1]
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This is a great matter to show the greatness of the people associated to this

assignment. First of all I would like to thanks my Hon’ble faculty Ms. Ritu

Agarwal who gives me the encouragement for preparing the assignment. She

also gives the idea how to develop and how to go forward as far as topic is

concern. Her regular guidance and motivation provoked me to complete the task

as soon as possible.

Secondly I would like to thank all my friends for their support in completion of

the assignment. Their regular support helped me to work out on the given topic.

I am highly obliged to my parents who enrolled me for i.B.A.LL.B. (H) In

which I have to go through the complexity of society also.

Animesh Kumar

[2]
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction................................................................................................1

2. History of Family.......................................................................................2

3. Economic Function.....................................................................................2

4. Political Function........................................................................................2

5. Family Type................................................................................................3

6. Sociological view.......................................................................................4

7. Classification of Family.............................................................................5

8. Joint Family................................................................................................6

9. Nuclear Family...........................................................................................8

10.Bibliography...............................................................................................9

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Sociology Assignment Amity Law School, Lucknow

INTRODUCTION
In human context, a family (from Latin: familiar) is a group of people affiliated
by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal
institution for the socialization of children. Extended from the human „family
unit‟ by affinity, economy, culture, tradition, honour and friendship are concepts
of family that are metaphorical, or that grow increasingly inclusive extending
to nationhood and humanism. A family group consisting of a father, mother and
their children is called a nuclear family. This term can be contrasted with
an extended family.

The family forms the basic unit of social organization and it is difficult to
imagine how human society could function without it. The family has been seen
as a universal social institution an inevitable part of human society. According
to Burgess and Lock the family is a group of persons united by ties of marriage,
blood or adoption constituting a single household interacting with each other in
their respective social role of husband and wife, mother and father, brother and
sister creating a common culture. G.P Murdock defines the family as a social
group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and
reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes at least two of whom maintain a
socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children own or adopted
of the sexually co-habiting adults.

There are also concepts of family that break with tradition within particular
societies, or those that are transplanted via migration to flourish or else cease
within their new societies. As a unit of socialisation and a basic institution key
to the structure of society, the family is the object of analysis for sociologists of
the family. Genealogy is a field which aims to trace family lineages through
history. In science, the term "family" has come to be used as a means to classify
groups of objects as being closely and exclusively related. In the study of
animals it has been found that many species form groups that have similarities
to human "family"—often called "packs."

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Sociology Assignment Amity Law School, Lucknow

History of Family

The diverse data coming from ethnography, history, law and social statistics,
establish that the human family is an institution and not a biological fact
founded on the natural relationship of consanguinity. Early scholars of family
history applied Darwin's biological theory of evolution in their theory of
evolution of family systems. American anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan
published Ancient Society in 1877 based on his theory of the three stages of
human progress from Savagery through Barbarism to Civilization. Morgan's
book was the "inspiration for Friedrich Engels' book" The Origin of the Family,
Private Property and the State published in 1884. Engels expanded Morgan's
hypothesis that economical factors caused the transformation of primitive
community into a class-divided society. Engels' theory of resource control, and
later that of Karl Marx, was used to explain the cause and effect of change in
family structure and function. The popularity of this theory was largely
unmatched until the 1980s, when other sociological theories, most notably
structural functionalism, gained acceptance.

Economic Function

Anthropologists have often supposed that the family in a traditional society

forms the primary economic unit. This economic role has gradually diminished
in modern times, and in societies like the United States it has become much
smaller, except in certain sectors such as agriculture and in a few upper class
families. In China the family as an economic unit still plays a strong role in the
countryside. However, the relations between the economic role of the family, its
socio-economic mode of production and cultural values remain highly complex.

Political Function
On the other hand family structures or its internal relationships may affect both
state and religious institutions. J.F. del Giorgio in The Oldest Europeans points
out that the high status of women among the descendants of the post-glacial
Palaeolithic European population was coherent with the fierce love of freedom
of pre-Indo-European tribes. He believes that the extraordinary respect for
women in those families meant that children reared in such atmospheres tended
to distrust strong, authoritarian leaders. According to Del Giorgio, European
democracies have their roots in those ancient ancestors.

