Page 97 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes Rama Krishna Mukherjee (1962: 352-98) while giving five types of relations—conjugal, parental-
filial, inter-sibling, lineal, and affinal— has maintained that a joint family is one which consists of one
or more of the first three types of relations and either lineal and/or affinal relations among the
members.
4.3.2 Nature of Traditional Family

Desai (1964: 153-156), on the basis of his survey of 423 families conducted between 1956 and 1958, has
given two different classifications of families: (i) in terms of the relationship among members measured
by its generation depth, and (ii) on the basis of their relationship with other households. On the first
basis, he has further classified families into four types: one generation, two generations, three
generations, and four or more generations families. The first two types of families are described by
him as nuclear families and the last two as joint families.
In terms of relationship with other households and the degree of jointness, Desai (Ibid: 157-61) has
classified families into five types:
(i) nuclear family (which is separate in terms of residence and functioning), (ii) functionally joint
family (which is residentially nuclear but joint with other households by way of fulfilment of mutual
obligations, (iii) functionally and substantively joint family (which is residentially nuclear but joint
in terms of property, functioning and fulfilling mutual obligations), (iv) marginally joint family (which
is joint in residence, property and functions but consists of two generations only, and (v) traditional
joint family (which, like the marginal joint family, is joint in residence, property and functions but
consists of three or more generations). Diagramatically, the sub-types of marginal joint and the
traditional joint families, may be shown as in Diagram 3.

Diagram 3

Ego+Wi Br+Wi Br Ego, his wife and/or unmarried
children and married son(s) with
Traditional Family Joint So+Wi So So Da married brother(s) with or without
children and unmarried and/or
children

G.So G.Da

Fa or Mo
Ego, his wife and/or unmarried
brother(s) and sister(s) and his
Marginal Joint
one parent (i.e., either Fa or
Family Ego+Wi Br Si Mo).
Sub-type I

Fa or Mo
Ego, his wife, unmarried
children, his one parent, and
Sub-type II
his unmarried brothers and
Ego+Wi Br Si sisters.

So Da

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