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Family Types

Family arrangements in the United States have become more diverse with no
particular household arrangement representing half of the United States
population. The different types of families occur in a wide variety of settings,
and their specific functions and meanings depend largely on their relationship to
other social institutions. Sociologists have a special interest in the function and
status of these forms in stratified (especially capitalist) societies. The term
"nuclear family" is commonly used, especially in the United States and Europe,
to refer to conjugal families. Sociologists distinguish between conjugal families
(relatively independent of the kindred of the parents and of other families in
general) and nuclear families (which maintain relatively close ties with their
kindred). The term "extended family" is also common, especially in the United
States and Europe. This term has two distinct meanings. First, it serves as a
synonym of "consanguine family". Second, in societies dominated by the
conjugal family, it refers to kindred (an egocentric network of relatives that
extends beyond the domestic group) who do not belong to the conjugal family.
These types refer to ideal or normative structures found in particular societies.
Any society will exhibit some variation in the actual composition and
conception of families. Much sociological, historical and anthropological
research dedicates itself to the understanding of this variation, and of changes in
the family form over time. Thus, some speak of the bourgeois family, a family
structure arising out of 16th-century and 17th-century European households, in
which the family centres on a marriage between a man and woman, with strictly
defined gender-roles. The man typically has responsibility for income and
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Sociology Assignment Amity Law School, Lucknow

support, the woman for home and family matters. According to the work of
scholars Max Weber, Alan Macfarlane, Steven Ozment, Jack Goody and Peter
Laslett, the huge transformation that led to modern marriage in Western
democracies was "fuelled by the religion-cultural value system provided by
elements of Judaism, early Christianity, Roman Catholic canon law and the
Protestant Reformation". In contemporary Europe and the United States, people
in academic, political and civil sectors have called attention to single-father-
headed households, and families headed by same-sex couples,[citation needed]
although academics point out that these forms exist in other societies. Also the
term blended family or stepfamily describes families with mixed parents: one or
both parents remarried, bringing children of the former family into the new
family. Also in sociology, particularly in the works of social psychologist
Michael Lamb, traditional family refers to "a middleclass family with a bread-
winning father and a stay-at-home mother, married to each other and raising
their biological children", and non-traditional to exceptions from this rule. Most
of the US households are now non-traditional under this definition.

Sociological views
Contemporary society generally views family as a haven from the world,
supplying absolute fulfilment. The family is considered to encourage "intimacy,
love and trust where individuals may escape the competition of dehumanizing
forces in modern society." During industrialization, "the family as a repository
of warmth and tenderness (embodied by the mother) stands in opposition to the
competitive and aggressive world of commerce (embodied by the father). The
family's task was to protect against the outside world." However, Zinn and
Eizen note, "The protective image of the family has waned in recent years as the
ideals of family fulfilment have taken shape. Today, the family is more
compensatory than protective. It supplies what is vitally needed but missing in
other social arrangements". “The popular wisdom,” Zinn and Eitzen say, is that
the family structures of the past were superior to those today and families were
more stable and happier at a time when they did not have to contend with
problems such as illegitimate children and divorce. They respond to this, saying,
“there is no golden age of the family gleaming at us in the far back historical
past”."Desertion by spouses, illegitimate children, and other conditions that are
considered characteristics of modern times existed in the past as well." Still
others argue that whether or not we view the family as "declining" depends on
our definition of "family." The high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births

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Sociology Assignment Amity Law School, Lucknow

indicate a decline in the institution of the family. No longer are marriages

arranged for political or economic gain, and children are not expected to
contribute to family income. Instead, people choose mates based on love. This
increased role of love indicates a societal shift toward favouring emotional
fulfilment and relationships within a family, and this shift necessarily weakens
the institution of the family.

Classification of family:

On the basis of marriage: Family has been classified into three

major types:

 Polygamous or polygynous family

 Polyandrous family
 Monogamous family

On the basis of the nature of residence family can be classified into

three main forms.

 Family of matrilocal residence

 Family of patrilocal residence
 Family of changing residence

On the basis of ancestry or descent family can be classified into

two main types

 Matrilineal family
 Patrilineal family

On the basis of size or structure and the depth of generations family

can be classified into two main types.

 Nuclear or the single unit family

 Joint family

On the basis of the nature of relations among the family members

the family can be classified into two main types.

 The conjugal family which consists of adult members among

there exists sex relationship.
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 Consanguine family which consists of members among whom

there exists blood relationship- brother and sister, father and son
etc.

Joint family system – A useful model for families in future

It is my personal belief that in the big picture of things and from the perspective
of sustainable use of nature's resources, human endeavours and activities that
promote and make use of inter-dependence, co-operation at the level of family,
neighbourhood, community, sate, nation and global is in conforming with
nature and results in more gains (economic, social and environmental) than
losses in the long run. Knowing that human life span is on the increase and we
are going to be in habiting this planet for longer than we used to, it makes sense
in trying to do things that are beneficial over the long run. And of course, that
will also ensure that future generations are able to lead a life of prosperity.

• The 'joint family system' is one such thing that has the potential to ensure
sustainability of life and natural resources on this planet. I believe the joint
family system has several benefits and hence needs to be re-visited. We must
consider it as a possible model for future families.

In countries like India, with increase in population and resources like land and
space becoming scarce, the families and individuals are leading a life filled with
stress and worry. On the other hand the situation in developed countries is
similar for different reason. In developed countries like USA and Australia the
individuals are stressed out for different reasons. Some of the major problems
that people living in developed countries face are - job insecurity due to
unstable economy, difficulty in raising children while pursuing career
ambitions, young adults having difficulty starting out on their own. Therefore
whether living in developing countries or in developed part of the world, the
model of 'joint family' has potential benefits that can lead to secure, healthy,
stress free and affluent individuals.

I also believe that having experimented with 'nuclear families' and having
experienced its drawbacks, we are capable of developing a model that draws on
the benefits of 'nuclear family' and 'joint family'. We might even be forced to do
so when resources become more scarcer with passage of time. We will certainly
do it when our survival is at stake.

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• Joint family system vs. Nuclear family system

• Today we have a generation of people who after having lived in a joint family
system have taken the initiative to break out and start a nuclear family. This
generation today has come of age and very well appreciates the strengths and
weaknesses of both the system. In a sense I represent such a generation and
therefore wish to present my personal thoughts on why and how we could
revive and make a 'the joint family system' work.

The generation that broke out of the old joint family system did so when
individualistic thinking began to gain predominance in the society. It was
exciting to explore experiment and establish a living set up on one's own. The
nuclear family gave immense freedom from the traditions and ways of life that
the old system was ridden with. Hence whenever and wherever the parents and
the grown up adult children could not get along well and when the adult
children could afford to build a house to call their own, nuclear families began
to be formed. As it happens with most changes in the society, initially the
people from the old system did not take this change very well. They were
saddened to see the disintegration of family values and system and emergence
of individualistic nuclear families. However, gradually when nuclear families
became the order of the day, the old generation slowly began to accept the
realities and became comfortable with it.

The other factor that gave rise to nuclear families was industrialization.
Industrial revolution brought with it increase in job opportunities in and around
major industrialized and commercial cities and towns. This forced men and
women to move out of their family home and away from the parents. In this
case, often the parents who remained emotionally attached to the place where
they spent most of their life preferred to continue staying in their family home
and accepted with some sadness their children starting out new life away from
them.

• Today, as a person from the generation that broke out of the system in the
hope of immense freedom, I look behind and ask myself 'what has my
generation really and truly gained from the quest for freedom and what has it
lost'.

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Nuclear family system

A nuclear family is a family group consisting of a father and mother and their
children, who share living quarters. This can be contrasted with an extended
family. Nuclear families can have any number of children.
Historical records indicate that it was not until the 17th and 18th centuries that
the nuclear family became prevalent in Western Europe. With the emergence of
Proto-industrialisation and early capitalism, the nuclear family became a
financially viable social unit.
According to Professor Wolfgang Haak of Adelaide University, the nuclear
family is natural to Homo sapiens. A 2005 archaeological dig in Elau, Germany,
analyzed by Haak, revealed genetic evidence suggesting that the 13 individuals
found in a grave were closely related. Haak said, "By establishing the genetic
links between the two adults and two children buried together in one grave, we
have established the presence of the classic nuclear family in a prehistoric
context in Central Europe." However, even here the evidence suggests that the
nuclear family was embedded with an extended family. The remains of three
children (probably siblings based on DNA evidence) were found buried with a
woman who was not their mother but may have been an "aunt or a step-mother.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books Referred:
1) An introduction to Sociology- Dr. Vidya Bhushan & D.R. Sachdeva
2) Introduction to Sociology- Shanker Rao
3) Social changes in India- Y. Singh
Websites Referred:

1) www.wikipedia.com

2) www.scribd.com

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